Russia’s arguably greatest recent talent Albert Batyrgaziev (5-0, 5 KOs) will come back for his sixth fight as a pro on March 20 in Saransk, Russia, says his head trainer Eduard Kravtsov.

“The fight will be scheduled for ten rounds”, said Kravtsov to RIA Novosti, Russian media agency. “Albert will risk his WBO International and IBF I/C featherweight titles. We are presently negotiating with possible candidates”.

Kravtsov had previously told Allboxing.ru that the goal for 2022 for Team ALBA is to improve Albert’s ranking in all major sanctioning bodies. 

“Albert is about to appear in top-15 of the IBF and WBO rankings following his most recent wins. We aim to miss this year in terms of amateur boxing and to concentrate solely at prizefighting. The ultimate goal for 2022 is to become a mandatory challenger for one of the major titles," added Kravstov.

A sophisticated southpaw boxer-puncher Albert Batyrgaziev, 23, is the only Russian boxer to capture a gold medal in Tokyo, as he defeated fellow rookie pro Duke Ragan in the final. Batyrgaziev jumped back to the pro game soon thereafter and got a couple of solid stoppages over veterans Suat Laze and Franklin Manzanilla. His latest win over the latter – right before Christmas – was specifically impressive for a young gun, who is already rated #15 by the WBO.