Fist waiting

The fight for the status of the mandatory contender for the WBC heavyweight championship belt, which is now owned by Russian Oleg Maskaev, will be the second for boxers in the last six months. On September 2, their meeting ended in a rather controversial Nigerian victory on points. And the World Boxing Council ordered once again to identify the strongest. Nobody began to object, the benefit of both is taken care of by Don King and, therefore, the second series of the action movie will bring boxers a solid replenishment of budgets. On the eve of a new meeting, Peter's chances are preferable. However, Tony will not do without surprises. What’s worth the news, that before the fight, the American hired a well-known specialist Billy Blanks, the trainer for physical training, who is the author of a tai-bo fitness program that combines elements of aerobics and boxing.

The fight for the world title according to the WBO version again gives boxers of the ex-Soviet school a chance to take possession of all the belts in the heavyweight category. And I must admit that the probability of this is really great. Contender Ibragimov, who does not know defeats in the professional ring, is always good against overall opponents. And his trump card in a fight with an American who has a bad habit of exhausting himself by the fifth round should be speed. In addition, Briggs, although he took the champion belt from Belarus Sergey Lyakhovich in the fall, was not impressed in that fight, to put it mildly. Shannon's main argument is King behind the ropes. But given the fact that the interests of the Russian have recently been represented by the promotion company Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya, the King factor should not become too significant.

When the contract for this fight was signed, not only its participants, but also millions of fans sighed enthusiastically. Indeed, it is difficult to come up with a more intriguing plot: the Golden Boy (actually a long time husband) of world boxing De La Hoya, who taught women to go to boxing in crowds and became world champion in six weight categories, against Handsome Mayweather, the holder of the unofficial title of the best boxer on the planet, regardless weight category, who won all 37 fights in the professional ring and won world titles in four scales. The plot of the event draws on the Oscar, the benefit and surroundings befitting. It is estimated that the audience will lay out a total of $ 18 million and this fight will set a record for revenue from ticket sales. And another curious detail is that De La Hoya’s coach has long been the father of his future rival! Floyd Mayweather Sr. has not maintained a relationship with his son for a long time. It remains to add only the credits: the fight will be held in the first middleweight, where De La Hoya holds the WBC champion title. Mayweather also championed this version, but a category below.

The best boxer of 2006, according to the authoritative edition of The Ring, Pacquiao is a mandatory contender for Barber’s WBC featherweight title. And nothing would have prevented an exciting meeting in the spring, when there were no backstage games usual for boxing. The simple-minded guy Pacquiao for a long time was not serious about his own signature. And now the American promotion companies Golden Boy Promotions De La Hoya and Top Rank Bob Arum in court find out which of them has valid rights to conduct Manny fights. Until a verdict is issued, serious battles involving him are out of the question. And the fight could have turned out great. It was after a sensational and bright victory over Barrera in 2003 that an unknown Filipino began to climb the heights of world boxing. The Mexican recovered from that defeat not without difficulty, he won the league title, but still considers the fight with Pacquiao the blackest episode of his career and longs for revenge.

For boxing fans from the post-Soviet space, this fight, of course, will be the most curious. There will be no doubt that sooner or later it will take place. The ambitions of boxers are too great. And income with the right approach to business will be considerable. The only question is the timing. Before, both would not want to risk titles. And the lineups of applicants, victories over which bring, albeit not so large, but guaranteed money with low risk of losing the belt, do not thin out. In a recent interview with Sport Today, Valuev’s manager Boris Dimitrov said negotiations are underway to hold a fight with Klitschko, and perhaps it will be held this year. It would be nice, although so far this forecast draws more on bravado.

Andrey IVANTSOV