By Alexey Sukachev

Latvian promoter Andrejs Platonovs, together with well-known Eastern European impresario Oleg Bogdanov, is planning a major show on July 26 at the Skonto Stadium in Riga, Latvia. A star-studded evening of international boxing will most probably feature two legendary ex-champions Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney in their next fights.

The local star of the show will be top-notch Latvian cruiserweight Mairis Briedis (11-0, 9 KOs), who is set for twelve against rugged Ugandan Joey Vegas (16-8-1, 9 KOs).

Briedis, 29, has the official record of the prospect but his true ledger is richer: the IBA cruiserweight champion had starred in numerous Bigger’s Better Boxing installments, having scored no less than ten wins (and a loss) in those semi-official tourneys.

In a co-feature, WBO #10 light welterweight Aik “Humanoid” Shakhnazaryan (12-0, 4 KOs), 20, looks to continue his road up in class against former world title challenger Kaizer Mabuza (25-11-3, 15 KOs) of South Africa. Mabuza, 34, continues his Armenian tour – he lost in his latest fight to another Russia-based ethnic Armenian David Avanesyan in April. Shakhnazaryan scored a major win over dangerous upset artist Felix Lora on the same card.

Former three-division champion James Toney (76-9-3, 46 KOs) will take on hulking (6’10’’) Russian journeyman Evgueny Orlov (15-12-1, 11 KOs), who is coming off a stoppage win over former world title challenger Peter Okhello this March. An opponent for Roy Jones Jr. (57-8-4, 40 KOs) has yet to be defined.

Also on the card is a recent world title challenger Denis “Genghis Khan” Shafikov (33-1-1, 18 KOs), who is rated #9 by the IBF and #10 by the WBO in the lightweight division. His opponent is also unknown.

Author’s note: It has been previously reported by BoxingScene that a fight between Russian light heavyweight contender Dmitry Sukhotskiy and undefeated Canada-based Columbian Eleider Alvarez is possible later this summer. Sukhotskiy’s record was reported as 21-2, 16 KOs. It looks like, the Russian fighter also fought and won on June 4 in his hometown of Barnaul. Sukhotskiy overcame Joey Vegas in a hard-fought twelve-round affair for a vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council title. Scores were: 116-112, 115-113 and 115-114 – for the Russian. Sukhotskiy’s record is now 22-2, with 16 KOs.