By Alexey Sukachev

Alexander Bakhtin (29-0, 11 KOs), a highly skilled Russian super bantamweight technician, isn’t making his virtual homecoming this coming weekend. Bakhtin, a native of the Siberian city of Chita, was set to fight for the vacant IBO super bantamweight crown on September 7 in the nearby (relatively – in terms of Eastern Russia) city of Ulan-Ude against dangerous Filipino Roli Gasca (19-2, 5 KOs).

Instead, Bakhtin will headline a small but well-packed night of boxing, which will be promoted by Vladimir Hryunov, the leading Russian promoter, with the help of Metropol IFK on September 18 at the Varshavka Sky business center in Moscow, Russia. The entire show will be aired live by the Russia 2 sports channel - and the inability to televise these fights live from Chita was the main reason for this relocation.

Bakhtin, 31, a long-time Japanese national champion (and record-breaker) is ranked #3 by the WBC and #6 by the WBA and IBF at 122lbs with recent wins over Luis Melendez and Nehomar Cermeno. Gasca, 23, is a former OPBF and PABA titleholder with upset wins in Japan and Thailand.

Another fighter to take part in the show is lightweight Eduard Troyanovskiy (11-0, 8 KOs), whose future opponent is still to be defined.