“All boxers are partly vain and materialistic.” Asbarov and Papin have been given a date for the fight, which claims to be the “fight of the year in Russia”.

For the first time, the idea of ​​a fight between Russian boxers Alexei Papin and Soslan Asbarov was officially announced on October 29, 2022, immediately after Papin’s early victory over Bosnian Damir Bello – Papin and Asbarov had their first duel of looks. As a result, the epic with the organization of their meeting dragged on for a year – at the end of August, the head of Iron & Gloves Promotions, Kirill Shchekutyev, announced that the boxers would meet on October 28 in Moscow. And immediately after this announcement, Papin and Asbarov arranged a new meeting. Already the FOURTH.

The former number one in the WBC ranking at the first heavyweight Papin (the Russian lost his position due to unsportsmanlike moments. – Note “”) has 15 victories (14 by KO) with one defeat.

Asbarov’s official statistics in BoxRec show four victories (1 by knockout), including one against famous Russian boxer Dmitry Kudryashov. An international master of sport in boxing, Asbarov became known for his bare-knuckle performances. In this discipline, the fighter nicknamed “Cobra” does not know the bitterness of defeat either.

In the ranking of the authoritative portal BoxRec, Papin takes second place among Russian heavyweight boxers, and Asbarov is fourth.

spoke to Alexei Papin and Soslan Asbarov not only about their face-to-face encounter.

From the interview with the main participants of the show on October 28, you will learn:

— will a one-year hiatus without a fight be a problem for Papin?

— Papin’s analysis of the controversial moment of the Usyk-Dubois battle;

— on Papin’s meeting with Vladimir Mineev in Donetsk;

— who Papin considers the favorite in the fight between Evgeny Tishchenko and Alexey Egorov;

— Asbarov’s reaction to the announcement that Papin would be the favorite;

– which fight is more important for Asbarov – with Papin or with Gadzhi “Avtomat”.

DAD: “I CAN’T SAY THERE’S ANYTHING IMPRESSIVE ABOUT ASBAROV. HE’S A GOOD BOXER”

— Alexey, finally, the story of your confrontation has progressed further than the holding of the sterdowns.

— We have already completed four harddowns. Can you imagine? I am very happy that we were able to agree and that this meeting will finally take place. This fight is… It is first and foremost a financial and media story. All boxers are partly vain and materialistic. Whatever anyone says, we all want to make a lot of money, eat well and drive good cars. We also want to be known and recognized for our work. So what matters is the media and the money.

— There are generally three components in the reasoning: in addition to the media and finance, there is also a sporting component.

— Soslan is a very good boxer. He showed himself very well in amateur boxing and has now had two good fights. I mean the fights with Dima Kudryashov and Brandon Glanton. Everyone says they are against Glanton… I have my own opinion on this. It is thanks to such fights that boxers grow. I think that as a result of this meeting, Asbarov improved.

“It turns out that Asbarov will grow up a lot thanks to meeting you.”

– If it doesn’t fall, it will grow… (smiles). What I mean is that every competitive battle brings growth. Fight with me too.

– Why are you going to win against Soslan?

– Because I’m better and I’m stronger.

— Your last fight took place on October 29, 2022, and by the time of the meeting with Asbarov, your downtime will be less than a year.

– Don’t worry, everything is fine.

— Does anything impress you in Asbarov’s actions?

“I can’t say anything impresses me.” He’s a good boxer, he has good timing, he moves well. But there was nothing that really impressed me – “wow”. But again, he’s a good boxer. He beat Dima Kudryashov, but Dimon went out with him as a weightlifter.

— In your weight category, an interesting fight is planned for November 18 between other Russian cruisers — Evgeniy Tishchenko and Alexey Egorov.

– It’s really a very interesting fight. I think Egorov will win. They have a long history. It’s no secret that Egorov is angry with Tishchenko because Zhenya went to the Olympics instead of him.

