By Alexey Sukachev

Drozd means “Thrush” in English. Wlodarczyk is as a popular surname in Polish as, say “Hernandez” in Spanish.

All in all, it’s a perennial contender Greg Thrush versus an established hard-nosed champion Cristobal Hernandez (Krzyz is “Cristobal” in Spanish or “Christopher” in English). A great poster for a welterweight world championship somewhere in Vegas it is, like a mythical match-up between Oba Carr and Yori Boy Campas.

But Greg’s true name is Grigory, and he represents Russia in the ring; Cristobal Hernandez is Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, the long-reigning WBC cruiserweight champion from Poland. The fight won’t be nowhere near Vegas or Los Angeles, but in the windy Russian capital of Moscow.

To say cruiserweights aren’t very popular in the United States is a huge understatement. In the top ten of Transnational Boxing Rankings Board’s 200lb rankings there are no Americans, the best fighter (#6) from the New World being Thabiso Mchunu of South Africa.

In Europe, however, there is no weight class bigger and more thoroughly dominated than this division.

Moreover, it’s the only division where all four major straps belong to European or Europe-based fighters (such as Yoan Pablo Hernandez, born in Cuba but who lives in and fights out of Germany). The bout between one of its finest champions in boxing and one of the most developed contenders will undeniably be one of the most notable performances on the continental fight scene this year.

For Russia, its meaning is much bigger. It’s already Russia’s biggest fight of the year, even well before the opening bell. But it can also live up to the highest standards of fistic art, set the last year by two other cruiserweight stars from the World of Boxing fight team.

Denis Lebedev and Rakhim Chakhkiev failed even to go the distance in separate title fights last year. Losses to Guillermo Jones and Wlodarczyk, respectively, were fought with such ferocity that both  were rightfully nominated for Fight of the Year awards on the domestic and international scale.

Then there was another potential fight of the year in terms of its meaning for the local and diehard heavyweight fans, when Alexander Povetkin took on his biggest career challenge in Wladimir Klitschko last October. The bout failed miserably in the entertainment department, a foul-filled affair whose only win for the Russian boxing scene was its claimed success at the box office.

Drozd vs. Wlodarczyk—the only really meaningful fight this weekend,—can combine thrill and frenetic pressure of  last year’s cruiserweight wars and the importance of a heavyweight championship fight like Klitschko vs. Povetkin, all in one explosive package.

At least, the potential exists. Like some banner fights, this one is so subtly tuned that it has tons of shades in it, making up for a James Joyce’s roman rather than a boxing match-up. 

Firstly, there’s a theme of revenge.

Wlodarczyk (49-2-1, 35 KOs) is coming back to Moscow for the second time in 15 months. The last time out he was dropped down in the third and found himself well behind on points in his title defese versus Chakhkiev, an Olympic Gold medalist for the 2008 Russia boxing team. The Polish banger dug deep, proving his championship guile as he rallied to score knockdowns in rounds six, seven and eight in forcing an 8^th round stoppage. 

Chakhkiev then signed an agreement with World of Boxing—the promoter of the aforementioned show and also for this Saturday’s card in Moscow; Drozd followed at approximately the same time.

“Contrary to what some people can think of, Rakhim is very different to Drozd”, explained Wlodarczyk’s head coach Fiodor Lapin. “He boxes in an entirely different manner, and they shouldn’t be compared as Krzysztof has fought lost of boxers who are more like Grigory in terms of style and approach”.

“Shouldn’t be compared,” but they would be compared by the fans who see it as a chance to prove superiority of the Russian boxer over the Polish champion. 

Then there’s a shade of politics.

The event’s theme is Russia (Lebedev and Drozd) versus Poland (Wlodarczyk and Kolodziej). Both nations have a long history of tensions, which turned to its worst edge this year after the Ukrainian standoff. The severity of a relationship between two distantly fraternal but not-so-friendly nations is well felt in the sport too and was on display during a scandalous volleyball rendezvous just a week ago in Poland, where one of the Russian team’s key players Alexey Spiridonov was involved into an ugly confrontation with one of Polish politicians.

Showing their good nature, both Drozd and Wlodarczyk were mutually respective towards one another—almost to a fault—during the Monday presser, showing signs of distinction. 

But it can all end abruptly when some of the Russians will either remain sitting or start booing Dąbrowski's Mazurka—and some individuals will definitely show their lack of culture— and the anger of the champion can be heated up to unleash at the challenger.

Wlodarczyk is making the seventh defense of his green belt. Having started his second reign of a beltholder as your casual titlist— struggling mightily against both Jason Robinson and Francisco Palacios, being assisted by the judges in both of these fights—Wlodarczyk paid his debts in his next fights, traveling to Australia to overcome local favorite and poster boy Danny Green in 2011.

He returned and effectively defeated Palacios in a rematch with no love for him from the officials in 2012. And then it was Chakhkiev’s fight that where he finally positioned himself as a true leader in this shallow weight class. 

“In my opinion, the fighters present here at this table, are much better than the other two champions of this weight class —(Yoan Pablo) Hernandez and (Marco) Huck”, said Lapin.

Wlodarczyk is indeed rated just #3 by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, but comparing his recent activities with a long-time Huck’s reign, heavily watered down by a number of soft touches (Richards, Minto, Rossi etc.), or with recent struggles of Hernandez, one can only wonder who is true the leader of the cruiserweight division.

Drozd (38-1, 27 KOs) has his own answer to the latter question. It can very well be his only chance to give this answer to those interested in it. A year ago, he wasn’t believed to have his say in the matter.

“It took him some time to persuade me to offer him this opportunity,” World of Boxing’s Andrey Ryabinskiy shared his thoughts with BoxingScene.com Andrey Ryabinskiy. “A year ago, I honestly thought that he wasn’t ready for this.”

Ryabinksiy wasn’t the only person unsure of Drozd’s prospects. Actually, it was easier to find those who thought otherwise, as to many fans and observers the “Pretty Boy” was an underachiever. 

Unlike Chakhkiev, Drozd hadn’t an extensive amateur pedigree when he turned to prizefighting. He learnt his lessons in kickboxing, however, and it carried him well over the first three years of his professional career. Having gone 18-0 through this period, he was tested by bulgy yet capable Mexican Saul Montana and passed that test with flying colors (TKO 9) in his American debut.

Drozd returned home with a convincing decision over the same Robinson, who was barely defeated by Wlodarczyk six years after that. He then added five straight knockouts, including a 5^th round knockout over fellow undefeated countryman Pavel Melkomyan – ironically, the first boxer to deal a loss to the Pole. The streak had many suddenly believing he was the next big thing.

Then it all ended in a moment, when he chose to fight the vastly more experienced Firat Arslan. Drozd paid a heavy price, suffering a 5^th round knockout loss to the hard-nosed veteran in their WBA eliminator. He fought on, had some solid wins (KO 8 over Laudelino Jose Barros and TKO 10 against Darnell Wilson) but he wasn’t the same— partially due to declining self-confidence, and partially because of the lost focus.

Drozd retired after the Wilson fight, concentrating on his business and building his own life outside the ring. Like almost all boxers, though, he found the lure of the sport too tempting from which to truly make a clean break.

His name was already in process of vanishing from the memory of local boxing community, when he chose to resume his career for the only goal left—the world title. It hasn’t been easy. Drozd fought once in 2011, was out for nearly a year after that, and then came back under the aegis of flamboyant promoter Vladimir Hryunov; but even after his victories over Richard Hall and Jean Mark Monrose, he hasn’t neared onto a title opportunity.

It took Drozd almost a year to rededicate and to redeem himself before moving on. He took a hard road back by fighting the same fighter he was before Arslan— young, undefeated, and inspiring. Mateusz Masternak (31-0 at the time) was a pre-fight favorite heading into their clash last October.

When questioned about Drozd’s stamina issues, Masternak’s team shook it off.

“Nah, it’s not that important”, was the answer of Andrzej Gmitruk, Masternak’s manager and trainer. “We are much more concerned of Mateusz’s approach and his delicate use of the power he is entitled to.”

Masternak suffered an 11^th round knockout loss, propelling his Russian counterpart right into the elite. It was showed right during the fight how transformation of a fighter is taking its place. Having entered the bout as an underdog, Drozd dug deep and found an inner fire, which lit up his hands and burnt down the Pole. It wasn’t a moment; it was just a new state of the Drozd’s game. He has finally picked where he had left before Arslan and he never looked back, smoking Jeremy Ouanna earlirt this year.

“Am I different before this fight?,” Drozd—the TBRB ranked #7 at cruiseweight—rhetorically asked, though nervous at the very same time. “I sure am! It’s a chance of a lifetime for me –a chance, which I have been ready for a long, long time.”

His promoter sees the difference as well.

“He feels this way. He behaves as if it’s his last chance for a title, and this is a fight of his life”, Ryabinskiy confirmed of his fighter’s observations of this weekend’s title challenge.

At 35, Drozd is going into his 40^th professional fight with renewed passion for the sport and with a clear sense of the unique nature of the chance he has got. 

It is what makes this fight very special, adding one last shade to the panorama of a great battle ahead. A greater one than a welterweight contest between Mr. Thrush and Mr. Hernandez.

NOTES

The fight between Wlodarczyk and Drozd will be a headliner of a huge double bill, presented by World of Boxing promotional company at Dynamo Ice Palace at Khodynka field in Moscow, Russia. Doors are opened at 5 PM LT, the first fight is scheduled to start at 6:30 PM LT. The show will be broadcasted live by Integrated Sports on a PPV, starting from 8 PM LT / 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT.

A co-feature will see TBRB #5 Denis Lebedev (25-2, 19 KOs) defending his title against TBRB #9 Pawel Kolodziej (33-0, 18 KOs).

Another title fight will match up WBA Female light welterweight champion Ana Laura Esteche (10-3-2, 2 KOs) of Argentina defending her belt against WBA interim champion Svetlana Kulakova (9-0-1, 1 KO) in a rematch of their June draw also in Moscow.

Undercard bouts:

Andrey Knyazev (10-1, 5 KOs) vs. Shalva Jomardashvili (37-8-2, 28 KOs) – 12 rounds for a vacant WBO Oriental cruiserweight title

Sergey Lipinets (3-0, 2 KOs) vs. Daniel Lomeli (22-4, 11 KOs) – 8 rounds, light welterweights

Alexander Sharonov (2-0, 1 KO) vs. Godwin Cudjoe (8-6, 7 KOs) – 6 rounds, welterweights