Who is the undisputed world boxing champion. Will the undisputed champions return to boxing? Lebedev and Belew are Usyk's potential rivals
MOSCOW, June 30 - RIA Novosti. The former WBC, WBA and IBF world boxing champion celebrates his 50th birthday on Thursday.
Below is a biographical note.
American professional boxer Mike Tyson, full name Michael Gerard Tyson, was born on June 30, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York (USA).
As a child, he lived in the disadvantaged area of New York, Brownsville, known for its high crime rate. At first, Mike was soft-spoken and incapable of standing up for himself, but then he succeeded in street fights and became a member of a criminal gang. Tyson often got into trouble with the police - by the age of 13 he was detained more than 30 times. During one of his arrests, Mike was able to see boxing legend Mohammed Ali, who made a special trip to the correctional facility to communicate with difficult teenagers. It was after this meeting that Tyson first thought about a career as a boxer.
For his behavior, Tyson was transferred to a school for juvenile delinquents in upstate New York. There he was attracted by boxing classes, which he taught in physical education classes. former boxer Bobby Stewart, winner of amateur tournaments, but did not achieve high results like a pro. In order for Stuart to devote more time to training with him, Mike pulled up his studies and discipline.
Tyson soon achieved some success in boxing, after which Stewart introduced him to the famous American coach and manager Cas D "Amato, who took Mike under his wing. Thanks to discipline and adherence to the training schedule established by D" Amato, Tyson achieved excellent results in amateur sports, winning 24 fights and having suffered only three defeats, always trying to bring things to their logical end - a knockout. According to many sports writers of that time, it was "for unjustified cruelty in the ring" that young Tyson did not get into the US Olympic boxing team at XXIII Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984.
In 1985, Tyson moved into the category of professional boxers. In a professional environment, he received the nickname "Iron Mike". In March 1985, in his first fight, Mike Tyson defeated technical knockout Hector Mercedes.
On November 22, 1986, Tyson won the WBC title by defeating the Canadian boxer of Jamaican origin Trevor Berbick, the same boxer after the fight with whom Mohammed Ali was forced to end his career in December 1981. By defeating Berbick, Mike Tyson became the youngest world heavyweight champion.
On March 7, 1987, Tyson was able to defend his title against James Smith. In August, Mike Tyson became the undisputed WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion by defeating Tony Tucker.
Victories over Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tubbs, Larry Holmes, Tyrell Biggs and Michael Spinks confirmed his status as the best boxer in the world.
"Iron Mike" successfully defended his boxing title until February 1990, when in a fight with Buster Douglas, he unexpectedly for himself and for many was knocked out for the first time in his career.
Subsequently, Tyson's professional career was interrupted by several convictions. In 1992, he was convicted of raping Miss Black America Desiree Washington and spent three years in prison.
In March 1996, in three rounds with Frank Bruno, Tyson again became the owner of the WBC world title. In September of that year, it took Tyson just under two minutes of a fight with Bruce Seldon to regain the WBA world title. According to experts, Seldon was so scared of the fight with eminent opponents that he simply gave up.
This was followed by Tyson's memorable fights with Evander Holyfield: November 9, 1996 and June 28, 1997. Tyson lost both fights. During the second fight, Tyson bit off a piece of his opponent's ear, for which he was deprived of his boxing license for a year and fined $ 3 million.
In 1998, the boxer was sentenced to 3.5 months in prison for beating.
In 1999, Tyson's license was restored, which became the "event of the year" in boxing. However, Iron Mike could not reach the previous level.
Tyson's career ended in 2005 with a loss to Irishman Kevin McBride. Tyson's last fights were not easy for him: two of the three fights held since 2002 ended with his defeats. In June 2002 and July 2004, Tyson lost by knockout to Lennox Lewis and Danny Williams, and in between these fights in February 2003, he himself knocked out Clifford Etienne.
Tyson - WBC heavyweight champion in 1986-1990 and in 1996; WBA heavyweight champion in 1987-1990 and in 1996. From 1987 to 1990 he was the IBF champion, the absolute champion (in all three versions) in 1987-1990.
In total, during his professional career, Tyson spent 58 fights, won 50 victories, 44 of them ended in a knockout.
