By Keith Idec

Matt Korobov’s manager has informed BoxingScene.com that the middleweight contender has negotiated a release from his promotional contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.

The Russian-born Korobov (27-1, 14 KOs) hopes the release enables him to land big fights in either the middleweight or super middleweight divisions. The decorated amateur is ranked at middleweight by the WBO (No. 9), WBC (No. 10) and IBF (No. 12).

“Matt is now a promotional free agent,” said Mike Borao, Korobov’s manager. “Bob [Arum] called me a couple weeks ago and offered a fight against [WBO] 168-pound champion Gilberto Ramirez. That bout was quickly accepted by Matt, but Top Rank came back a short period later and said, to their surprise, Ramirez didn’t want the fight. Top Rank is a tremendous promoter, but besides Ramirez didn’t really have anyone for us to fight within their stable. To their credit, Bob was very honorable and we were able to work out a release.”

Korobov, 34, went 300-12 as an amateur before he signed with Top Rank amid a lot of fanfare in 2008.

The southpaw’s lone loss as a pro came against Ireland’s Andy Lee (34-3-1, 24 KOs), who won their WBO middleweight title bout by sixth-round TKO in December 2014. Korobov was winning that fight on all three scorecards when it was stopped in Las Vegas (50-45, 50-45, 48-47).

“Matt was such a highly accomplished amateur,” Borao said, “and with only one loss as a pro, I believe there are lots of opportunities for Matt between 160 and 168 pounds. I’ve been speaking to promoters about some exciting possibilities. I think some potential big fights out there for Matt are Billy Joe Saunders, Chris Eubank Jr. and Jermall Charlo.

“But the biggest opportunity by far is Triple-G. I think that bout is realistic, particularly because nobody is lining up to fight Gennady. He’s a beast, so I don’t really blame them. Whoever he fights, I think Matt has a great chance this year to finally meet the high expectations placed on him as a result of his outstanding amateur career.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.