By Alexey Sukachev

This summer saw a major breakthrough for the most powerful (domestically) Russian promotional group. German Titov (2007/2008 Russian promoter of the year) and his local partner Kirill Pchelnikov got their first ever world champion after lesser-known (in comparison with American fighters) boxing master Dmitry Pirog had stopped highly regarded American prospect Daniel Jacobs to become the new WBO middleweight champion of the world.

Pirog is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the huge team of capable fighters with underrated boxing skills who are guided by Titov, Pchelnikov and their partners. Ruslan Provodnikov and Maxim Vlasov are two more names which are familiar to American fans as both pugilists were showcased several times by the ESPN in their past. Several more fighters are also ready to pop up into the spotlight at the first opportunity. Recently, BScene has contacted German Titov to know more about his plans and plans of his protégés. Here is what Titov had to say.

“After a small pause in late summer and in early fall our team will be back with a variety of interesting events in upcoming months. We shall work both overseas and at home trying to bring fans the best possible match-ups. In Russia we shall start from several low-profile tournaments, mostly in Ekaterinburg, to tune-up some of our fighters and then we shall see if there is a chance to build up a major tournament. In America, along with our partners at Banner Promotions, we are close to loading a series of interesting and possibly televised tournaments; they will see the best of our talent in work. I cannot yet get into the details but an announcement can follow pretty soon so stay tuned”.

Titov was then asked to speak a bit about his most notable fighters, and German didn’t reject it giving his thoughts on almost every familiar name in his team. One boxer after another (weight classes descending) are presented hereinafter with short comments made by the promoter. One particular fighter is placed ahead of the group for obvious reasons.
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Dmitry Pirog (WBO middleweight champion, 17-0, 14 KOs)

“Dmitry did exactly what we had expected him to do by soundly destroying one of the best American prospects P4P on a foreign soil. Pirog is an enormously talented fighter, though not the youngest one at 30. But he is a fresh and a hungry fighter who is eager to get more title opportunities.

We have read a story on ESPN that St. Petersburg was named as a probable venue for his future defense but this is wrong. St. Petersburg can be a possibility but right now we are trying to build up a following for Dmitry overseas. The Northern Palmira, where our old partners from Jab Promotions are operating, can be a host of one of our future fights but certainly not at this point of Pirog’s career. Right now we are interested in bringing Dmitry the biggest names around. We hope for a tentative date on HBO in early 2010, maybe in January or February, but this surely is just a talk now.

Kelly Pavlik is coming back on Manny Pacquiao’s undercard on November 13. We shall look carefully at his future outing. Pavlik can be a possibility for Dmitry but it’s up in air. Another opportunity is Felix Sturm in a partial unification of titles but everything is far from being solidified here as well.

Dmitry is in shape and he will soon return to the gym to improve and hone his skills. Pirog is ready to take on the best fighters in the world – that’s for sure”.

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Denis Bakhtov (heavyweight, 33-5, 22 KOs, WBA #11)
“Denis has some health problems. I don’t want to get into details but he has withstood a recent surgery, and now he is slowly recovering after it. An injury was also the reason why his previously proposed battle against Ukrainian Alexander Dmitrenko had fallen through in late July. Bakhtov is expected to make a full recovery in 4-6 months from this point. He will most probably be out of the WBA ranks but it won’t be a problem to re-install him there. We shall weigh-in all the options after his recovery; Dmitrenko fight can also be a possibility in future but surely not at the present point”.

Vyacheslav Glazkov (heavyweight, 6-0, 4 KOs, 2008 Beijing bronze medalist)
“Slava is a steadily developing fighter. His skills has honed considerably over a course of several months so he is ready for tougher challenges. And we shall present him with some of such challenges in October. Glazkov will most probably fight overseas, in the States, but I cannot yet name the date and the opponent”.

