Arsen Goulamirian defends belt after nearly three years

Parisian Arsen “Feroz” Goulamirian returns to action for the first time in nearly three years, when he defends the WBA “Super” Cruiserweight belt against the No 1 contender Aleksi Egarov from Russia, at La Palsestre in La Cannet in France on Saturday.

Goulamirian (26-0; 18), who makes the second defence of his belt, was scheduled to defend the belt against Egarov (11-0; 7) in December last year, but the fight was cancelled when Goulamirian tested positive for Covid, and thankfully he recovered.

Goulamirian, 35, has been training in Big Bear, California, under the guidance of respected trainer Abel Sanchez.

He won the Interim cruiserweight belt on 24 March 2018 and the WBA Gold World belt, and as made successful defences against Kane Watts (ko 4) and Constantin Bejenaru (rtd 9).

The 31-year Egorov, who was an outstanding amateur, has been inactive since 2020 but has scored wins over quality fighters like Lateef Kayode (rtd 6), Tommy Oosthuizen (pts 10) and Roman Golovashchenko (tko 3).

Both fighters have been inactive for some time but depending what he has got left the champion could win on points over 12 hard rounds.

The other main organisataion champions are Ilunga Junior Makabu (WBC), Jai Opetaia (IBF) and Lawrence Okolie (WBO).