By Ian S Palmer
The vacant WBA Cruiserweight Title is on the line this Saturday, July 7th in Kazakhstan as hometown hero Beibut Shumenov takes on Hizni Altunkaya of Germany. Shumenov last fought in May of 2016 when he beat Junior Anthony Wright by a 10th-round TKO. Shumenov is a former Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Champion and has been out of action for just over two years now due to an eye injury and could be a little rusty. Altunkaya’s last outing took place in January when he beat Niko Lohmann on points over six rounds. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK and Ireland on BoxNation.
The 34-year-old Shumenov will be entering the ring with a record of 17-2 along with 12 Kos. He turned pro back in 2007 after a fine amateur career and has boxed 140 rounds since then. Shumenov has decent power with a current 58 per cent knockout ratio and he also has pretty good size at 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 74-inch reach. Most fans will know him from his tussle with Bernard Hopkins back in April of 2014. Hopkins dropped him in the 11th round and took a split decision in a pretty lively scrap.
Shumenov fights out of Las Vegas and also went through an 18-month layoff earlier in his career. He won a version of the light heavyweight title back in January, 2010 by beating Gabriel Campillo by split decision. 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.
Shumenov has also shared the ring with Tomas Kovacs, Enrique Ornelas, Danny Santiago, William Joppy, Montell Griffin, Donnell Wiggins, Shannon Miller, Byron Mitchell and BJ Flores. 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 won the interim WBA Cruiserweight Title with his win over Flores in July, 2015.
Altunkaya is 30 years old and of Turkish descent and has fought the majority of his career in Germany. He’s got an impressive record of 30-1 along with 17 Kos. However, most fans won’t recognize any of his opponents other than Krzysztof Glowacki, and Altunkaya was stopped after five rounds when he stepped up in class against him in June of 2017. Even though he’s been stopped, Altunkaya’s got a pretty good chin and carries around a current knockout ratio of 55 per cent.
Altunkaya turned pro in 2008 and has 147 rounds of experience under his belt. He’s also won a few minor and regional belts since turning pro such as the interim World Boxing Federation Cruiserweight crown in 2011. Altunkaya gives up an inch in height to Shumenov as he’s 6-feet-1-inch tall and has a negligible reach disadvantage at 73.5 inches. His lack of stiff opposition won’t help him as he’ll be stepping up in class once again against the aggressive Shumenov.
Prediction…
It’s hard to tell how Shumenov’s injured eye will react after being out of the ring for over two years, but if he’s anything like his old self then he’ll be an aggressive and entertaining boxer. I’m expecting Shumenov’s activity in the ring to be too much for Altunkaya and for Shumenov to take the title by decision with a stoppage a remote possibility.
