By Allan Fox: Undefeated heavyweight contender Denis Boytsov (32-0, 25 KO’s) faced Ukrainian Oleksandr Nesterenko (9-1, 4 KO’s) in a scheduled 8 round bout this Saturday night on the Manuel Charr vs. Oleksiy Mazikin fight card at the Karl Eckel Halle, Hattersheim am Main, Hessen, Germany.
Boytsov, 27, had the chance to fight unbeaten Tyson Fury recently but the fight failed to materialize. It looks like Boytsov is going to wait until he gets a title shot against one of the heavyweight champions before he faces his first real test.
That could happen in the next year or two for Boytsov, as he’s ranked #3 WBO, #4 WBA. That means if he can keep winning, even against weak the weak opposition he’s been facing his entire 9-year pro career. The sanctioning bodies will eventually rank Boytsov #1 and he’ll get his title shot.
In his last three fights, Boytsov has beaten Samir Kurtagic, Dominick Guinn and Darnell Wilson. None of them are what you would consider a dangerous heavyweight. Boytsov defeated Kurtagic and Guinn by decisions and stopped Wilson in the 4th round.
Nesterenko hasn’t fought in three years and the last time he saw action was in June of 2010 when he beat Leonic Oshliuk by an 8 round unanimous decision.
It’s unclear why Boytsov is being matched up against a fighter with as much ring rust as Nesterenko, but it just looks like his handlers are making sure that Boytsov isn’t tripped up before he gets his title shot at some point in the future.
The 6’5” Nesterenko was beaten by Ivan Shvayko by a 6 round majority decision five years ago. Since then, Nesterenko has won his last five fights against little known opposition.
Boytsov has the power and the work rate to be a good heavyweight, but he’s kind of small for a heavyweight at 6’1” 220 lbs, and that’s probably too small to beat the really good heavyweights in the division.
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