Zhan Kossobutskiy will have a meaningful, televised heavyweight fight in the United States this summer after all.
BoxingScene.com has learned that the undefeated contender from Kazakhstan will square off against Nigerian power puncher Efe Ajagba on August 26 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ESPN will televise the 10-round bout between Ajagba (17-1, 13 KOs) and Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs) as the co-feature before Jared Anderson faces Ukraine’s Andrii Rudenko in the 10-round main event at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
Kossobutskiy, 34, was scheduled to square off against Anderson on July 1 at Huntington Center in Anderson’s hometown of Toledo, Ohio. Former IBF champion Charles Martin replaced Kossobutskiy on 11 days’ notice because Kossobutskiy had difficulty securing a visa in time that would’ve permitted him to travel to the United States.
Kossobutskiy’s visa issue has since been resolved, which allowed the promoter for Anderson and Ajagba, Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., to schedule their fight for five weeks from Saturday night.
The 6-foot-3, 239-pound southpaw still hopes to face Anderson, but Kossobutskiy will have to go through Ajagba to at least remain in position to eventually have that fight rescheduled.
The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Ajagba has won each of his two fights since Cuban contender Frank Sanchez (22-0, 15 KOs) out-boxed him on his way to winning a 10-round unanimous decision in October 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ajagba, 29, beat St. Louis’ Stephan Shaw (18-1, 13 KOs) unanimously on points in his last fight, a 10-rounder ESPN aired as a main event January 14 from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
Anderson, meanwhile, will return to the ring for another main event just eight weeks after Martin gave Anderson (15-0, 14 KOs) the toughest fight of his pro career.
The 37-year-old Martin (29-4-1, 26 KOs) became the first opponent to take the 23-year-old knockout artist the distance. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound southpaw seemed to buzz Anderson during the fifth round and again late in the 10th round, but Anderson dropped Martin toward the end of the third round, was otherwise in control and won by big margins on all three scorecards (99-90, 99-90, 99-91).
Anderson is heavily favored to beat the 39-year-old Rudenko (35-6, 21 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.