“I thought about hanging up my gloves, but in the end I decided that I had to become world champion again” – boxer Butaev

Former regular WBA Russian welterweight champion Rajab Butaev admitted that he considered retiring from his career, but ultimately decided to continue performing on stage.

On November 6 in Sochi, Butaev will fight in the middleweight division with Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan. The Russian fighter has 14 victories and one defeat. In his last fight in April 2022, Butaev lost by split decision to Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis and lost his regular WBA welterweight title. Gaibnazarov has 11 victories and one defeat. The 2016 Olympic champion and 2015 World and Asian Championships silver medalist entered the ring for the last time in December 2022.

— My comeback was long, I didn’t get in the ring for almost two years. At the beginning I had health problems, I was under treatment, then because of the sanctions I could not have an appointment. To be honest, I was already thinking about hanging up my gloves, but after consulting my elders and thinking carefully, I decided that I had to become champion again!

I’m happy to finally be able to get in the ring. I am happy that the fight will take place in Russia and my family will be able to watch my fight live. Yes, Fazliddin is a serious opponent, the title of Olympic champion says a lot, but my goal is to become a double world champion, and it doesn’t matter who stands in front of me.

We decided to carry out this preparation at home, in our native Khasavyurt, because we did not have much time to devote to acclimatization during the flight to the United States, but overall the preparation was fine. went very well – I feel ready for the fight! – said Butaev, quoted by the World of Boxing promotion company, which represents the interests of the boxer.

The Sochi tournament will be broadcast live on November 6 on the channel.