RSSIbragimov Cousins
Friday, December 28, 2007
Ibragimov Begins Training for Biggest Fight of His Life
HOLLYWOOD, FL – There will be no New Year’s Eve parties for WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov. Instead, he will be preparing for a bigger prize as he gets ready to drop bombs on Wladimir Klitschko in their highly-anticipated heavyweight title unification bout on February 23rd at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“Anything worth having requires sacrifices,” said the unbeaten Ibragimov, who has just opened up his training camp in Florida. “Ever since I began fighting, I wanted to become a world champion, and I achieved that goal in 2007. Now my goal is to become the unified heavyweight champion and I will have my opportunity on February 23rd. The work is hard, but I know the reward will be worth it.”
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Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Thompson Ready for Title Shot
Following his impressive victory over Cliff Couser last Thursday at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California, Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (31-1, 19 KOs) declared himself ready for his WBO World Heavyweight Championship Challenge early in 2008.
“I’m looking forward to the winner of (Sultan) Ibragimov and (Evander) Holyfield taking on his mandatory fight with me,” said Thompson, who gives the undefeated Russian (21-0-1, 17 KO) a slight edge to retain his WBO World Heavyweight Title against the former undisputed champion in Moscow on October 13.
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Ibragimov Management Furious With Chagaev
Boris Grinberg, manager of WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov, couldn?t believe it when the news hit on Tuesday that WBA titlist Ruslan Chagaev was getting ready to go back into training, with his sights set on a title defense before the end of the year.
?This is disgraceful,? said Grinberg, whose fighter, Ibragimov, was scheduled to unify the heavyweight title with Chagaev on October 13th in Moscow before Chagaev pulled out of the fight with an unspecified ailment. ?We were led to believe that this so-called champion was suffering from some severe sickness that was going to keep him out of action indefinitely, and despite the fact that we put a lot of time, effort, and money into making this fight happen, we believed his excuse. But now that we heard that Chagaev is coming back so soon, it?s obvious that his ailment wasn?t ?an acute inflammation of the body,? but really just a complete
lack of heart, and that he has no intention of fighting the premier heavyweight in the sport, Sultan Ibragimov.?
Grinberg, along with Seminole Warriors Boxing, jumped quickly into action after Chagaev?s withdrawal, and legendary heavyweight Evander Holyfield and his promoter Main Events eagerly accepted the fight with Ibragimov, which will still be held at the Khodynka Arena in Moscow on October 13th, and that will be televised in the United States on DirecTV pay-per-view.
?Holyfield lives up to everything that has been said of him in the past, which is that he is a true warrior who will fight anyone at anytime and place, not like the other ?Champions??, said Grinberg. ?Sultan Ibragimov is the same way and it?s why this fight on October 13th will be a great one. As for Chagaev, he could learn a few lessons from Ibragimov and Holyfield about how a real fighter should act.?
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
WBO-WBA Unification Bout to Take Place in Russia
Hollywood - For the first time in Russian and International professional boxing history, fighters representing the post-Soviet countries will clash to unite the heavyweight world titles. It is also the first Heavyweight unification bout to ever take place outside the United States. The last heavyweight unification bout was held back in 1999, when the undisputed champion of the world was determined in a clash between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. Oscar De La Hoya, who is a co-promoter of Sultan Ibragimov, is among many celebrities and special invited guests that have confirmed plans to travel to Moscow on October 13th to witness this battle of epic proportions.
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Wednesday, July 11, 2007
De La Hoya to Attend Chagaev-Ibragimov
LOS ANGELES - Golden Boy Promotions’ President Oscar De La Hoya and CEO Richard Schaefer will be in attendance when Golden Boy co-promoted WBO World Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov and WBA Heavyweight Champion Ruslan Chagaev square off to unify their titles on October 13th in Moscow.
De La Hoya and Schaefer are extremely excited about the opportunity to witness what looks to be the beginning of a resurgence of the heavyweight division first hand, as both Heavyweight Champions seek to become the first Unified Heavyweight Champion of the 21st century. Ibragimov and Chagaev will battle to become the first heavyweight to unify the title since November of 1999, when Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision. The fight also marks the first time in boxing history that two champions will be attempting to unify in the first defenses of their titles.
“This is going to be a big night for the entire sport of boxing and I am thrilled to travel to Moscow to be a part of it,” said ten-time World Champion and President of Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya. “For the first time in nearly a decade, we are finally getting closer to seeing who the true king of the heavyweight division is.”
De La Hoya continued, “I would like to thank Sultan Ibragimov’s sponsor, Nafta Moskva, for their commitment to Sultan and for making this historic event possible.”
Making the trip with De La Hoya will be Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer who noted “Never before has a fighter attempted to unify belts in his first title defense, and in this case both fighters are trying to earn that honor,” noted Schaefer. “This is a monumental event that Oscar and I can’t wait to witness first hand.”
The Ibragimov-Chagaev World Heavyweight Championship Unification is presented by Nafta Moskva and is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Seminole Warriors Boxing, Golden Grain Promotions and Sampson Lewkowicz in association with Universum Box-Promotion.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
De La Hoya Picks Ibragimov Over Briggs
LOS ANGELES – Sultan Ibragimov is ready to put his unbeaten record up for grabs against the WBO Heavyweight Champion, Shannon Briggs, on Saturday, June 2nd at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ.
