Former Japanese record-breaking national champion and long-time bantamweight contender Alexander Bakhtin (27-0, 11 KOs), 29, fresh off his win over Jose Angel Berranza this May, looks for much harder challenges ahead of him.

The next goal for the Russian, who spent merely a decade fighting exclusively in Japan, is his former USSR compatriot and famed multi-champion Vic Darchinyan (36-3-1, 27 KOs).

“We have already conducted negotiations with Gary Shaw and currently preparing for a fight with Vic,” Bakhtin’s manager Vladimir Hryunov said.

“There’s a possibility this clash will land somewhere in October at the Ice Palace in Balashikha, a few miles to the east of Moscow, or at “Dynamo” arena in Krylatskoye, the recent venue for Denis Lebedev vs. Roy Jones Jr.. Sasha also fought on the undercard of “The Battle of Two Empires”, while Balashikha is an adopted hometown for Bakhtin; he lives and trains there,” he said, BoxingScene.com reported.