Alexey Mazikin (heavyweight, 13-5-2, 3 KOs)
“Alexey wasn’t really successful the last year but his opponents were of high quality. Mazikin comes back on October 22 as a part of a new heavyweight series, being organized by Bigger’s Better Promotions in Nicosia, Cyprus. It’ll be the same type of an instant tournament “The Prizefighter” is – quarterfinals, semifinals and finals on the same evening. Mazikin has every chance to win this one and to rebuild his career at least partially”.

Grigory Drozd (cruiserweight, 32-1, 23 KOs, WBO #3, WBA #6 and IBF #7)
“Many think Drozd is done as he is out of the ring for more than a year since his big victory over Darnell Wilson. This is wrong, however. Drozd isn’t done and he plans a comeback in January 2011 somewhere in Russia. Grisha was out of boxing for a considerable span of time being fully involved into business and also resolving various issues outside the Sweet Science. But I talked to him and he said to me his fight instinct and his desire to beat the best in order to be the best was still here. So, Drozd is coming back and he targets only the cream of the cream in his weight class. After a couple of tune-up fight to shake off rustiness we shall go directly at world champions to bring Grigory the best possible opportunities”.

Vasily Lepikhin (light heavyweight, 12-0, 5 KOs)
“Lepikhin lost the last year due to various injuries. But he is a talented young fighter and I just hope he will recover well from all these health problems. We haven’t yet a set date for him”.

Roman Simakov (light heavyweight, 13-1-1, 8 KOs)
“I’m not yet sure but it looks like we shall have a date for Roman overseas in October or in November. Simakov was previously scheduled to face Seyfuddin Barakhoev in Vladikavkaz for the WBC Baltic title but this fight isn’t happening. Simakov improved drastically since his loss to Lepikhin and we plan to keep Roman active”.

Maxim Vlasov (super middleweight, 19-0, 10 KOs)
“Maxim has just taken out our other protégé and his teammate Mikhail Krinitsin (9-2-2, 5 KOs) in seven rounds. The fight took place in Tashkent, as local official and our big friend Doniyor Ergashev kindly asked us to bring one of our most talented fighters to his Homeland to make a local tournament more sound and stellar. Vlasov dominated an entire fight and score a knockdown in the third. We (alongside Art Pellulo and his guys) shall also keep him active and he can be back later this fall though it’s not a done deal yet”. Note: according to Vlasov, his next fight can occur either on Nov. 6 in Mexico or on Nov. 8-11 in North Carolina.

Kuvanych Toygonbayev (middleweight, 31-6-2, 19 KOs)
“Unfortunately, Kuvanych is an aging fighter at 34. He had an illustrious career in the past but now he should be considered more of opponent type than anything else. It’s up to him to prove doubters wrong. We shall throw him into the ring against prospects or fellow contenders and, if successful against them, he will be re-installed as a world-ranked fighter. He can fight next either in Europe or overseas”.

Ante Bilic (light middleweight/middleweight, 23-2, 12 KOs)
“Ante was out for a year due to various issues but he tuned up well at the start of 2010 with three consecutive first-round kayos in his Homeland. I have offered him a date on American TV and we shall see if he is ready for this opportunity. The Croatian is a capable fighter and we are looking after him carefully”.

Sherzod Husanov (light middleweight, 15-0-1, 7 KOs, WBO #8)
“Sherzod had a tougher than expected fight against Columbian Jhon Berrio on ESPN this summer. But had everybody known how hard had it been to bring Sherzod to America, everyone would have changed their opinions about that fight. By the way, I still think that at least two judges got it wrong as Husanov was significantly better than his opponent and such scores as 96-94 and 95-95 don’t reflect the reality.

Husanov had earlier been proposed a fight against WBO champion Sergey Dzinziruk bit it has fallen through due to visa issues. We are planning another date for Sher overseas. Two-three more fights and we shall once again consider title options”.

Felix Diaz (welterweight, 7-0, 5 KOs, 2008 Beijing gold medalist)
“Our team will keep Diaz active worldwide as he is going to fight both on his native soil in Dominican Republic, in USA and in Europe. Right now, after his summer kayos, we are thinking about a minor title fight somewhere in USA. It can be clinched for this November. An opponent is surely not set yet”.

