The welterweight title elimination bout between Souleymane Cissokho and Egis Kavaliauskas, which was originally supposed to take place in late 2024, may have a new date this spring.

Cissokho-Kavaliauskas is scheduled for May 3 in Equatorial Guinea, the WBC said in a division-by-division update about all of its titleholders.

The fight was initially scheduled for December 7 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s capital. However, the event was canceled in late November when Cissokho suffered a broken hand in sparring.

Boxium Promotions has not yet announced the new date. 

Cissokho was previously ranked No. 1 by the WBC at welterweight but was pushed down to No. 2 in the sanctioning body’s most recent ratings update, supplanted by Devin Haney. Kavaliauskas is in the No. 5 slot.

Supposedly the winner of Cissokho-Kavaliauskas would replace Haney or whomever else is in the top spot.

Cissokho, 17-0 (9 KOs), is a 33-year-old born in Senegal and living in France. He has not fought since November 2023, when he won a unanimous decision over the 16-1 Isaias Lucero.

Kavaliauskas, 24-2-1 (19 KOs), was born in Lithuania and now lives in California. He also hasn’t fought since 2023, when he took out the 14-12-2 Jose Marruffo in three rounds. The 36-year-old’s record includes a TKO6 win over David Avanesyan in 2018, a draw with Ray Robinson in 2019, a ninth-round TKO loss to Terence Crawford in a welterweight title fight in 2019, and an eighth-round TKO loss to Vergil Ortiz Jnr in 2021.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.