In October 2006, Tyson, who declared bankruptcy in 2003, returned to the ring, starting a world tour in a series of "exhibition" fights.
In November 2007, he was sentenced to 24 hours in jail and three years of probation for drug possession and drunk driving.
In November 2009, he was detained by police on suspicion of a fight with a photographer at the Los Angeles airport.
Mike Tyson has repeatedly acted in films. Popularity brought him the role of himself (cameo) in the film "The Hangover" (2009), and then in its sequel and triquel - "The Hangover 2: From Vegas to Bangkok" (2011) and "The Hangover: Part III" (2013) . Tyson also starred in films such as "Bone" (1999), "Black and White" (1999), "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" (2001), "When I'm Loved" (2004), "Very Scary Kino-5" (2013) and others.
Tyson's latest film credits include the comedy Entourage (2015) and the action movie Ip Man 3D (2015).
Documentaries "Tyson" (2008) and "The Truth of Mike Tyson (2013)" were filmed about the boxer, in which the ex-champion acted as a producer.
In 2014, the animated series Mike Tyson Mysteries was released about him.
In April 2012, Tyson participated in a two-hour one-man show in Las Vegas in a production of The Undisputed Truth, dedicated to his personal life and boxing career.
His autobiographical book "Tyson. Ruthless Truth" was published in several countries around the world and won the Grand Prix and the Golden Podium award at the Monaco Sportel festival.
Mike Tyson has been married to Lakiha Spicer since 2009. His first wife was actress Robin Givens, the second - the doctor Monica Turner. According to various sources, in total, Tyson is the father of eight children from different women.
At the end of May 2009, his four-year-old daughter Exodus died in an accident.
MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk defeated Russian Murat Gassiev by unanimous decision in the final of the first World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) and became the world champion according to the World Boxing Council (WBC), the World Boxing Organization (WBO), the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) in weight up to 90.71 kg.
The 12-round fight took place in Moscow at the Olimpiysky sports complex. All three judges gave the victory to the 31-year-old Ukrainian athlete - 120:108, 119:109, 119:109.
On the way to the final, Gassiev literally demolished his rivals - in the quarterfinals, the Russian knocked out the Pole Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, in the semifinals - the Cuban Yunier Dorticos. Olympic champion Usyk, who was considered the favorite of the tournament, became the most serious opponent for Gassiev. The Russian boxer delivered dangerous blows several times in the first half of the fight, knocking the Ukrainian boxer down more than once. However, in the second half of the battle, Gassiev failed to consolidate his success, losing to a more technical and skillful opponent.
Usyk won his 15th victory in the professional ring (11 - by knockout), while not having defeats. Gassiev suffered the first defeat in his career, winning 26 victories (19 by knockout).
Previously, three boxers owned four world champion belts in the main versions - Americans Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor (both - average weight) and Terence Crawford (welterweight).
Umar Kremlev, Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation, told TASS that security at the event was organized at the very highest level, no incidents were recorded.
Lebedev and Belew are Usyk's potential rivals
Champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA) "on vacation" Russian Denis Lebedev may become Usyk's next opponent. This was announced to TASS by the head of the promotion company "World of Boxing" Andrey Ryabinsky.
"We are thinking about it," the source said. Usik's manager Egis Klimas told TASS that the boxer is highly likely to move up to heavyweight.
“I heard that Tony Belew wants to fight the winner of the last fight. He recently defeated David Haye very beautifully. I think we can start from this. But you need to weigh everything, maybe there are still good and money fights in the current weight, you need to move step by step," Usyk told reporters.
Lebedev is currently training in Los Angeles. In his last fight in September last year, he defeated Australian Mark Flanagan. Bellew, in May of this year, won again former champion the world of David Haye.
Gassiev could move up to heavyweight
The Russian boxer after the fight with Usyk can also go to heavyweight. "So far, there is no decision on this issue. Murat and I will still discuss further plans," Gassiev's promoter Leon Margules told TASS, adding that for the 24-year-old Russian, his career is just beginning.
Gassiev himself called Usik the strongest opponent in his career and promised to learn from this fight.
"Great fight, great experience. I want to congratulate Sasha's team on a wonderful job done. Sasha showed that I have something to work on, you can feel the difference, that he has a huge amateur school. I saw my weaknesses, I will work further and come back much stronger ", Gassiev told reporters.
