By Yuri Tarantin

WBA/IBF cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev of Russia is backing WBO cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki (26-0, 16KOs) to come through his mandatory title defense against challenger Oleksandr Usyk (9-0, 9KOs) of Ukraine.

The fight was officially announced last Wednesday at a press conference in Poland, with a finalized date of September 17 with a 15,000 seat Ergo Arena in Gdansk playing host for the fight.

This past April at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Glowacki made a voluntary defense against former IBF champion Steve Cunningham. He scored four knockdowns on route to a twelve round unanimous decision win.

Uysk, an Olympic gold medal winner, is being fast-tracked to the belt and wants to face the champion sooner than later. He was due to take an interim-fight to stay busy, but suffered an injury in camp and now hears straight to a world title shot.

Glowacki captured the world title last August with a knockout victory over longtime champion Marco Huck of Germany. He suffered some injuries to his hand and elbow during the contest and required surgery.

Lebedev, who unified the WBA/IBF titles earlier this year when he knocked out Victor Ramirez, says Usyk being rushed a little too fast and is not experienced enough to overcome the champion.

The Russian champion is going to keep a close eye on the fight. He was looking to face Glowacki in the fall, but the WBO was very firm with their mandatory order for Usyk to get his promised title shot.

"I believe Glowacki has a good chance of beating Usyk - who is a very talented fighter - but he is, in my opinion,  not quite ready to fight for the championship belt as a pro. In this battle, I will give the preference to Glowacki," Lebedev said.

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru.