The ASA League is hosting the Heavyweight Grand Prix, and Grigory Ponomarev and Muhumat Vakhaev are set to meet there in the quarterfinals. To find anything in common between them, except for dimensions, you will need a very large microscope.
Ponomarev represents Kemerovo, swears very provocatively, uploads scary photos after training with huge veins on huge muscles and loves to watch TV shows on TNT.
Vakhaev represents Grozny, and it is important for him to do so with dignity. At the same time, Muhumat is one of the few North Caucasian fighters interested in pressuring opponents before fights, undermining their self-confidence. Now, in a press conference three days before the fight, he clings to a single word from Ponomarev and practically chastises his opponent.
What purpose? During one of the crossover interviews in May, Vakhaev spoke at length about how he wanted to beat Ponomarev. Gregory listened and replied, “Yes, no. [фига]”. And laughed. Today, Vakhaev decided to remember this and gave a monologue, where he replaced the mat with the phrase “you communicate poorly”. Two things you should know before reading this: firstly , Grigory Ponomarev, always cheerful and witty, for some reason comes out of all public media events. He speaks little, calmly and boringly. For comparison, here are two of his interviews where he was one-on-one head with a camera:
“On the other side, all four were on the fifth point.” Kuzbass Heavyweight Opens Up About Street Fights, Raising Dad, and Competitive Threats
“My maximum weight was 152 kg.” Cheerful wrestler from the hall of Fedor against a judoka from Dagestan – heavyweight fight for the belt
But a few weeks before the fight, Ponomarev hardly gives bright quotes, and against the background of a very biting Vakhaev, this is especially noticeable.
During a press conference, Muhumat begins with a very long monologue and many do not even understand what he means: “I don’t care what they say about me on the Internet, the main thing for me is to win the fight and feed my family. And promoting wrestling is my job, getting people interested. I called it a sack…Here with all due respect to the ACA league – sacks are not signed here and the champion [в лиге AMC Fight Nights] he wouldn’t if he was a bag. We’ll just try to get it back in a few days.
I’ve watched his fights more than once and I think right now he’s in his best shape. I think it is undesirable to fight him in the body, his torso is strong, and from there he can only get high, and his legs are his weakness. I will hunt him down and kill him. His jaw is broken. I just don’t want to score right away, I want to dissect him. Just for a person to teach themselves the lesson you need to speak properly. I don’t like his behavior, human. His wife said: “In all circumstances, you have to remain human. I promote the fight, but I remain a man, the youth is watching us, everyone is watching us. He gives notes to everyone, then he talks badly and even to his room. [социальные сети] has. I think it’s outrageous. You and I are sitting here, a few feet apart, and I say to you, “This is unworthy and ugly.” The people who support you are pure geese. And if it seems to someone that I speak badly, come to me after the fight and tell me.
Someone is judging Emelianenko there. Emelianenko is a normal adequate man, when he is not drinking he gives normal interviews and behaves with dignity. And here a sober person starts … either out of fear or something. I see no excuses when a person speaks badly. And to turn the fight around, call me a sack, say he’ll flip it – that’s welcome, that’s part of the job. And if we get personal, he won’t even last a minute with me. If there are doubts in my words, let’s tread, we’ll see.
Ponomarev: I think everything was on an equal footing. Nobody overdid it. I feel like waking up in the morning.
Vakhaev: I was looking for such an excuse. A person behaves in one way or another, and for him it seems normal. They tell you, “You behave like cattle. And he replies, “No, it’s fine.”
Ponomarev: Dad, don’t swear.
Vakhaev: Tell me, what is your approach to fighting me? You have one option, to prove you can do something: stand for a few rounds, and that’s it. I’ve been going through your social media, you seem to be eating right there, you’re doing everything right…
Ponomarev: That is to say that you are not interested in me, but have you browsed my social networks?
Vakhaev: Yes, you are very interesting. Have you seen yourself in the mirror?
Whoever it is, I don’t like people listening to me and talking badly. It can be a Russian or a Caucasian upbringing, but I treat a person as he deserves.
PonomarevQ: What is your fighting style?
Vakhaev: Clean street. Here you had Amir Aliakbari in the hallway. He promoted the fight with me, but then he was willing to give back all the fees he received in the league – he had almost $80,000 for the fight – just not to fight me. He wanted to return, and he was answered in the direction and released. And then Anatoly Malykhin cut it … Anatoly usually behaves in such a way that you can take an example from him.
How do you think your fight is like?
Ponomarev: Buggy, what’s up here.
Vakhaev: Well, at least admit it.
The second thing you need to know about Ponomarev and Vakhaev is that their fight will take place on August 11.
Watch the live broadcast of the ACA 161 tournament on (from 8:15 p.m. Moscow time) and Match! Fighter” (from 5:30 p.m. Moscow time), as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