After the fight, the athlete was supported by his teammate, world champion Gennady Golovkin from Kazakhstan. Golovkin recommended the Russian not to be upset because of the defeat and to do work on the mistakes.
Usyk also entered the locker room after the fight, Gassiev, they took pictures together and wished each other good luck. Boxers before, during and after the fight treated each other very respectfully.
Chudinov and Madiev's victories
As part of the boxing evening, which took place in the Olimpiysky sports complex in the capital, several fights took place with the participation of Russian boxers. These fights preceded the main fight of the evening between Gassiev and Usyk.
Russian Magomed Madiev met in the ring with Argentinean Guido Pitto, the middleweight fight ended in a draw. In the same weight, a fight took place between representatives of Russia Vladimir Shishkin and Gasanov Gasanov, in which Shishkin won by knockout. Another middleweight bout was won by Russian Sergey Vorobyov, who defeated compatriot Konstantin Ponomarev by a separate decision of the judges.
Another representative of Russia, Denis Shafikov, turned out to be stronger than Filipino John Gemino in the second featherweight bout. The absolute world champion Norwegian Cecilia Brekhus left no chance for Russian Inna Sagaidovskaya.
The main event of the undercard was the confrontation in the first heavyweight division between Russian Fedor Chudinov and Frenchman Najib Mohammedi. After 12 rounds, the judges gave preference to Chudinov, which did not please Mohammedi, who was confident of his victory.
For the first time in 12 years, an absolute world champion appeared in boxing. Who is he
Undefeated American Terence Crawford beats Julius Indongo in less than 10 minutes and collects four belts of the leading boxing organizations in the light welterweight (up to 63.5 kg) weight.
What is an absolute champion
November 2001 Kostya Tszyu defeated Zab Judah and became the undisputed light welterweight world champion, having won the three most prestigious belts (WBA, WBC and IBF). In 2017, at a press conference before the fight with Julius Indongo, Terence Crawford recalled this, emphasizing that it was really important for him to surpass the achievements of the Russian and become the first person in this weight and only the third in history who manages to collect four belts at once.
At the time of Tszyu, it was not necessary to win four titles to be considered the absolute world champion, three were enough. The WBA, IBF, and WBC recognized the WBO as their peer organization after 2004. Since then, only Bernard Hopkins has managed to collect all the belts, in September 2004. In July 2005, Hopkins will lose to Jermain Taylor, the titles will pass to him, but the next fight Taylor will come out with only three belts, having lost the IBF strap for unsportsmanlike reasons.
Crawford became the third person in the 21st century to become the undisputed four-belt world champion. More recently, Wladimir Klitschko and Sergey Kovalev were close to this, each had three belts, but they never got the opportunity to collect four major titles in boxing. Andre Ward and Gennady Golovkin currently hold three belts.
Who is Terence Crawford
Six days before the most important fight of his life, Terence Crawford filmed a video in which he parodied open training Conor McGregor before the fight with Floyd Mayweather. Popular entertainment for modern boxers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXwTPDMF9ms/Late last year, Terence Crawford was sentenced to 52 days in prison for poaching a car repair shop. Crawford decided that he could take his car without paying the owner. And these were not the biggest problems in the life of a boxer. On September 4, 2008, Terence went to play dice in his neighborhood, finished the game, sat in the car, someone did not like it, and Crawford was shot in the head with a pistol. The bullet went on a tangent, Terence himself came to the hospital. Two months later, he won his fifth pro fight. In general, in 2008, Crawford planned to be at the Beijing Olympics, but could not qualify for the Games. In 9 years, he will meet the winner of that Olympics, Felix Diaz, and beat him in ten rounds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BX3o1PhlF44/His story is the story of a humble guy from the provinces. Crawford was born in Omaha and quickly became interested in boxing. In his family, almost all the men boxed. Unfortunately, no one taught Crawford to speak brightly, and even when his statistics were in the 19-0 region, Crawford's main income came from working as a sparring partner Timothy Bradley (ex-WBO champion). 2013 will be a turning point. Crawford will begin to win fights, the significance of which can be explained in one line: three opponents who have not been defeated before (Viktor Postol, Andrey Klimov and Yuriorkis Gamboa) were beaten, an away victory and a champion title were obtained (Ricky Burns was knocked out in Scotland), Olympic champion Diaz and John Molina, who just defeated Ruslan Provodnikov.
