“Povetkin could have beaten Klitschko in 2008.” Khryunov remembered Povetkin’s fight and told how the cat hurt Emelianenko

Working as a boxing promoter for 20 years, Vladimir Khryunov can draw a picture of what’s happening in boxing in bold strokes in 10 minutes so that it’s bright, recognizable and detailed. Bringing Oleg Taktarov back to sports and making Vyacheslav Datsik a superstar, Khryunov …

– On October 5, it will be 10 years since the battle of Klitschko – Povetkin. Now, looking back, do you think anything could have been done to make Alexander win?

– I think not. The most important thing was the decision point whether there would be a fight or not. And then there were a large number of events, all of which I did not initiate. I wanted Sasha to win, for the fight to take place in Russia, I won the promotional auction … And then a huge number of people appeared with different goals. Many were interested in making money from the process itself, the Klitschko team did everything to split our team, and they succeeded. And so I think Sasha could beat Klitschko in 2008, when he was motivated, scored a good shot, but got injured.

– What did the other side do to “split the team”?

“It was multifactorial, but they did a really good job. The most important thing is the impact on individual team members. I was gone, Kostya Tszyu was gone to the team. Boxing is something where you work on confidence. There was no confidence on the Russian side. Anyway, it’s a great event, thanks to Andrei Ryabinsky and Igor Ivanovich Sechin for making it possible. I think there will be other such events.

– Alexander Zimin, Povetkin’s coach, was upset that Stacey McKinley was called up to Alexander’s team.

– Yes, before that he was the trainer of Guillermo Jones. It was a mistake. It was a direct impact from Klitschko on the whole preparation. Then the leapfrog with the sparring partners began. I think he might even get paid for it. Sultan Ibragimov told me about this that they discovered Klitschko’s influence on one of their coaches. Suddenly, no preparation, no plan, nothing existed.

The arbitration was specifically organized there, and Klitschko’s representative, Thomas Pütz, I saw a microphone protruding from him. I took off this device, put it on myself, saw that there were 42 subscribers in the room: security, security, people who influenced everything that happened there.

Then, at the very beginning of the fight, the spectator died, while I was doing it, everything was already close to the end.

– If we go back from 2013 to 2023, why does Oleg Taktarov, 55, box, but not Denis Lebedev, 44?

– This is a personal matter for everyone, but we made such an offer to Denis, and I think he can still think about it. Now is a new era and a whole new world of boxing. Boxers are heroes. To become a hero, you have to defeat someone. Oleg Taktarov is a hero. He has his own opinion on everything and the right to that opinion. He will look heroic.

And today, for example, Murat Gassiev needs to punch Tyson Fury in the face, he can do it, but the economy, politics, all these factors interfere.

– If you were Murat Gassiev, would you fight with Fury?

– First I would slap “AJ” (Anthony Joshua. – About “”) and fight with Fury.

– What fight would Lebedev enter now for television?

– Probably, Guillermo Jones… (Lebedev lost to Jones on May 17, 2013. – Approx. “”).

I financially support Guillermo until now. Sending 100, 200, 300 dollars. He’s not a rich man, I’m in touch with his wife. She kept saying, “Well, let’s… What?.. We’re ready.” He is ready to start for a small number of turns. A 4 round fight between Lebedev and Jones would have happened I think.

– With whom can Ivan Emelianenko fight?

– He has just started preparations, Ivan himself must take care of all this first. Light up and understand that he can quickly become a millionaire. Don’t sit on the stove, because 33 years have passed. But there are domestic issues. The cat jumped on his hand, something else like that.

– Seriously?

– Yes, this is the reason for the cancellation of the fight. The cat jumped on her hand, my mother called and said.

Who would you like to fight it with?

– We thought of “Bigfoot” Silva, but he has such management that he demands more attention than the fighter himself. He has some kind of Russian girl who confuses the laws of the industry.

– Will Alexander Emelianenko have a fight or not?

– He is in rehabilitation, he is a big boy, and some time ago he realized for the first time the horror that happened to him. He recognized it himself. And it’s a big deal to get a person to the point of recognition. We will not leave him, you will see the new Alexander Emelianenko at the end of the year at the latest. He will be in great shape. Now we communicate every week.

– Are you going to try to organize a fight for Fedor Emelianenko in Moscow?

— We know his management team well, but we have no business contacts. It depresses me that Fedor is fighting in America. Like, I don’t think we can’t give him the kind of money here that he gets there. Seems to me like someone makes ridiculous decisions when they fight their last fight in the United States and fold their gloves. They expect him, they love him, they want him, and he has to fight. You can easily organize a fight, take an athlete from another sport and do it.

– Against hockey’s tough guy…

– No, Fedor is a value with which all communication must be carefully constructed.

– Well, tell me the name.

Let’s say Oli Thompson. If he beats Datsik, he’s a ready boxing rival for Fedor (British MMA fighter, 21-16 stats, knocked out Alexei Oleinik in last exhibition fight. – About “”).

– Who is more interesting for you as a personality of boxer: Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev?

– They are two different boxers, people with two different models of natural data. We managed to work with Beterbiev, we fought well. Arthur has health, which can only be obtained if you lived in Chechnya as a child – this is earth health. It is the health that gives physical work, it is genetically healthy and genetically predatory. His rapacity is a danger to Bivol. But I’m sure there won’t be a fight between them. There’s no one to do it, because they have different TV channels in their contracts, they’re not going to interact with each other, they’re two different companies. I think different promoters will chase their titles in their own way.

Live broadcasts of the Mixed Martial Arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.