Igor Faniyan – about the difficulties and surprises with organizing a big boxing evening in the main arena of Ukraine
On January 20, a big boxing evening will take place in Kyiv, the main event of which will be the fight for the WBF world champion title in the welterweight division between the Ukrainian Aram Fanian and Mexican Francisco Mercado. The large-scale event, which will be held at the Sports Palace and will be the first boxing evening in the country’s main arena, was organized by the promotion company SpartaBox. One of its leaders, a famous former boxer and now a promoter, Igor Faniyan – told Sports Arena about the boxing evening itself, its participants, the noble goal and unique lots at the charity auction.
“The combination of sports, our culture and actually what we all (each personally and the country as a whole) need first of all – helping each other and helping to rebuild the country – is the main goal of the event,” said the promoter. – The idea of holding it belongs to me. At first we wanted to hold a boxing evening at the end of December, but there were problems with the dates at the Sports Palace. So we moved the event to January.
From the very beginning, they tried to make the title fight the main event of the evening, but, frankly speaking, they did not hope that it would be a fight for the world champion belt. But thanks to the work of Vlad Eliseev and Alina Shaternikova, thanks to them for joining, we managed to get a status fight. Now the main thing is that force majeure does not happen and the Mexican boxer Francisco Mercado gets to Kyiv and fights against Aram Fanian.”
Actually, the promoter considers the Mexican a worthy opposition and a dangerous opponent for Aram Fanian in the championship fight.
“Mercado is Mexican. If you like, Mexico has long been a kind of brand in professional boxing. Boxers from this country are full of character and always fight to the last. And when they get up after a knockdown, they become even more dangerous. Mercado is a serious contender and worthy opposition. But I believe in my brother and that he will show what the class of Ukrainian boxing is,” said Igor Faniyan.
According to the manager, several fights are planned on January 20 with the participation of boxers from other countries. Moreover, it was not necessary to persuade them to come to Kyiv, given the war that Russia is waging against our country.
“There was no need to persuade anyone. On the contrary, when people found out that the event would be held in Kyiv, they happily agreed and expressed a desire to come to see with their own eyes how Ukraine and its capital resist the Russian aggressor,” Fanian said. – In fact, in addition to Mercado, who will compete in the main fight of the evening, the undercard will include fights with the participation of foreign fighters. A total of eight fights are planned. Two are title ones. In addition to the fight for the WBF world champion belt Aram Faniyan – Francisco Mercado, there will be a fight for the title of champion of Ukraine and WBC Ukraine between Andrey Tsyura (6-1, 5 KOs) and Vladislav Gela (13-5, 8 KOs). Six fights will be rating fights.”
The boxing evening will be a charity event. The organizers set themselves an ambitious goal – to raise 5 million hryvnia for the restoration of the Children and Youth Sports School in Nikolaev and to help the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine defending our state, repelling a large-scale military invasion by Russia.
“In my opinion, all events taking place in Ukraine should be aimed at helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine and restoring the country,” says Igor Faniyan. — I repeat: in my opinion, in the current situation we all need to be united.
We have set ourselves the goal of helping to restore the youth sports school in the city of Nikolaev. This sports school specializes in martial arts, so, as they say, this is our direct direction. Plus, Nikolaev gave Ukraine many outstanding boxers, including Sergei Derevyanchenko and Alexander Klyuchko. I know and am confident that this school will produce many strong Ukrainians. We must build a nation, develop a boxing school. A sport that prepares courageous and strong people.
The money we raise from ticket sales and the charity auction will go towards rebuilding the school, as well as helping the military. Our club trains many military personnel whom we should support. In particular, the guys from the combined paramilitary patrol police unit named after. Nestor Makhno and the BPAK “Boyovi Khrushchi”. We will also help them.
As for the lots, there will be a lot of them: both military and boxing themed. Everyone is unique. I’ll tell you about one thing: this is an exclusive boxing jewelry made of white gold and diamonds, made by the famous Ukrainian jeweler Vyacheslav Bulkovsky.”
Source: Sportarena
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.