On May 21, Terence Crawford beat Felix Diaz and turned out to be a boxer with statistics of 31 wins, 0 losses, and to the status of an absolute champion he lacked two titles: WBC and IBF, Julius Indongo had them.
How did the fight for four championship belts turn out
Crawford remained not too interesting for the public. On May 20, 2017, Floyd Mayweather was only interested in Conor McGregor, and a little earlier, 50,000 paid broadcasts were sold for the fight between Crawford and Viktor Postol (for comparison, 500,000 sold broadcasts is considered the average figure for a UFC tournament). The boxer has over 150,000 followers on Instagram. Terence was desperate for a truly meaningful achievement.
On August 19, 2017, the Russian Eduard Troyanovsky could have entered the ring at the Pinnacle Bank Arena, but on December 3, 2016, Troyanovsky decided to defend the belts in a fight with Julius Indongo from Namibia. Prior to his first amateur fight, Indongo trained without gloves, but as soon as they appeared, people began to get upset. Arena "Megasport", for example, was upset in full force, when already in the first minute Indongo knocked out Troyanovsky, took the Russian belt and left in a certain direction.
Indongo did nothing of the kind in the fight with Crawford. If Julius was like Leicester in boxing, it was season two on an August morning with the sacking of Cdaudio Ranieri. Crawford saw all the blows and knew what Julius would do even before the Namibian himself knew it.
When there was a minute and a half left before the end of the third round, Julius Indongo suddenly grabbed his stomach, his lungs stopped working, and instead of the opponent, the audience and the blue flooring of the ring began to spin before his eyes. He will watch the replay and realize that Crawford's fist, tightly packed in a dark blue glove, has ambushed his liver.
So Terence Crawford ended up with the four most important championship belts, and now it remains to understand who needs them most.
Text: Vadim Tikhomirov, Bogdan Domansky
He is rightfully considered the best analyst of opening variations. Kramnik is practically a legend. The chess player who was able to defeat Garry Kasparov and take the title from him, the chess player who received many awards, the absolute world chess champion, and the man whose name is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. All this and much more can be said about Vladimir Kramnik.
The beginning of a chess career.
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik was born on June 25, 1975. From the age of 5, young Volodya began to play chess. After the family of the future international grandmaster moved to Moscow, Vladimir entered chess school Mikhail, and already in 1991, at the age of only 16, he became the world champion among chess players under the age of 18.
The second step is the Olympic team.
Almost immediately after that, in 1992, Kramnik was able to become a member of the Olympic team, and won the Olympics in Manila. Then Vladimir managed to show a unique result - 8.5 out of a possible 9. After this Olympiad, Kramnik's results improved every year, and already in 1994 Kramnik beat the Great Kasparov for the first time.
But this victory was not the last. Indeed, in 2000, Kasparov, being the reigning world champion, offered the 25-year-old chess player a rematch.
Kramnik - Kasparov 2000.
Indeed, the proposal to play a rematch, which went down in history and will be remembered for a long time by everyone associated with chess, came from the current 13th world champion, Garry Kasparov. Kramnik agreed to the game. According to the terms of the contract, it was supposed to be a match for the title of world champion in the classical version. And this match became fatal for Kasparov. Of the 16 games of the world champion, he could not win a single one.
Provodnikov and 16 world boxing champions from Russia
Ruslan Provodnikov has become another world boxing champion among professionals in a long list of Russian boxers.
In connection with the latest addition to the regiment of Russian champions in the person of Ruslana Provodnikova remember all Russian professional boxers who have ever held major championship titles.
Yuri Arbachakov. WBC flyweight champion 1992-1997.
