By Yuri Tarantin

Everything is still on course for WBC cruiserweight 'champion in recess,' Grigory Drozd (40-1, 28KOs), who plans to exercise a clause which gives him an immediate world title shot.

The WBC cruiserweight belt changed hands two weeks ago in Liverpool, when Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17KOs) knocked out Ilunga Makabu in three rounds to capture the vacant world title.

Drozd never lost the belt in the ring. The belt became vacant when he suffered multiple injuries and was unable to meet his mandatory obligation to Makabu. The WBC made him the 'champion in recess' - a status which grants him an immediate world title shot at whoever is the current beltholder.

Drozd captured the belt in September of 2014 with a dominating performance over longtime champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. He made his first defense last May with a ninth round stoppage of Lukasz Janik.

At the moment he is taking his training camp slowly, testing out his hand in spurts. If the hand holds up, he plans to start full training for the fight in August.

"I'm doing fine. The hand is not a concern. I proceeded to use it and there are no unpleasant sensations. I'm training very slowly, and a large load [of training] is not being done. To force the training is not worth it. It is necessary [to do it in steps]. If all goes well, then in August I will be able to start full training for a fight," Drozd said.

"The fight for the vacant WBC title was completed. Me and my comrades thought Ilunga Makabu would get the win, but it turned out to be the opposite of what happens in boxing. Bellew proved himself in a very good way. He's a dangerous guy with a good punch and quite well trained. The only mistake he had made was ??in the first round when a hard punch missed [and he was dropped by a counter], but overall he proved to be a real fighter. I congratulate him on this event, and as soon as I'm ready to box - we will conduct negotiations with the WBC and I will exercise my right to a title fight."

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru.