By Alexey Sukachev

Ukrainian kayo artist Olexander Usyk (8-0, 8 KOs), considered by many to be future of the cruiserweight division, will risk his WBO #1 ranking and WBO I/C title on December 12 at the Palace of Sports in Kiev, Ukraine.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist for Ukraine, 28 and making the fourth defense of his title, will collide with Cuban expatriate Pedro Rodriguez (22-1, 19 KOs) in the main event of the show, promoted by K2 Ukraine. The Ukrainian is 2-0, 2 KOs this year with stoppage wins over Andrey Knyazev and Johnny Mueller.

Rodriguez’s only loss came in February 2012 against fallen warrior Magomed Abdusalamov, who was at the peak of his powers at that time. The Cuban is 14-0, 13 KOs since then but his record is grossly padded and shouldn’t be taken seriously as all but one of his wins was achieved in the Dominican Republic, known (to a certain degree) for its mismatches, and he has only two victories over fighters with winning records over the same span of time.

The undercard of the show will be set as a mixture of experienced veterans, prospects and newbies.

Taking part in the event are middleweight Max Bursak (31-4-1, 14 KOs), welterweight Victor Plotnikov (33-3, 15 KOs), WBO #6 light middleweight Olexander Spirko (19-0, 11 KOs), featherweight Oleg Malinovskiy (16-0, 5 KOs), Kazakh lightweight Bekman Solylbayev (6-0, 3 KOs), and former amateur star Denis Berinchyk (2-0, 2 KOs). The opponent is known only for the latter. Berinchyk is planned to take on upset-minded Hungarian Gyorgy Mizsei Jr. (22-16, 13 KOs) over six.