In the late 80s, Yuri Arbachakov (23-1-0, 16 KOs) was an amateur boxing star in the flyweight division, the champion of the USSR, Europe and the world. Just then in new Russia"the first sprouts began to appear professional boxing, and Yuri was one of the first Russian (then Soviet) boxers who turned pro. In Russia, professional boxing, unfortunately, was still a novelty, so he had to emigrate to Japan. His career began in 1990 after signing with Japanese club"Kyoei boxing". In a little more than two years, from February 1990 to April 1992, the Russian had 12 successful fights, and only one of them went the whole distance, and he completed the rest by knockout or technical knockout. His opponents at that time were mainly local fighters from Japan or Southeast Asia. In June 1996, Arbachakov met Thai Muangchai Kittikeyzem (20-1-0), the reigning WBC champion and generally recognized best boxer in the flyweight division. In the eighth round of a tense duel, Yuri achieved a convincing victory by knockout. Thus, Arbachakov became the new WBC champion and, at the same time, the first Russian in general - the champion among professionals. Arbachakov held the won title for five years, until November 1997, when he also lost it to the Thai Chatchai Sasakul (30-1-0), after which he decided to retire.
. Welterweight champion according to IBF 1995-1997 and 2001-2005, WBC 1998-2004, WBA 2001-2004.
Konstantin "Kostya" Tszyu (31-2-0, 25 KOs) is, of course, the most titled of domestic pros and one of the most recognizable Russian athletes abroad. It is hard to disagree with this: he is a 4-time world champion (WBC, WBA and IBF - twice), and from 2001 to 2004 - the absolute champion. Kostya was remembered by fans and boxing experts for his uncompromising fighting qualities and terrible punches, especially for his weight. Konstantin began his professional development in 1992 in Australia. Three years later, in January 1995, in a fight against Puerto Rican Jake Rodriguez (26-2-2), Tszyu won the first IBF title, effectively achieving a technical knockout at the end of the sixth round. However, in 1997, the Russian lost this title, unexpectedly losing by technical knockout to American Vince Philips (35-3-0). Tszyu quickly rehabilitated by knocking out the Cuban Diosbelis Hurtado (28-1-0) in 1998, and the Mexican Miguel Angel Gonzalez (43-1-1) in 1999, as a result of which he became first an interim and then a full-fledged WBC champion . In February 2001, Kostya had a unification fight with WBA champion Sharmba Mitchell (47-2-0). The fight turned out to be difficult for both fighters, but after the seventh three-minute period, the American refused to continue it due to a knee injury, and his title automatically passed to the Russian. Kostya fought his most famous fight in November of the same 2001 against the American star Zab Judah (27-0-0), who then owned the IBF title. Judah started the fight very actively and confidently led on points by best technology and hitting speed. Unexpectedly, 10 seconds before the end of the second round, Kostya landed two clear right blows in a row exactly on the opponent’s chin, after which he collapsed onto the canvas. The American was able to get up, but immediately fell again, and the judge recorded a technical knockout. After this fight, Tszyu regained the IBF title and became the undisputed champion; in addition, he was awarded the vacant champion title by The Ring magazine. For another four years, no one could throw Tszyu off Olympus. Only in 2005, after a memorable defeat from Briton Ricky Hatton (38-0-0), Konstantin ended his career.
Ahmed Kotiev. WBO Welterweight Champion 1998-2000.
Akhmed Kotiev (27-2-0, 15 KOs) fought his first professional fight in Moscow in 1991, but his talent really only showed up after he moved to Germany in 1993. Having won 20 victories in 21 consecutive fights (one fight was declared invalid), by 1998 Ahmed took the first line in the WBO rankings and was able to meet the "ruling" champion. It was the American Leonard Townsend (29-0-0). At the end of 12 rounds, the victory was unanimously awarded to the Russian with an impressive difference in points: 116-109, 119-106, 117-110. As the reigning champion, Kotiev managed to defend his belt in four fights, but in 2000, in a rematch with Puerto Rican Daniel Santos (21-2-1), he unexpectedly lost by knockout in the fifth round. This fight was the last for our middleweight in the professional ring.
. Super Champion heavyweight according to WBA 2005-2007 and 2008-2009.
