Today, the Russian heavyweight boxing champion, Russian Nikolai Valuev, will fly from St. Petersburg to Germany to carry out a planned knee operation. And two days earlier, as Izvestia already reported, the boxer appeared before the world court of his native city as an accused in the sensational case of beating a watchman in a parking lot. Izvestia correspondent Andrei Ivantsov called the manager and part-time father-in-law of Nikolai Boris Dimitrov to find out whether the trial could impede the development of an athlete’s career and who is the ill-wisher whose provocation the boxer himself explains.
Izvestia: Tell me honestly, does the outcome of this matter bother you much?
Boris Dimitrov: Almost none. The maximum that threatens Nikolai is administrative responsibility. Fine, no more.
Izvestia: But at the insistence of the prosecution, Nikolai agreed to undergo a psychiatric examination ...
Dimitrov: (Interrupting) What kind of nonsense? We in life would not agree to this.
Izvestia: Are you still sure that this whole story is someone’s provocation?
Dimitrov: There is practically no doubt about it. I don’t want to name the name of the person who could arrange it, although it lies on the surface. Some time ago, he had a direct relationship to Nikolai’s career and even twice unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against Valuev. And recently, we learned that he is also connected with the leadership of the Spartak hockey complex, in the parking lot of which this story happened (according to our information, we are talking about the former manager Valuev Oleg Shalaev. - Izvestia).
Izvestia: The trial may have any negative impact on the preparation of Nicholas for the next battle?
Dimitrov: At first, this, of course, unnerved me and Kolya. But now everything has calmed down: all these offers of help, the closure of the case, have stopped ... Well, you understand.
Izvestia: Meanwhile, the American co-promoter of your client, Don King, has already announced the news that Valuev’s next fight will take place on September 9 in the famous New York Hall Madison Square Garden. This is true?
Dimitrov: Not really. The place is right, but with the date, he got excited about something. We discussed September 30, and all the preparations for Nicholas are being built on this date. Much will depend on how quickly Kolya recovers from knee surgery. It is planned, and there is nothing serious there, but additional time will be needed.
Izvestia: Among the possible opponents of Valuev, King named such boxers as the Americans Shannon Briggs and Monte Barrett, as well as the Irishman Kevin McBride ...
Dimitrov: All these names are agreed with us, and at the moment the Irishman is the most likely rival. This is a good fighter, not too short, so Nikolay did not have to stretch. After all, Kolya doesn’t really care who to fight with. His main tactic is to keep the opponent, who usually breathes in his navel, at a distance and beat against. In addition, McBride is King's client. This means organizing the battle will be easier.
Izvestia: All three of Nikolai’s last rivals were also King’s clients. The result of the battle, in which two boxers of one promoter meet, can not be doubted?
Dimitrov: You want to say: whoever is told to fall in such a fight will fall? This is a very naive approach. I could tell you a long time about the specifics of professional boxing, but I will only mention one reason why it never - or almost never - happens. These are the audience. Millions of people are watching the battle, and they all understand boxing. The production is immediately visible, and no one will come to the next fight of the "actor", even if very good.
Izvestia: King said not so long ago: "I have very good relations with Valuev. Much stronger than if they were bound by a contract." Can you explain what this means?
Dimitrov: In 2004, we signed a contract with the German promoter company Sauerland Events, and she, in turn, is selling King the right to conduct Nikolai’s battles. But King, of course, is not simple and will not rest on this. It hurt him liked Valuev. He already started a conversation with me, so that after the agreement with the Germans ends at the end of this year, we would work with him without intermediaries. We have not yet given any answer. Let’s see how he organizes the battle in America and how much Koli’s fees will increase after that ...
Izvestia: They say, more recently, the appearance of Valuev in the States could end for him with imprisonment?
Dimitrov: Indeed, there was such a danger, and we miraculously avoided it. The fact is that the last promoter of Nicholas - American Joe O'Donnell - still considers himself the owner of the rights to fight Valuev. He believes that all the promoters who have fought Nikolai over the past four years should share money with him. He filed a lawsuit against our boxer, in which he claimed the money received at one time from Valuev Shalaev. There, after all, as it was: Shalaev agreed on everything, and both signed the papers. Here is a US court and forbade Nikolai to fight in America. Only the help of Sauerland Events attorneys helped reverse this decision.
Izvestia: Now King is in full swing promoting the upcoming battle and everywhere repeats the signature phrase: "I am King, who found his Kong." Do you make sure that the American does not go too far?
Dimitrov: It seems that there is nothing offensive in this. In Germany, too, everyone tried to give some nicknames: "Armored Train", "Iron Curtain", "Rock". But nothing took root. The Germans call Kolya simply "Nico." The Americans, of course, have a different psychology; they cannot live without myths. And if it is necessary for business, Kolya will become King Kong, and even “Killer”.
Andrey Ivantsov