By Igor Lazorin, tass

The World Boxing Council [WBC] cruiserweight "champion in recess" - Grigory Drozd (40-1, 28KOs) of Russia - is unable to fight after admitting that his shoulder is giving him constant pain when he trains.

Drozd has been inactive since last May due to injuries. He fought and knocked out Lukasz Janik in nine rounds. It was his first and only defense of the WBC title he captured from Krzysztof Wlodarczyk of Poland in September of 2014.

He was scheduled to make a mandatory defense of his title on April 8th of this year against Congolese contender Ilunga Makabu. When he withdrew with injury, and the sanctioning body made his the 'champion in recess.'

The vacant belt was then contested by Makubu and Tony Bellew of the UK - who captured the title with a third round knockout. Bellew retained the title for the first time last month with a knockout of BJ Flores in three.

As the 'champion in recess' Drozd has the ability to get a direct world title shot upon returning to the ring but things don't look good for the 37-year-old fighter. He was hoping to have a fight in the fall and then exercise his immediate title shot in the first quarter of next year. All of those plans have been pushed back and potentially they may never come to pass.

"I started training a long time ago, but I was constantly hampered by the fact that at the time my shoulder would continue to give me pain and I do not understand why it was happening. Where is the pain coming from? All of the damage was fixed, but the pain continues. At the moment I've continue to train and I'm also monitoring the situation with the shoulder," Drozd said. "The timing [of my return] is difficult to figure out, because if there is no improvement [with my shoulder] then it could mean retirement."