"People need blood and a sight, they don't care how much they pay for it."

A little more than a month is left before the battle of Oleg Maskaev with Peter Ohello. This is the first boxing match in Russia, where the championship belt is at stake. Moreover, in the most prestigious - heavyweight - weight category. Experts claim that this fight will be the beginning of a large project to turn Moscow into one of the capitals of professional boxing. Who is driving this project? How much is this sport demanded by the Russian public? What are the earnings? With Nikolai Grammatikov , a lawyer for the boxers' union and at the same time the initiator of the fighting, Izvestia correspondent Chermen Dzgoev talked about the most interesting aspects of his work. That is about money.

Maskaev will come to Russia soon. How much will this fight bring?

I know the budget for this match - about $ 5 million. This includes fees for boxers, rental halls, outdoor advertising and so on. Whether these investments will be able to pay off - it already depends on the talent of the promoters. But television will show, and this is the key to success.

Something in recent years has become a little broadcast ...

Because alcohol on television can no longer be advertised. The law was passed in the summer, and Nemiroff left. But our television has not yet learned how to work with other sponsors on other conditions.

Maybe, besides alcohol sponsors, professional boxing is no longer so interesting to anyone?

On the contrary, it is interesting to so many. We are just finishing the pool, and next year there will be regular boxing on television.

Will these be companies for which a male audience is important?

Boxing is very fond of girls. Well, I myself saw how they come, buy expensive tickets, in dozens, right before the start of the show. I sent an employee to them to find out who they are, and they tell him: we don’t have enough adrenaline, they came to look at the real guys. So no one will see female cosmetics during the broadcast, of course, but universal brands may well appear: cars, financial products. In addition, we can brand the boxer himself.

What to do with it?

To brand. What is the advantage of Russian boxers? It will be difficult to become world champions in the near future. And boxing champions - you yourself see everything. In the territory of the former CIS right now: Valuev, Klitschko, Lyakhovich and Maskaev are heavyweight. God forbid, Grisha Drozd will win the belt, it's just heavy weight. Seryozha Dzinziruk is a champion from Ukraine, he can already say: De La Hoya, go fight, I'm ready. De La Hoya so far answers: oh well, these wild Slavs, they go to the swamp. But the time will come, and there will be a battle. So now there are a lot of people. And also Povetkin is growing up, Dimitrenko is growing up, now such a boxer who is sure to become the world champion, - Roman Romanchuk, is playing among fans. He wants to speak at the Olympics, and then he will think about a professional career.

What is the motivation to leave amateur to professional? Is there a guarantee that a person will earn good money?

In professional boxing, a career can be made very rapidly, and this attracts young people. A striking example is Kakhromon Arzykulov. Uzbek boy - 52 kg. And Mazimbaev came to Moscow from Kazakhstan. An experienced fighter who has seen everything over 30 years. He was the 7th in the world. Arrived with his sponsors, quite staffed. And he had a good belt - not a champion one, but there are still regional belts ... In general, Narzikulov came out against him, furious like a thousand devils, realizing that this was his chance in life. And he smoked the Kazakh champion so that his arm was broken, his nose was broken and his earlobe was half torn. And this unknown Uzbek boy became the seventh in the world. Now they are looking for sponsors, they make sure that he signs the right contracts, that is, they make him have some kind of life of his own. He was immediately invited by Karimov. As soon as I learned that the Kazakh beat: so, bring me here. He shook his hand: well done, keep it up. That's all the motivation.

How realistic is it that our boxers who left for the West will come back?

It will be so. They went to the West not for big money, but for stability. But they were opponents there. Why were they called there? To American John beat Russian Vanka. There it is not necessary that ours win. Therefore, by the way, our champions are mainly in Europe. After all, boxing is a sport of the poor. Sports brawlers who grew up on the street. There are practically no whites there. But in America there are many non-whites, and at the same time their own, American. Therefore, ours were always brought there for slaughter. And in Europe, mainly Turks or immigrants from North Africa fight. Sports of immigrants, port guys who need to break through. And there is no such thing that he must win his own; there simply aren't any of his own. German dad and mom will not give son to boxing. That he earned money by getting on the head? No no no. Accordingly, there are more objective conditions for our athletes. Look who's fighting in Germany. All the same, our lads, only from all over the CIS! All the same persons: Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia and so on.

And are there any plans to bring them all back here?

Why not? Times change. We used to play with professional fights in casinos or in other places of the same kind, where a decent audience will not go. Therefore, making money on tickets was impossible. And the fighters' fees were small. This year, fights began to be carried out conceptually differently. They chose a place where you’re not ashamed to come to - Forum Hall - an expensive, beautiful, center of Moscow. Although there are still overlays. There is a restaurant, which was leased to one restaurateur. Somehow he comes up and says: something, in general, there are no customers. I take his hand, lead to the parking lot and say: look, what kind of cars! These people absolutely do not care how much to pay, they came to the blood and a cool sight. Something, then you are doing wrong. They began to think. It turned out that there is a kitchen on the first floor, and a restaurant on the second. And serve barely the soul in the body. People get tired of waiting - they leave. But this is the cost of growth. The main thing that we understood is that boxing is what the audience needs. People will go to boxing in Moscow.

Even if little-known boxers fight?

It is necessary to create a Russian hero. I need Ivan, who beats John. For the viewer to identify with this character. Please note that in America it is always a dispute between diasporas: a Puerto Rican fights with a Nicaraguan. Or with a Mexican, which is even better. And the whole hall comes to cheer for its own - a huge diaspora. Here, when fighting, we faced the same thing: we came from Dagestan to Alisultan Nazirbegov, who is now recognized as the middleweight boxer of the year. They came to the Chechens, to the Armenians ... Because the national identification with the hero - it always plays. But it seems to me that when creating a hero, one must not forget about boxing as a whole. The danger of promoting one name is an example of Kostya Tszyu. Remember how he had to fight in the Luzhniki Stadium, tickets were already sold out, everything was fine, everything was great. Kostya is injured - everything is canceled. What is the West doing in this case? They do not arrange one fight, they organize a show, in which there are three title fights at once. And if someone is sick or has an injury, then this fight did not take place. But we do not deceive you, you came to the show - here is the show for you. And in Russia, promoters are now moving towards this. In general, everything is becoming more civilized: the arbitration court, trade unions - in general, normal European business.