The high-impact 12-round showdown is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Seminole Warriors Boxing Promotions in association with Caesar’s Atlantic City, Nafta Moskya, Golden Grain, CSI Sports, Global Advertising and Main Events. The fight will be shown on Pay-Per-View and begins at 9:00 pm ET/ 6:00 pm PT.
Ibragimov is one of the hottest talents in the heavyweight division, and experts as well as his Russian supporters believe he has the ability to beat the current champion in this long-awaited match up. The championship fight was originally scheduled for March 10, but was postponed after Briggs suffered from an pneumonia.
“We’re confident that Sultan Ibragimov is the next heavyweight champion of the world, and we’re eager to see him beat Shannon Briggs and put the championship belt around his waist,” said Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya.
“He dominated Javier Mora with a quick 46-second knockout in the first round of his last fight, and we know he is ready for his fight against Briggs,” continued De La Hoya.
A 2000 Olympic Silver medalist for Russia, Sultan Ibragamov (20-0-1, 17 KO’s) turned pro in 2002 with a first round knockout of Tracy Williams - in fact, his first four fights ended in opening round victories. He won the WBO Asia-Pacific title in October of 2004 with a third-round knockout against Najee Shaheed. He defended that crown six times.
He has also defeated former world champion Al Cole and contenders Lance Whitaker and Zuri Lawrence.
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Monday, April 16, 2007
EEC - April 16, 2007
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Infamous boxing promoter Don King has a plan to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion through a series of fights before the end of 2008…
“I think the title should be unified. To have one undisputed, identifiable world champion would make everything better,” King told Reuters in an exclusive interview.
“It would restore the magic,” he said.
King made the statement one day after his latest heavyweight client, Nikolai Valuev, lost his WBA Heavyweight Belt to Ruslan Chagaev. He said that Valuev winning would have given him more power in making his plan a reality but is set on doing so anyway.
King said that it would take roughly $30 million in order to make the tournament happen and that it could be very easy to gather the money, even if it has to come out of his own pocket…
The outcomes of the Briggs-Ibragimov, Klitschko-Brewster, and Maskaev-Peter fights this summer will set up the beginning of the projected series of fights according to King.
- For those of you that are wondering, there hasn’t been an undisputed champion since right before Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas in 1990…
- The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation is apparently refusing to release the purse values of Manny Pacquiao and Jorge Solis from their featherweight bout on Saturday night to the public…
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Thursday, April 05, 2007
Briggs-Ibragimov to Take Place in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall
The Press of Atlantic City is reporting that the WBO Heavyweight Championship bout between Shannon Briggs and Sultan Ibragimov on June 2nd will now take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.
This announcement comes days after we first reported on the rumor swirling around that this fight may be moving to the USA so those promoting this fight could get away from the conflicting, well now it might not be conflicting at all, Peter-Maskaev fight on the same day in Russia.
Both fighters have fought in AC before - Briggs is 5-2-1, Ibragimov is 1-0…
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Ibragimov’s KO Makes MSG History
HOLLYWOOD, FL – On March 10th, if you sneezed or bent down to tie your shoe lace after the opening bell of the main event at Madison Square Garden, you were simply out of luck – the show was over. Sultan Ibragimov stunned the spectators, who had barely settled into their seats, with the suddenness and ferocity of his attack, capped with a thunderous left uppercut that sent his opponent, Javier Mora, sprawling. It was all over in 46 seconds of the first round – a record for the quickest knockout in a main event bout in Madison Square Garden history!
Prior to this stunning performance the record was 54 seconds, shared by Gerry Cooney and Lee Savold. In 1981, Cooney pounded Ken Norton into retirement at the current Garden, tying the record set back in 1948 when Lee Savold bombed out Bari, Italy’s Gino Bonvino at the old Madison Square Garden on Eighth Avenue and 49th Street.. Prior to that, the record was 63 seconds, when Al “Bummy” Davis upset former and future lightweight champion Bob Montgomery in 1944.
Mora came into the fight with impressive credentials, never having been stopped in 26 prior bouts of which he had lost only 3. Fortunately for Shannon Briggs, who was Ibragimov’s originally scheduled opponent, the bout was not televised. Watching such a performance certainly could have brought about a relapse for a guy on the mend from “walking pneumonia.”
Sultan, a seemingly introspective, sometimes sullen but not unfriendly scrapper from Rostov-Na Donu, Russia, has paid his dues and earned the respect of the boxing establishment. Now undefeated in 21 professional bouts – and a sparkling new record to go with it - there is no question that he is prepared for a crack at the heavyweight crown.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Rumor: Briggs-Ibragimov Moving to USA
We reported last month that Shannon Briggs would finally get a chance to defend his WBO Heavyweight Title against Sultan Ibragimov on June 2nd in Russia. The two will still fight on June 2nd but the fight may now be taking place in the USA according to Ibragimov’s promoters, Golden Grain Promotions.
The reason for the change is that Vitali Klitchko and Oleg Maskaev are set to clash on the same date in Russia thus creating a problem for those involved in setting up the Briggs-Ibragimov bout who would have to now deal with another fight on the same date in the same country that will most likely be the bigger draw.
Golden Grain Promotions released this statement concerning the possible move of the bout to the United States:
“Regarding all the boxing achievements of the current WBC Champion Oleg Maskaev and taking under consideration that it’s hardly possible to stage two great boxing events on the same day in Moscow, we decided to take Ibragimov-Briggs fight to the USA”.