Arsen Goulamirian of Armenia, the WBA “super” cruiserweight champion, is defending his belt against the No. 8-rated southpaw Constantin Bejenaru from the Republic of Moldova at the Palais Des Sport in Marseille, France on Saturday, December 28.
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Goulamarian, 32, who has a record of 25-0; 17 and fights out of Big Bear Lake, California, made his pro debut in May 2011, and in March 2018 won the interim WBA cruiserweight belt with an 11th-round technical knockout win over Ryad Merthy (24-0). Seven months later he stopped Mark Flanagan on a ninth-round technical knockout in a non-title fight.
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On November 15, Goulamarian claimed the full version of the WBA cruiserweight belt when won on a fourth-round knockout over Kane Watts (21-3); and was subsequently elevated to super champion by the WBA.
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Bejenaru (14-0; 4), who is based in Brooklyn, New York, was an outstanding amateur, a 10-time Romanian champion, a bronze medalist at the European amateur championships in 2006, and a finalist in the European Union championships in 2006 and 2007.
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In November 2017, he scored a unanimous 10-round points decision over South Africa’s Thabiso Mchunu for the WBC International and WBC Continental America’s cruiserweight titles. The scores were 98-91 and 97-92 twice.
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However, he was inactive for 19 months in what was reported as promotional problems before returning to action on 12 July this year with a sixth-round technical knockout win over Jose Humberto Corral (20-24).
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This could be a closely fought contest with the 35-year-old Benjenaru extending the champion. The other main organization champions are WBA, secondary, Beibut Shumenov, WBO, Mairus Breidis. The WBC title is vacant.
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H/T PanArmenian