Viktor Postol close to getting an opportunity to reclaim the WBC title!
On April 27, former WBC super lightweight champion Viktor “Iceman” Postol (31-2, 12 KO’s) claimed a dominant victory over a game, but over-matched Mohamed Minoune (21-3, 2 KO’s). Aside from being Postol’s second consecutive win, the bout also served as a WBC super lightweight title eliminator.
It has been something of a bumpy ride for the former champion to put himself back into this position.
Just a couple of years ago, Postol was viewed as something of a monster in the division. Many even believed then unified champion Danny Garcia moved to welterweight to avoid him. That was until he climbed in the ring with the ultra-talented Terence Crawford.
During their highly anticipated prizefight, Crawford quickly neutralized Postol’s formidable tools and defeated him rather easily; knocking him down five times in the process. Apparently, the loss was rather jarring for the Ukrainian, who would remain out of the ring for a little over a year.
He returned to a short lived stint in the win column after defeating Jamshidbek Najmiddinov. After another near year of inactivity, he would taste defeat once again at the hands of the hard-hitting Josh Taylor.
This time however, Postol was quick to get back in the ring. Five months after the Taylor loss, he toppled Siar Ozgui. Following Ozgui, “Iceman” defeated Minoune, which brings us to the current time.
Seemingly back in a good groove and looking to regain his status as one of the division’s top dogs, Postol is gunning for a title shot. Prior to the match with Minoune, he was rated #4 by the WBC. With the victory, he is sure to advance in the rankings.
In this strategic position, the former champion is now in striking distance of WBC silver titlist Josh Taylor, WBC Diamond belt holder Regis Prograis and organizational champion Jose Ramirez.
While Taylor and Prograis are tied up in the World Boxing Super Series tournament with a huge chance of facing each other in the finale, Ramirez has no fight scheduled on the books. If Postol and his team have their way, he will be challenging for a world title before the end of the year.
In a perfect world, an opportunity would arise by the end of the summer. Stay tuned to 3kingsboxing.com to see how this interesting situation unfolds.
By: Bakari Simpson
