A world title eliminator will headline the next fight card promoted by German Titov.

Unbeaten cruiserweight Evgeny Tishchenko will face former world title challenger Thabiso Mchunu Saturday night. The 12-round bout, which will be a WBC world title eliminator, will take place at the RCC Boxing Academy in Tishchenko’s hometown of Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Tishchenko (8-0, 6 knockouts) last fought on November 7, knocking out England’s John McCallum in round 2. Eight months prior to the McCallum fight, the southpaw Tishchenko knocked out Marcos Antonio Aumada in round 3.

The 29-year-old, who is promoted by Titov and managed by Vadim Kornilov, has stopped his last four opponents. All but one of his fights have take place in Ekaterinburg.

Mchunu will be a significant step-up for Tishchenko, who will have a six-inch reach advantage over the fighter from Cato Ridge, South Africa.

The 33-year-old Mchunu, who is also a southpaw, defeated Denis Lebedev by unanimous decision in his last bout in December 2019. Mchunu has won his last three bouts since losing a very close majority decision to countryman Thomas Oosthuizen in September 2018. He would avenge the loss three months later, winning a wide decision over Oosthuizen.

Mchunu challenged then-WBO cruiserweight titleholder Oleksandr Usyk in December 2016, losing by knockout in round 9.

In the co-feature, lightweight Zaur Abdullaev, who is also from Ekaterinburg, will square off against Zhora Hamazaryan in a 10-round bout. 

Abdullaev (12-1, 8 KOs) dropped Pavel Malikov six times, winning by knockout in round 7 of his last bout on August 22. The fight took place almost a year after he was stopped by Devin Haney.

Hamazaryan (10-2-2, 7 KOs), who is originally from Armenia and now resides in Los Angeles, last fought on January 23, overcoming a knockdown to stop unbeaten prospect Dmitry Yun in round 4. Hamazaryan is best known for his two fights against Thomas Mattice in 2018, both of which many thought he won, but fought to a disputed decision loss and a draw.

Former world junior lightweight title challenger Evgeny Chuprakov (23-3, 12 KOs) will face unbeaten Ruslan Kamilov (9-0-1, 4 KOs) and unbeaten junior lightweight Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov (16-0, 9 KOs) of Tajikistan will square off against South Africa’s Lunga Sitemela (13-0, 7 KOs).

Both fights are scheduled for 10 rounds. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.