By Per Ake Persson

IBF cruiserweight champ Yoan Pablo Hernandez, 27-1, can finally resume training in full come August 15, writes boxen-heute.de and now awaits the mandatory defence against Hamburg-based Russian Aleksander Alekseev - a showdown that can happen in October.

 

Hernandez, a southpaw, was last seen in September 2012 when he outscored Troy Ross. A defence against Eric Fields was in the works for February 2013 but was called off when Hernandez broke his left hand. A quick return was expected but the injury was more serious than first claimed and the healing has taken a long time.

 

Meanwhile, Alekseev, 24-2, beat Garrett Wilson in an IBF eliminator in February and was then expected to fight a final eliminator against Pawel Kolodziej but for some reasons this never materialized and Alekseev was named official challenger and his promoter, EC Box Promotion, have also moved in to fight for the interim title in case Hernandez was still injured.

 

Hernandez vs Alekseev is an intruiging all-southpaw clash where Hernandez has the punch while Alekseev is the better boxer.