By Alexey Sukachev

Huge Moscow undercard for the May 21st “Battle of two Empires” is slowly being formed. WBO #1 ranked cruiserweight Denis Lebedev (21-1, 16 KOs) challenges American ring legend Roy Jones Jr. (54-7, 41 KOs) in the main event of one of the hugest Russian boxing cards in recent memory, arranged by Vladimir Hryunov in association with the Square Ring promotions.

World-ranked (IBF #5) bantamweight Alexander Bakhtin (26-0, 11 KOs) was previously said to face former WBC flyweight champion Medgoen Singsurat (73-6, 50 KOs) of Thailand (who is best known for dealing a third-round stoppage to reigning P4P king Manny Pacquiao in 1999). He will now collide with more dangerous and appealing opponent in 32-year old Guyanese Leon Moore (28-2, 22 KOs), who is ranked #3 by the WBC at super bantamweight. The fight is sanctioned for a vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council super bantamweight title, and it will be Bakhtin’s debut at 122lbs. Moore is best known for a wide decision over former two-division champion Mauricio Pastrana and a close loss to long-time flyweight king Irene Pacheco.

Opponents for highly regarded WBC #6 Ukrainian light heavyweight Ismayl Sillakh (15-0, 12 KOs) and American lightweight talent Yaundale Evans (13-0, 9 KOs) are still officially unknown. However, dangerous Ugandan Hamza Wandera (12-2-2, 11 KOs) is rumored to be the next challenger for Sillakh’s NABF title, while Kenyan Samuel Kamau (12-4-1, 11 KOs) will probably face Evans for a vacant WBC Youth intercontinental light welterweight title. Also, light heavyweight Sergey Ekimov (4-0, 2 KOs) will take on Khaybulla Madzhidov (4-5, 2 KOs) in the deep undercard.