Russian middleweight Alexander Shlemenko explained to why he has not yet signed a contract for the fight scheduled for December 14 Anatoly Tokov .
On Thursday, the RCC officially announced that contracts had been sent to Shlemenko and Tokov to fight in a tournament in Yekaterinburg on December 14. Before that, the fighters met in 2018 at the Bellator 208 tournament in New York, where Tokov won by unanimous decision. According to Shlemenko, he did not sign a contract for the fight because he does not see Tokov’s interest in promoting the fight.
— Can you explain why you are interested in Anatoly? Why not look at this as an opportunity to go out, fight and make some money?
– Yes, I just want to make a fight that would interest people. But if the fighter himself is not interested in it, how can it interest the public? And with an attitude like Anatoly’s, our interest in the fight could turn out to be nil. If Nikolai Klimenko asked me, I could help him find a more interested fighter. You can always search for available fighters in the top 100 rankings; everyone knows them.
— Someone will say that the Tokov vs. Shlemenko fight is a sign that does not need to be promoted.
– This is absurd. Why is this sign suddenly like you say? Why is this sign better than Shlemenko’s fight against Khamitov, Ilic or Millender? Here is a sign of Shlemenko against Mineev or Shlemenko against Ismailov – yes.
You saw and heard the interview with Anatoly Tokov. So I ask you a question: did you see an interest or a spark there?
— It’s difficult to hear Anatoly say that he wants to fight with you.
“And I don’t want to work for him either.” If he wants to go out and fight, let him go fight in amateur competitions. And it’s professional sport. In every fight, there are two people. And two people have to work. But when only one works and the second does nothing, but gets even more money than for any of his other fights, it seems to me that it’s wrong. Also, if you work alone, even in general, it won’t work very well; you won’t be able to do all the work alone. And I want to get some satisfaction from my efforts. And not so that the second person says in response: “Why do I need this ?! » – Shlemenko told .
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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.