Andrey Ivantsov
The Soviet boxing school is the strongest in the world. What was previously spoken about in the boxing halls of the entire Union, which were later saturated, has now become a fact. In the most prestigious heavyweight professional boxing weight category, champion belts in all four existing versions were won by fighters born in the former USSR. "Week" decided to get to know the heroes better.
Nikolay Valuev. Born on August 21, 1973 in Leningrad (Russia). Residence: St. Petersburg (Russia) / Riesa (Germany). Citizenship: Russia. World Boxing Association (WBA) World Champion. He played 44 fights in the professional ring: 44 wins (32 by KO).
The most colorful boxer of the post-Soviet space. When in the first grade, Nikolai waved growth with a teacher, many thought that he was a second year student with experience. Valuev, out of kindness, did not want to beat his peers and simply blushed. Coming home after school, he expressed himself in poetry, which he is still embarrassed to display. In the same place, at school, Kolya started playing basketball, and then changed this hobby to discus. At one of the athletics tournaments, Valuev saw his first promoter, manager and coach Oleg Shalaev. He immediately realized that a guy with such dimensions could make a successful boxing career. Shalaev’s premonition did not deceive: from the very first steps in the ring, his ward did not give his rivals, who were breathing in his navel, a single chance.
Time passed, Valuev continued to win. However, what he dreamed most of all - the fight for the belt of the world champion - continued to remain only a dream. And Shalaev eventually began to simply use Nikolai to intimidate competitors in his business affairs. But all patience has a limit. He also came to the Russian boxer, who broke off relations with Shalaev and in 2004 moved to Germany to the famous German promoter Wilfried Sauerland. The results were not long in coming, and already in April of this year, the Russian became the world champion, and now he is preparing to conquer America.
Vladimir Klichko. Born March 25, 1976 in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). Residence: Kiev (Ukraine) / Hamburg (Germany). Citizenship: Ukraine. World Boxing Federation Champion (IBF). In the professional ring he spent 49 fights: 46 wins (41 by knockout), 3 defeats.
Vladimir, unlike his more ambitious older brother Vitaly, was a quiet and calm boy in his childhood. It seemed to many that a philosopher would come out of him, whose favorite pastime would be reflections on the meaning of being on some high and beautiful hill. However, over time, training in various types of martial arts, to which he was accustomed by his older brother, developed into a rather serious passion for boxing. Soon Volodya was no worse than his older brother. At seventeen, he won the European Championship among juniors, then five times became the champion of Ukraine, was the champion of the World Games of military personnel in the heavy weight category (Italy, 1995) and the silver medalist of the European Championship (1996).
His climb to the professional ring was not easy. After several confident victories and a victory in the championship belt, an unsportsmanlike technique was used against the Ukrainian boxer. Before defending the title, a powder was poured into mineral water, from which Klitschko began to lose strength very quickly and lost during the fight. Even the US FBI took up the investigation of the scandal, but even before its completion, Vladimir again entered the ring and restored justice with a title victory.
Sergey Lyakhovich . Born May 29, 1976 in Vitebsk (Belarus). Residence: Scottsdale (Arizona, USA). Citizenship: Belarus. World Boxing Organization (WBO) World Champion. He played 24 fights in a professional ring: 23 wins (14 by KO), 1 defeat.
The boxer from Belarus is perhaps the most mysterious figure of the four. In America, he is known by the nickname "White Wolf", which he invented for himself, since the surname Lyakhovich is difficult to pronounce in the States.
“White, because I'm from White Russia, and the wolf because I like this beast,” Sergei will explain his choice. Lyakhovich owes much of his success in the professional ring to the notorious American promoter Don King, who spotted great talent in the boxer on time. One of the fights that turned out to be decisive in the career of the Belarusian was the battle in Las Vegas in 2001 against Fredey Akhunay. Lyakhovich could simply not enter the ring due to the flu disease and lose everything. But his wife Ira put raspberry jam and honey in record time on her feet, after which he began to crush one opponent after another. Having become a world champion, Lyakhovich even received a personal congratulation from the “father” of Lukashenko.
Oleg Maskaev . Born in 1970 in Dzhambul (Kazakhstan). Residence: Staten Island (New York, USA). Citizenship: USA / Russia (since September 2006). World Boxing Council (WBC) World Champion. He played 38 fights in the professional ring: 33 wins (26 by KO), 5 defeats.
Not too bright career as a boxer in the amateur ring, where his highest achievement was the silver of the World Cup 92, did not portend him great success in the professionals. Thanks to his remarkable volitional qualities and patience, he did the almost impossible, becoming the world champion at the age of 37 - when many already stopped believing in him. Two battles with the star and favorite of America, Hasim Rahman, became symbolic for Maskaev. In the first, held in 1999, Maskaev won unexpectedly for everyone. His decisive blow, from which Rahman flew over the ropes of the ring, was so spectacular and powerful that American newspapers called him "the most beautiful knockout blow of the year, maybe even a decade." The second match, which took place a few days ago, also did not bode well for our boxer: even domestic experts did not recognize him as a favorite. However, losing after eleven rounds on points, ten seconds before the end of the last, twelfth, Oleg knocked out the opponent. Only the judge who stopped the fight saved the American from the risk of flying out of the ring again.
"These guys are hungry for victories."
“Boxing is a very special sport,” Larry Holmes, ex-world champion, explains the success of the Soviet school. “American guys want to become professionals and get a ton of money without preparation, without giving up their work. But you can't build a house without a foundation. Russians are workaholics This can be judged by the example of Maskaev, who made every effort to win. He was as good as Rakhman, but he had more desire to win. Self-sacrifice in sport plays a very big role. One must strive for victory, which boxers have from the former USSR there prosperity. We had always bread on the table. And these guys are hungry to win. "