With Denis Lebedev potentially getting back the WBA "Super" cruiserweight title, he could be looking at a farewell fight in front of his home country fans.
World of Boxing's Vadim Kornilov, Lebedev's promoter, spoke to Sky Sports and discussed Lebedev's future in the wake of Oleksandr Usyk vacating the WBA title right before a purse bid against Lebedev. Now that Usyk is now focusing on a move to the heavyweight division, the WBA may reinstate Lebedev, the current "Champion in Recess," back as the WBA's top 200-pound champion.
Lebedev's first title defense could be against rising British contender Lawrence Okolie. Okolie has been asking for that fight for some time and Kornilov said Lebedev is also interested in that fight.
"We have heard that Okolie's team are interested in fighting Lebedev," Kornilov said. "I discussed this with Denis and the team and they said they are ready, make the fight happen!"
Should the fight happen, Kornilov and Lebedev want to stage the fight in Russia. Kornilov added that it would be a great sight having Lebedev return home for a world title fight as the 39-year-old fighter is at the end of his career and a fight against Okolie could be the final fight.
"Denis is a big champion and has a lot of fans in Russia, he has fought many big fights and main events in Russia. With this possibly being Denis' last fight, it would be great to put this fight together in Russia as a possible farewell fight for Denis," Kornilov said.
Since returning to the ring last year after a 14-month break from the sport, Lebedev has won his last two fights, most recently fight this past November when he won a 12-round decision against Mike Wilson.