(50-2-0, 34 KO), perhaps the most colorful of Russian boxers. Thanks to his striking anthropometric data (height 213 cm, arm span 216 cm, maximum combat weight 146 kg), as well as severe appearance he received many nicknames, including the "Russian Giant" and "The Beast from the East". His professional debut took place in 1993, but until 2005 he did not go to any title fight for major versions. In December 2005, Nikolai, as a contender, met with Mexican-American John Ruiz (41-5-1) and, having defeated him on points by a split decision, won the WBA championship belt. Alas, his championship did not last long - in April 2007, Valuev lost a split decision to Uzbek Ruslan Chagaev (22-0-1). The Russian managed to regain the title once again - and again in the battle against Ruiz in August 2008. But, unfortunately, the championship did not last long again - in November 2009, Valuev lost on points to Briton David Haye (22-1-0) and no longer returned to the professional ring.
. IBF junior middleweight champion 2005-2006.
The Russian (40-5-2, 26 KOs) came into his IBF title fight with just one loss and one draw under his belt. Having defeated the American Keith Holmes (39-3-0) in the eliminator on points, in July 2005 Roman met the champion Kassim Ouma (21-1-1) from Uganda, and won by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. Alas, the Russian failed to defend the title, and in the next fight he lost to an experienced American fighter Corey Spinks (34-3-0) also on points. After losing to Daniel Gil in 2010, Karmazin was diagnosed with internal bleeding in the brain. A year later, Karmazin decided to try his luck in the next qualifying match against Osuman Adamu from Ghana, but also lost ahead of schedule (TKO 9), after which he ended his career.
. Champion in heavyweight champion according to WBC 2006-2008.
The championship of Oleg Maskaev (38-7-0, 28 KOs) was short but bright. From 1993 to 2006, Big O's career was nothing out of the ordinary. He was a strong middle peasant and did not claim serious titles. However, in 2006, having won the WBC eliminator, Maskaev received the right to fight with the current champion American Hasim Rahman (41-5-2). It is noteworthy that the fighters had already met earlier in 1999 in a regular rating fight, and then Oleg won by knockout in the 8th round. But now, already in the rank of champion, the American looked like a favorite. However, contrary to expectations, the fight turned out to be equal. This continued until the last 12th round, at the beginning of which the Russian had an excellent deuce in the head of the enemy and knocked him over the ropes. After the resumption of the fight, the champion had already clearly lost his bearings and almost immediately found himself knocked down again. The experienced Rahman had only to reach the end of the round, and then he could count on winning on points, but Oleg managed to put the squeeze on his opponent, and the judge was forced to intervene, counting the knockout. As a result, Maskaev won and won his first championship belt. Regrettably, Maskaev was able to defend the title only once and in the next fight he gave it to the Nigerian Samuel Peter (29-1-0). Nevertheless, 44-year-old Maskaev has no plans to quit boxing yet, and his next fight will take place in November.
Dmitry Kirillov. IBF Super Flyweight Champion 2007-2008.
Another Russian Dmitry Kirillov (31-4-1, 10 KOs) stayed in the champions for less than a year. The first time he entered the championship fight in May 2006 against the Nicaraguan Luis Alberto Perez (23-1-0), but could not achieve victory. But the next chance, which presented itself in October 2007, Dmitry realized by defeating American Jose Navarro (26-2-0) by unanimous decision. Soon, in August 2008, as part of the defense of the title, Kirillov met with the Armenian Vic Darchinyan (29-1-1) and suffered a resounding defeat by knockout in the fifth round. Having lost the belt won with such difficulty, the Russian did not lose heart and partially rehabilitated, having won two consecutive victories in rating battles. Whether he succeeds, only time will tell.
. WBO heavyweight champion 2007-2008.
Another short-term Russian champion was Sultan-Ahmed Ibragimov (22-1-1, 17 KOs). His track record is interesting in that to his first championship fight for the main version, Sultan came up without a single defeat with one draw and with 85% of knockouts. His opponent was the most experienced 35-year-old American Shannon Briggs (48-4-1). The fight took place in June 2007 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. Briggs' weight in this fight was 123.83 kg, which is 23.5 kg more than Ibragimov's weight. At the same time, our athlete successfully used his advantage in speed and regularly delivered accurate blows to a larger opponent. The judges appreciated the work of the Sultan and gave him the victory by unanimous decision. But the newly-minted champion was not destined to enjoy the fruits of his victory for long. Just 8 months later, in February 2008, the belt passed to the famous Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko (49-3-0). Shortly after this defeat, Ibragimov officially confirmed the rumors of his retirement.
