By Alexey Sukachev

Former WBA interim cruiserweight champion and a multi-time world title challenger Valery Brudov (42-5, 28 KOs) snatched yet another chance for a major fight and possibly a career-ending payday with a convincing eight-round unanimous decision over durable journeyman Sergey Beloshapkin (12-12-1, 4 KOs) – tonight at the Pskov Ice Palace in Northern Russia.

Next for 38-year old Brudov (who lost to Virgil Hill in 2006 and to Guillermo Jones in 2010) is a fight against reigning EBU champion and WBC #1 Rakhim Chakhkiev (21-1, 16 KOs) somewhere in April.

Chakhkiev was said to be defending his title on March 28 against Lukasz Janik (28-2, 15 KOs) from Poland, but sources close to “World of Boxing” now indicate that Janik’s next opponent could possibly be WBA champion Denis Lebedev, with Chakhkiev vs. Brudov being placed on the undercard of that championship collision, though the latter statement hasn’t been confirmed officially. The fight could potentially take place on April 10, the other mentioned date being April 4.

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In the main event of the evening, promoted by Alexander Averin, WBO #12 middleweight Artur Akavov (12-1, 4 KOs) overpowered little-relevant Pole Sebastian Skzypczynski (11-10-1, 2 KOs) in three to defend his WBO European title for the second time.

Also, light heavyweight Denis Tsaryuk (11-0, 9 KOs) stopped Lithuanian import Kirill Psonko (15-33-2, 10 KOs), and Tajik welterweight Sherali “The Lion” Mamadaliev (19-2, 10 KOs) decisioned Latvian Jevgenijs Fiodorovs (11-49-6, 6 KOs) over six.