Avtandil Khurtsidze's Title Fight Cancelled Following Soviet Crime Syndicate Arrests

Despite his diminutive frame as a middleweight boxer standing at just at 5"4', Georgian Avtandil Khurtsidze was long considered a solid gatekeeper in the division until embarking on a knockout spree from 2014—finishing all six opponents inside the distance. His berserker, Tasmanian Devil-style attack is eye-catching, as was his looping left hook TKO over the undefeated Tommy Langford in Khurtsidze's last outing in the ring back in April, which earned him the interim WBO world middleweight title and finally a crack at Briton Billy Joe Saunders and his legitimate WBO championship at the same weight as a solidified mandatory challenger.

Khurtsidze was set to face Saunders in his opponent's backyard on July 8 th in the Copper Box Arena in London, a venue originally built for the 2012 Olympics. The customary pre-fight trash talk between Khurtsidze and the brash Saunders had started as soon as the former defeated the aforementioned Langford, with Saunders calling Khurtsidze a "puffed up Danny DeVito," among other things. Other than the title defence aspect of the fight, this bout with Khurtsidze wasn't of great importance to Saunders and was unlikely to draw many viewers thanks to the Georgian's relatively small name. But for Khurtsidze, this fight was his biggest opportunity in boxing yet at 38-years-old.

Unfortunately for Khurtsidze, said opportunity will have to be postponed until further notice if it even exists at all. Last week, the Brooklyn-based boxer was arrested for alleged links to organised crime in the area as part of a 33 member-strong crime syndicate composed of people from former states within the Soviet Union. As a result, Khurtsidze is unable to travel to the UK and face Saunders for the belt he has been clamouring for.

The FBI-led sting saw all 33 members of the "Russian crime syndicate" arrested and charged for various forms of conspiracy, including murder-for-hire, extortion, RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), identity fraud, wire fraud and other illicit activities.

Khurtsidze is facing particular charges in RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each crime carries a maximum of 20 years in prison; 3 years supervised release; $250,000 fine, or twice gross pecuniary gain/loss, according to the Department of Justice press release. Former UFC fighter Levan Makashvili, another Georgian-born fighter living in New York, has also been charged with the same crimes.

According to the report, the group operated under the direction and protection of Razhden Shulaya, who was known as a "vor v zakonei" or "vor," which are Russian terms, translated as "thief-in-law" or "thief," which refer to an order of elite criminals from the former Soviet Union who receive tribute from other criminals, offer protection and use their recognised status to adjudicate disputes among lower-level criminals. The report later states the crime syndicate also operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada and abroad.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim's statement reads: "Today, we have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organized crime syndicate allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country. The indictments include charges against the alleged head of this national criminal enterprise, one of the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian 'vor.' The dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organized crime syndicate allegedly include a murder-for-hire conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices."

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney added: "The suspects in this case cast a wide net of criminal activity, aiming to make as much money as possible, all allegedly organized and run by a man who promised to protect them. But that protection didn't include escaping justice and being arrested by the agents and detectives on the FBI New York Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force."

According to ESPN, Khurtsidze had only just returned to New York from Georgia a day before his arrest. As a result, his manager, Lou DiBella, was surprised at this development to say the least. "We were as blindsided by this news as everyone else," Alex Dombroff, DiBella's attorney, told ESPN. "At this point we're still gathering information regarding the extent and nature of the indictment, but I think it is telling that Khurtsidze's name was not mentioned in the body of the Department of Justice's press release."

It's important to stress Khurtsidze and Makashvili are innocent until proven guilty, as are the rest named in the Department of Justice report, but, for those criminal accusations alone, this could well be the wildest reason for a title fight cancellation in the history of combat sports.