Denis Inkin. WBO super middleweight champion 2008-2009.
Most a short time(a little more than three months) Denis Inkin (34-1-0, 24 KOs) held the champion title among Russians. In September 2008, Denis won the vacant WBO title by confidently outboxing Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga (21-2-1). And already in January 2009, Inkin lost to the then undefeated Hungarian Karol Balzai (19-0-0) by unanimous decision. After that, Inkin left boxing.
. WBO middleweight champion 2010-2012.
Few people in the boxing world outside of Russia knew Dmitry Pirog (20-0-0, 15 KOs) before 2010. By this time, he had been a professional for five years, had 16 fights without a single draw or defeat, and also won four intermediate WBO and WBC belts. As of June 2010, Dmitry was ranked second in the WBO middleweight rankings and, since the title was vacant at that time, he had to fight the number one in the same ranking - unbeaten American Daniel Jacobs (20-0-0). The rivals were approximately equal in class during the first rounds, and it was difficult to imagine how the fight would end if it came to scoring. And all the more shocking was the sudden knockout of the American, which followed in the first minute of the fifth round after the most accurate cross performed by Pirog. After this victory, the Russian defended his title three times and was preparing to make a fourth defense in 2012 against Gennady Golovkin (27-0-0) from Kazakhstan, but was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a back injury. As a result, the WBO decided to deprive the Russian of the title. At the moment, Dmitry's health problems have not been fully resolved, and his return to the professional ring is in question.
Zaurbek Baysangurov. WBO light middleweight champion 2011-2013.
Like many of our compatriots, Zaurbek Baysangurov (28-1-0, 20 KOs) started his professional career in Germany under the auspices of the Sauerland promotion company. From 2004 to 2010, Zaurbek won 25 victories in 26 fights, rising to the fourth line of the WBO rating by June 2010. Having knocked out the number five Brazilian Mike Miranda (34-3-0) in the first round, Baysangurov received the title of interim WBO champion. And soon in October of the same year, after the defending champion Ukrainian Sergey Dzinziruk (37-1-0) was stripped of the title for a long refusal to defend, the Russian became a full-fledged champion. In 2012, Zaurbek defended his title twice, but in June of this year, the WBO stripped him of his belt, because of an injury he did not enter the ring for a long time. There were no official statements about the future plans of the ex-champion.
. WBA heavyweight champion 2011-2013.
If you have to choose the most popular Russian boxer of late, then, of course, he will be (26-1-0, 18 KOs). Double Champion European, world champion and Olympic Games in amateurs, the Russian heavyweight turned pro in 2005. Interestingly, during his career, Alexander never sought to win intermediate titles, but only held rating fights based on the main belts. This opportunity first appeared in August 2011. Then Povetkin met with world number 2 Uzbek Ruslan Chagaev (27-1-1) and contested the vacant WBA regular title, which was vacated after Wladimir Klitschko became a super champion. The duel with Chagaev took place in a stubborn competitive struggle, with varying success of the rivals. None of them could finish the fight ahead of schedule. According to the results of 12 rounds, the Russian won by unanimous decision of the judges and thus won his first championship belt. To date, Alexander has made four successful title defenses. In his last fight, he met Wladimir Klitschko (60-3-0) and, as you know, lost, losing his title. Now Povetkin and his updated team are thinking about possible options for continuing their careers.
. WBA cruiserweight champion 2011-present
Cruiserweight (25-1-0, 19 KOs) is a close friend of Alexander Povetkin. From 2001 to 2009, Denis won several intermediate belts in light heavyweight and first heavyweight. And in 2010, having won the eliminator for the WBA title, he went into battle with the reigning champion Marco Hook (30-1-0), but could not win, losing on points. In November 2011, the Russian met with American veteran James Toney (73-6-3) and, having defeated him by unanimous decision, won the title of "interim" champion according to the same WBA. The current champion then was Panamanian Guillermo Jones (38-3-2, 30 KOs), and it was with him that the Russian boxer was supposed to meet in the next fight. Contrary to expectations, this fight did not take place then due to Guillermo's injury, as a result of which Lebedev became no longer a temporary, but a full-fledged champion. In May 2013, the Russian again met with the persistent Panamanian. The duel became a real sensation, because. then already 41-year-old Jones was not only not inferior in endurance, but seemed not to notice the hail of blows that the Russian champion brought down on him. Moreover, Guillermo's blows were also strong and accurate, and already in the first round a noticeable hematoma formed over Denis's right eye, which acquired terrifying proportions over the course of the fight. In the 11th round, after another missed blow, Denis knelt down and could not get up until the end of the referee's count. The referee stopped the fight and counted Lebedev an early defeat by technical knockout. So Denis lost his title. However, just the other day, news came that the second doping test of the Panamanian gave a positive result. On this basis, the result last fight was canceled, and the championship belt was returned to Denis.
