Tomorrow in St. Louis IBF world middleweight champion Russian Roman Karmazin will defend his title in a fight against American boxer Cory Spinks. This fight will be the first for Roman since a year ago he won his championship belt. On the eve of the match, Karmazin told Izvestia correspondent Andrei Ivantsov how difficult it is to be a professional boxer from Russia.
Izvestia: You have been a world champion for a year now, and in Russia they know much less about you than, say, about Valuev or Tszyu. They asked themselves the question, why?
Roman Karmazin: I don’t even remember, but the answer to it is simple. I won my first belt when I was already over thirty, and so none of the fans could remember me for some bright victories. And no one invested serious money in my promotion. After all, the boxer and his promoter on advertising sometimes earn much more than on the fights themselves. And you cannot compare anyone with Valuev at all: this is a special boxer who will not get lost even if he squats down (laughs).
Izvestia: Judging by your words, boxing remains more of a show than a sport?
Karmazin: Not really, of course. For example, I work with the famous Don King, who does not have the best reputation in the boxing world, on his own initiative. Doubtful guys brought me to America, and they signed a contract with him, which turned out to be very unprofitable for me. In simple terms, they threw it. King for a long time earned his money on me, albeit small, but nevertheless, he watched: come up, won't come out? You know, like a puppy from a pond. I swam out. And not only as a boxer, but also as a businessman: he hired professional lawyers who "licked" my new contract with an American. King was impressed, but great love still did not work. Therefore, every time I go to battle, I’m ready for a lot to be against me. So, you need to win convincingly, so that the judges do not even have a single chance to tune the result.
Izvestia: You have grown to the level of world champion abroad, in America. Is it really impossible to become a cool professional boxer in Russia?
Karmazin: I’ll say right away: I don’t live in America now, I only train before the fights and sparring. My house is in St. Petersburg, where my wife and three children are always waiting for me. But in Russia one really cannot grow to a serious professional level. We always had a strong amateur school, but professional boxing is, first of all, the organization and the people who provide it. In our country, no one really knows how to do this seriously.
Izvestia: Judging by the amounts that appear in the press on the eve of each fight, can the world champion in professional boxing immediately secure his old age?
Karmazin: This is again a status issue. Boxers like Tszyu, Lewis, Tyson, really received huge fees for the fight. But they are stars. I am an ordinary boxer, in whom few believe before each new fight. Hence, the fee will not be large. For a long time I could not find an opponent to defend the title - it was not beneficial to anyone.
Izvestia: Do you have self-esteem because of this before the fight does not fall?
Karmazin: On the contrary, it is growing. I’ve been accustomed all my life to win in spite of, and not because of, circumstances. Therefore, every time I hear again that I have little chance, I only get angrier.
Izvestia: Is your American rival Spinks a serious boxer?
Karmazin: Not so much serious as uncomfortable. He is very fast, nimble, I have not met with opponents of this kind. But if I pass Spinks, then the road will be practically cleared. There will simply not be any worthy competitors in my weight. Then, finally, I will become a star and start chopping "greens" (laughs).
Izvestia: Is it true that there could be no belt or money at all, because just recently you were going to finish boxing?
Karmazin: Indeed, such thoughts were. For a very long time I went to my title - through pain, poverty, humiliation. When, at thirty-two years old, I had the chance to conduct a fight, the winner of which would become an official contender for the champion title, said to myself: either I will win or I will leave ... And another event made me stay. A few months before that fight, my coach Igor Lebedev died, who made me a boxer and a man. Then I promised that in memory of Mikhalych I would become a world champion, and I simply could not help but keep my word.
Andrey IVANTSOV