By Jim Dower: Undefeated WBA World welterweight champion Vyasheslav Senchenko is hoping to get his name on the map in the United States by defeating the well known American former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi on Sunday night in their title fight in Ukraine.

Senchenko, 35, still is only known among the hardcore boxing fans in the U.S, given that his fights have never been aired in the United States. This will change on Sunday with the Senchenko-Malignaggi fight being aired by Integrated Sports in the U.S for an asking price of $29.95. It’s kind of steep given that really you’re only getting one fight in which you’re seeing a recognizable name for the casual fans.

The undercard fights are as follows:

Iago Kiladze vs. Julien Perriaux
Andriy Kudryavtsev vs. Samir Ziani
Volodymyr Kravets vs. Abdoulaye Soukouna
Oleh Yefimovych vs. Sergio Carlos Santillan
Stanyslav Kashtanov vs. Jorge Rodriguez Olivera

Malignaggi is trying to find some success at 147 after he was considered washed up at 140 by a lot of people. Malignaggi may still be washed up, but you can’t tell because he hasn’t faced a good opponent in two years since his loss to Amir Khan in 2010.

Malignaggi moved up in weight to 147 after the Khan loss, but has failed to fight anyone of note. It didn’t matter, though, because the World Boxing Association decided to rank him high anyway and now he’s getting a title shot, whether deserved or not.

Senchenko fought in the 2000 Olympics and has a good amateur record while fighting in Ukraine. However, he’s not faced anyone his entire career and sadly Malignaggi is actually a step up for him. It’s kind of weird that a 35-year-old fighter with as many wins as Senchenko is taking a step up for a fight against Malignaggi instead of a huge step down. That just shows you how well protected Senchenko has been from facing good opposition. The plus is Senchenko has built up an impressive undefeated record that looks good at first glance.

The negative is that it’s filled with mostly fluff fighters, guys that aren’t quality fighters or even close to it. This is why Senchenko is still completely unknown despite his advanced against of 35.