Khabib Allahverdiev. WBA Light Welterweight Champion 2012-present
One of the latest acquisitions in the “piggy bank” of the Russian world champions is Khabib Allahverdiev (19-0-0, 9 KOs). Until Khabib can boast of being rich track record or meetings with eminent rivals. In 2010 and 2012, he won the interim - Asian - WBC title and IBO title. His most important fight to date was in November 2012 for the vacant WBA regular title against No. 1 ranked Dominican Joan Guzman (33-0-1). In the fight, both opponents showed an equal will to win, but in the eighth round Guzman injured his knee as a result of the unintentional action of the Russian and could not continue the fight. According to the rules, in this case, the decision was left to the judges, and they gave the victory to Allahverdiev by a split decision with a minimum advantage on points. In July of this year, Allahverdiev held the first successful defense.
Sergei Kovalev. WBO light heavyweight champion 2013-present
Undefeated Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KOs) is famous for his extremely strong blows and, accordingly, a very high percentage of knockouts - more than 90%. He made his debut and fought most of his fights in the USA. As a result of a series of victories in rating fights, by August 2013, Sergey had risen to the second line of the WBO rating and set his sights on a fight with the champion - unbeaten Briton Nathan Cleverly (26-0-0). The champion started the meeting with the first number, however, after a few minutes he felt the power of Kovalev's blows and slowed down, focusing more on defense. In general, the first two rounds were equal, and then Sergey revealed his full potential: at the end of the third segment, the Briton found himself on the floor twice, and at the beginning of the fourth it became clear that he was no longer able to resist, and the judge stopped the fight. The Russian won by technical knockout and took the championship belt. The first defense of Sergei is scheduled for November this year. Sergei's opponent will be Ismail Sillakh.
Evgeny Gradovich. IBF Featherweight Champion 2013-present
Evgeny Gradovich (17-0-0, 8 KOs) is the youngest of the current Russian champions, he is only 27 years old. In the first fifteen battles, Eugene did not meet with truly serious opposition. And in the sixteenth fight in March 2013, his opponent was the rather successful Australian Billy Deeb (35-1-0), the reigning IBF champion. For Billy, who had not lost by that time for five years, it was just another voluntary defense of the title, and he did not consider the Russian, who at that time occupied only 11th place in the ranking, as a serious rival. Despite this, the Russian managed to win on points by a split decision. In July of this year, Eugene defended his title, and a rematch with the uncompromising Billy Deeb is scheduled for November.
. WBO light welterweight champion 2013-present
The Russian (23-2-0, 16 KOs) has recently been training and fighting in the USA under the guidance of the famous trainer Freddie Roach. For almost seven years spent in the professional ring, Provodnikov showed good results: only two defeats with a high percentage of wins by knockout. At the same time, it must be admitted that until recently, of the serious rivals, the Russian met only with the American Timothy Bradley (29-0-0) in an attempt to take the WBO welterweight title from him, but lost on points. However, Ruslan looked great in this fight and fought with the reigning champion on an equal footing, as evidenced by the minimum difference in referee cards: 115-112 and twice 114-113. It is clear that after such an unfortunate defeat, Ruslan was eager to rehabilitate himself as soon as possible and win the champion title. For this, he had to return to one weight class back and face the interim WBO light welterweight champion American Mike Alvarado (34-1-0). This fight took place on Saturday 19 October. In a spectacular open confrontation, Siberian Rocky achieved a convincing victory by technical knockout after the champion's corner did not release him for the 11th round of the fight.