– Well, here, as they say, the winners are not judged.

– It’s 100%. I don’t know the reasons and I haven’t delved into the essence of the problem, but, as I understand it, Lesha was simply moved. We now analyze their chances in the coming battle and I made a comment regarding their history. But Lesha Egorov will always win – constant pressure, strong blows. It will be embarrassing for my wife. Plus, they know each other very well. I think Lesha will be able to get the keys from Zhenya. At the same time, I have great respect for Zhenya. I am only expressing my opinion on the question asked.

— What do you think of Alexander Usik’s performance against Briton Daniel Dubois? Usyk defeated the challenger by technical knockout in the ninth round at the end of August.

— Before, I watched all of Usik’s fights, but now I go to bed. I was very tired that day, there was a lot of noise. My father watched this fight and asked in the morning: “Did you see it?” Well, I went in and watched the highlights of the fight. I think everyone is interested in the low blow moment – ​​whether it happened or not. As far as I know, according to the rules, a shot to the waist is legal. And there was a blow to the waist. Yes, he could have hit me somewhere, but there was no hit to the groin or balls. There was a blow in the lower abdomen – it was a very nasty and painful blow. Ilunga Makabu (it was during a fight with a boxer from the Democratic Republic of Congo in August 2019 that Papin suffered his only defeat. – Note from ) he beat me like that, and it was very painful and unpleasant. But it wasn’t even close to the way Andre Ward beat Sergey Kovalev (in a 2017 rematch – Editor’s note: ) – it was simply a kick in the balls, and they counted one KO [Ковалеву]. And here there was a legitimate blow to the belt, but if the referee had opened the score, Usyk would have gotten up and continued the fight. They were simply counting the reversal.

—You said you used to watch all of Usik’s fights, but now you don’t because of fatigue, or has your attitude changed?

“This whole situation has changed the relationship. All these statements from him and other things. If before we supported him like a brother, now everything is different.

— Your friend Vladimir Mineev will organize a kickboxing fight on September 15. Did he invite you to train together?

— We saw Volodya in Donetsk. He was about to leave there for training (in Dagestan)… Joint training? Oh no. I tied my legs a little. I still didn’t have enough injuries to deal with. You need to calmly end your boxing career – achieve certain goals, and then diversify your life activities in the form of various sports. For example, hockey. Yes, I have been invited to play for a long time, but such an opportunity does not exist yet.

ASBAROV: “I DON’T PAY ATTENTION THAT DAD CAN BE CONSIDERED A FAVORITE”

— Soslan, you had four hard times with Alexey. Have you had similar precedents?

— It was with Papin that I spent the greatest number of stays. It’s time to start preparing.

— For you, will this fight be the most important of your boxing career?

— For professional boxing, every fight is important. And the upcoming showdown is no exception: this high-profile fight is important to me. It’s a big call. Everyone is interested in this fight.

— Do you agree that Papin will be the favorite?

– I don’t pay attention to it at all. It will be an extra motivation for me, that he is a favorite. And we will dispel this myth.

– Why are you going to defeat Papin?

– We will keep this a secret and show it in the ring.

— By the way, at the end of August you had a confrontation with Gadzhi “Avtomat” Navruzov, when your bare-knuckle confrontation was announced for October.

— We carried out a sterdown. This is one of the great fistfights and will be of interest to many. Gadzhi doesn’t mind either. So why not? I think this will be one of the most expensive fights in the history of fist fighting. But Gadzhi has an injury now, let him heal and be fit. The main thing is that the organizers are able to raise an amount that suits us. I think the conversations with Gadzhi will be about next year.

– Which fight is more important to you: boxing with Papin or fist fighting with Automatic?

– Of course, with Dad. This is the most important fight for me. For now, I think so. But there will also be a principled meeting with Gadzhi. I can’t answer because this fight [с Наврузовым] will not take place. But when it is announced… For me, all fights are important, my goal is only victory.

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