By Tim Royner: After years of toiling away as a contender, Manuel ‘Diamond Boy’ Charr (31-4, 17 KOs) finally captured a world title in defeating 40-year-old Alexander Ustinov (34-2 25 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision to win the WBA World heavyweight title on Saturday night the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will eventually need to face the winner of tonight’s fight between Manuel Charr and Alexander Ustinov fight.
Ustinov (34-1, 25 KOs) is fighting Charr (30-4, 17 KOs) for the vacant WBA World heavyweight title in Oberhausen, Germany. The World Boxing Association is interested in reducing the number of champions in each division. Part of that plan obviously will involve Joshua, who holds the WBA Super World heavyweight title, fighting the winner of the Charr vs. Ustinov fight.
By Jim Dower: Alexander Ustinov (34-1, 25 KOs) and #4 WBA former world title challenger Manuel “Diamond Boy” Charr (30-4, 17 KOs) will be fighting for the vacant WBA heavyweight title this Saturday night on November 25 at the Koenig-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany.
By Gav Duthie: It’s the title that nobody seems to want but it should finally have a home on Saturday night. The WBA regular heavyweight title has been vacant for more than 18 months and after several failed attempts to crown a new champion 40 year Russian Alexander Ustinov 34-1 (25) takes on Manuel Charr 30-4 (17) in Germany this Saturday night to resolve the issue.
By Patrick McHugh: Heavyweights Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 Kos) and Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) could wind up on the undercard of the light heavyweight fight between IBF/WBA/WBO champion Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to Dan Rafael.
Vlad Hrunov won a purse bid for his promoter Andrey Ryabinsky’s World of Boxing this week, and they plan on putting the fight together. What was interesting about the purse bid was that Ortiz’s promoters at Golden Boy didn’t take part in the purse bid. It makes you wonder about Ortiz’s future with the promotional giant.
By Patrick McHugh: The undercard of the September 17th fight between World Boxing Organization junior middleweight champion Liam Smith and Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won’t have the heavyweight fight between WBA interim champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz vs. Alexander Ustinov on the undercard, because the two of them weren’t able to negotiate a fight, according to Fight News. This is a real disappointment for boxing fans, because the Ortiz-Ustinov fight have been the most exciting match-up on the card, which will be taking place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
It’s unknown where Ortiz and Ustinov go from here. The winner of that fight would have been in a great position to challenge for the winner of the October 29 fight between IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko.
By Patrick McHugh: Interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) will be defending his title against challenger Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) in the co-feature bout on the Liam Smith vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez card in two months from now on September 17.
The Ortiz-Ustinov fight is still being put together by Golden Boy Promotions, but it’s looking very good like the two giant heavyweights will be on the card. It’s important for Golden Boy to have a solid co-feature bout because the fight card will be televised on HBO pay-per-view on 9/17.
By Jeff Aranow: Interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) will be defending his interim WBA title in three months from now against #3 WBA Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) on the undercard of Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s next fight on September 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s unknown right now whether this card will be televised on HBO pay-per-view. It will depend on how the 25-year-old Canelo’s opponent will be. With Golden Boy Promotions staging the fight at the MGM Grand, which has a seating capacity of only 16,800, it would appear fairly obvious that Canelo (47-1-1, 33 KOs) won’t be fighting IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) on this date, because that’s a fight that Golden Boy is interested in staging it at the huge 80,000 seat AT&T stadium in Arlington, Texas.
By Patrick McHugh: A fight between interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) and #3 WBA Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) has reportedly been agreed on by the promoters of the two fighters, according to ESPN.
The Ortiz-Ustinov fight will take place in August or September in the United Stated at a site to be determined. The winner of the Ortiz v. Ustinov fight will be in position to fight the winner of the July 9 fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury.
By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (18-0, 10 KOs) could be fighting #5 WBA Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) for his next fight on March 26 on the undercard of the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Nick Blackwell fight next month at the Wembley Arena in London, UK.
Hughie’s trainer/father Peter Fury says that an offer has been made to the 39-year-old Ustinov and a contract sent out to him. This is only one month’s notice for the 6’7”, 288lb Ustinov.
You would have to hope that he’s in good shape because if not, he’s probably not going to have much time to burn off the blubber to get ready.