German cruiserweights Huseyin Cinkara (21-0, 17 KOs) and Armend Xhoxhaj (18-3, 9 KOs) will meet in an IBF eliminator April 27 at the KIA Arena in Nuremberg, Germany.

Cinkara, 39, is ranked No. 5 in the latest IBF ratings, while Xhoxhaj is ranked No. 7. The winner will be promoted to No. 1.

Xhoxhaj is trained by former world titleholder Juergen Braehmer, who also co-promotes the event along with ZenDrops. The card will be streamed by DAZN.

The undercard will feature light heavyweight Ardian Krasniqi (8-0, 8 KOs) in a defense of his German title, as well as Albanian heavyweight Nelson Hysa (14-0, 12 KOs).

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The European Boxing Union has announced that the fight for its vacant light heavyweight title between Shakan Pitters (19-2, 6 KOs) and Daniel Blenda Dos Santos (21-1, 10 KOs) will go on May 3 in Telford, U.K., in a Wasserman Boxing promotion.

Wasserman has yet to confirm the date.

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Greek heavyweight Marios Kollias (11-3-1, 9 KOs) began his professional career by getting stopped in the first round – but he has an explanation for the result.

“The fight was made at cruiserweight, and I had to lose a lot of weight, had nothing left and was stopped in the first round,” said Kollias, who plugged away and fought some officially recorded fights – but took even more on the unlicensed fight circuit in Greece.

Kollias’ break came when his manager, Artan Verbica, made a fight for him in Latvia, where Kollias beat then-unbeaten Milan Volkovs. This led to a 2019 showdown against Swedish veteran Attila Levin and a close loss after a good performance.

After that, Kollias was asked to spar with Pezhman Seifkhani in Orebro, Sweden, for a week, which led to a contract with Fight Life promoter Kamran Kabinejad, who also trains Kollias. Six straight wins inside the distance followed, including a stoppage of previously undefeated Felix Langberg in Germany, where Kollias won the WBA Continental title.

“If Kamran moves, I will move along with him,” Kollias said. But he also admits that it is tough to be away from his friends and family in Greece, not to mention the chilly weather in Sweden. (Kollias also works as a roofer.)

In his most recent fight, Kollias – a good puncher who likes to be the aggressor and fight on the inside – lost a close and controversial decision to Kem Ljungquist in Denmark.

“I don't think I lost that fight,” Kollias said. “The referee allowed my opponent to get away with way too much holding. But I wasn't in top shape due to a bout with Covid and less than a month to prepare.”

Kollias expects to be back in action in April or May.