Fariz Kazimov (light welterweight, 11-1-1, 3 KOs)
“Kazimov was forced to miss almost a year since his hard-earned victory over renowned veteran DeMarcus Corley because of an injury. Fariz is coming back to casino “Vodoley” in Ekaterinburg on October 7. He will perform a tune-up against durable journeyman Vyacheslav Yakovenko (7-12-1, 3 KOs). The fight is scheduled for six rounds”.

Ruslan Provodnikov (light welterweight, 16-0, 11 KOs, WBO #6 and WBA #14)
“Ruslan is coming back on October 16 in Ekaterinburg for a tough tune-up against rugged enforcer Ivan Kaberkon (4-5, 3 KOs), who is much better than his record suggests. However, Provodnikov will be a favorite here. After that, Ruslan will be back on January 7, 2011, as a headliner of the ESPN Season Starter. For the second consecutive time Russian fighter will crown the beginning of the ESPN boxing year (this year it was Roman Karmazin in an epic brawl with Dionisio Miranda). It’s a huge gift for Ruslan and we hope he won’t disappoint us”.

Alisher Rakhimov (lightweight, 21-0, 11 KOs, WBC #12)
“Alisher has just edged tough Mexican Sergio Thompson to retain his WBC International title. Rahimov has little time left – he is already 32 years of age – so we are ready for all possible challenges. We shall weigh-in every accessible option”.

Dmitry Ganiev (lightweight, 12-1-1, 5 KOs, WBA #10)
“As BScene has already reported Ganiev suffered his first career loss dropping a unanimous decision to little-known debutant Alexey Glukhov (1-0 at the time) as a part of the second stage of 2010 International Kostya Tszyu Cup. There’s more to it, however. Ganiev, who destroyed such an accomplished fighter as Fahsan 3K Battery in just a round, isn’t any worse than Glukhov. But he suffered a serious injury to his left foot midst into the second round. Actually, it was a TKO defeat for Ganiev. Or it’s better to say, it would have been a TKO loss had I been in Yugorsk and not in America.

Unfortunately, Ganiev's corner and Dmitry himself chose to continue fighting even though he could barely move in the ring. So that is a true reason for the loss. Actually, a loss is a setback but fighter’s health is much more important. Ganiev will now have a considerable time off to fix his injuries. He is a promising fighter so we count on him”.

Fedor Papazov (super featherweight, 5-0, 4 KOs) and Andrey Isaev (featherweight, 22-2, 7 KOs, WBO #12)
“Both Papazov and Isaev will have their next fights in America; probably in November”.
Vyacheslav Gusev (featherweight, 16-2, 3 KOs)

“Juan Carlos Burgos will soon fight for a vacant WBC featherweight title, while Gusev, who has given him helluva fight and, in my opinion, defeated Mexican, will be featured in a tune-up on Oct. 16 in Ekaterinburg. Life isn’t very fair sometimes. Gusev suffered several injuries and is just coming back to begin his new run at title. Gusev will be accompanied by light middleweight Dmitry Mikhailenko (7-0, 1 KO), welterweight Ruslan Khayrtdinov (6-0, 2 KOs) and super bantamweight Ilhom Rakhimov (6-1, 4 KOs). Also, flyweight Rustam Nabeev (4-1) will be back in action on Oct. 7”.

Ayup Arsaev (featherweight, 10-1, 6 KOs)
“Ayup is a new addition to our team. He is a crowd-pleasing aggressor with considerable accomplishment in kickboxing. Arsaev is known for his take-no-prisoners style of fighting. He will be back to the ring on Sep. 25 in Murmansk to take on fellow unbeaten Uzbek Zohid Hudayberdiev (16-0, 8 KOs) in a cracker”. Note: Arsaev lost his fight by way of disqualification in the sixth round.