By Ian S Palmer
Beibut Shumenov of Kazakhstan will be taking on American cruiserweight BJ Flores this Saturday night July 25 at the Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is another Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) production and the 10-round fight it can be seen across North America live on the NBCSN network. Neither boxer is considered a big-name fighter, but they’re both solid pros who have the ability to come up with an exciting contest. This contest is listed as being for the interim WBA Championship.
The 31-year-old Shumenov is a former light heavyweight titleholder and will be entering the ring with a record of 15-2 along with Kos. The 36-year-old Flores has a very impressive 31-1-1 mark with 20 Kos. Shumenov has decent power with a 59 per cent knockout ratio while Flores’ is slightly higher at 61 per cent. Both boxers have good size for the 200 lb. division as they each measure in at 6-feet-2-inches tall. However, when it comes to reach, Flores has a decided advantage at 80 inches to Shumenov’s 74. Flores of Arizona also comes in as the hands-down winner when it comes to pro experience with 33 bouts and 160 rounds compared to 15 bouts and 118 rounds by Shumenov.
However, Flores hasn’t been as busy in the past few years as he took an 18-month break from the ring before returning in 2014 with a trio of wins. He’s now won seven bouts in a row with five of them coming by the stoppage route. Shumenov last fought against Bobby Thomas Jr in December and stopped him in five rounds, but most fans will know him from his tussle with Bernard Hopkins back in April of last year. Hopkins dropped him in the 11th round and took a split decision in a pretty lively scrap.
Shumenov now fights out of Las Vegas and he also went through an 18-month layoff earlier in his career. He won a version of the light heavyweight title back in 2010 by beating Gabriel Campillo by split decision in January of 2010. He then defended the crown five times before running into Hopkins in a unification bout. Shumenov also put his name in the boxing record book with the win over Campillo as he won the belt in just his 10th pro outing, becoming the quickest to ever capture a 175 lb. belt.
Flores has faced the likes of Hugo Pineda, Darnell Wilson and Andy Sample with his lone loss coming by 12-round unanimous decision to Australian Danny Green in Australia back in 2010. During his career, Shumenov has been in with Tomas Kovacs, Enrique Ornelas, Danny Santiago, William Joppy, Montell Griffin, Donnell Wiggins, Shannon Miller and Byron Mitchell. Along with losing to Hopkins, Campillo also beat him by a majority decision in their first meeting back in 2009.
Shumenov decided to move up to the 200 lb division after the loss to Hopkins and this will be just his second fight at the new weight. It could be argued that he’s been in with tougher opposition than Flores and that could work in his favour. Shumenov is tough and durable with a solid chin while the same can be said of Flores. The American’s reach advantage could prove to be a big factor here, as he should be able to catch his opponent moving in. If both guys show up with their A game, this should be quite an entertaining affair.
Prediction
Shumenov made Hopkins fight in their encounter early last year whereas most boxer let Hopkins dictate the fight at a turtle’s pace. If he can do the same against Flores it will be a give-and-take fight and their chins will be tested. Flores has the reach advantage and is used to the heavier weight, but Shumenov is five years younger. This fights could go either way, but I have a feeling Shumenov will pull it out and take the interim title by decision.
