By Alexey Sukachev / Photo by Andrey Bazdrev / Video by Alexandra Pobedimskaya
In a present time of repeating mismatches, bogus titles, unrecognized champions and numerous “Bum of a month” tours (akin some of Joe Louis’s journeys but maybe even worse than them) a collision of two highly-ranked up-and-comers is a rare occurrence. A clash between two former amateur stars, fighting on a narrow slope to a mountain peak is doubly as seldom. And when you throw in their nationalities and find out that both of them are actually Russians, you can count it as one-in-a-year (and that’s being a generous estimate) type of event.
We are lucky bastards though as we have an explosive match-up of the aforementioned sort coming up tonight in Schwerin, a German seaport on the Polish border; it’s where two elite cruiserweights: WBO #1 Denis Lebedev (20-0, 15 KOs) and WBO #2 Alexander Alekseev (19-1, 17 KOs) will face each other in a World Boxing Organization’s 200lb final eliminator for a right to challenge local champion Marko Huck in the nearest future. With Juerghen Braehmer suffering an unexpected trauma of sacroiliac joint and withdrawing from his pre-planned title defense against Alejandro Lakatos, two Russian fighters will take the stage by force forming an unusual main event for German spectators.
“I suggested bringing two of them together this winter after Denis had really kicked some ass giving an eye-opening beating to my buddy Ali Ismailov”, recalls popular Russian boxing journalist Andrey Bazdrev. “Listen, Denis”, I said, “Let’s make a mop-up among top post-Soviet cruisers. That’ll be wonderful”, continues Bazdrev.
Arranging a major clean-up in a certain weight-class between certain fighters isn’t a new idea; it has been earlier realized in numerous ways from Prizefighter series to Super Six Showtime WBC (and we surely don’t mean Jose Sulaiman’s brainchild here) and in various divisions. Cruiserweight is a domain of Eastern-European fighters, however, and amazingly Russia (along with Poland) is on the top of this heap. Or, at least, it was so a year ago with minimum six nice-looking contenders in Lebedev, Alekseev, long-time WBA #1 hermit Valery Brudov, knockout veteran Vadim Tokarev, former muay thai star Grigory Drozd and rising prospect Alexander Kotlobay.
Altogether they had a popping record of 141-6-2 with 111 KOs and at least five minor titles between each other at the end of last year – a wonderful set to arrange Russia’s own Super Six. It’s not as promising today though: careers of both Drozd and Tokarev stagnated, Kotlobay suffered a crushing defeat to Enzo Maccarinelli and Valery Brudov became lost in limbo being de facto pushed aside from his position of WBA mandatory challenger.
However, one fight was here to be done and it was Lebedev against Alekseev. The ignition came from Alexander who recorded a memorable verbal challenge to Denis, in which he “pushed” Lebedev into a fight with him. “Denis, what do you think about Alekseev’s challenge? Has it been done in masculine’s way or not?” asks Denis a pretty reporter Alexandra from Chekhov during her visit of Vityaz training centre. “It was in masculine’s way, not in a feminine’s, I suppose”, answers Russian hard-hitter. “But it wasn’t what a lad should do, it wasn’t by our rules”, reflects Lebedev in somewhat street but correct way.
Pitting two Russian fighters of such a level against each other is a unique event. You can hardly find one such contest in recent memory but now this fight is coming along. Such battles aren’t popular among Russian fight fans that prefer to see their idols crushing Americans, Germans and other people but not dealing punishment to one another.
“I don’t know whom I’ll be rooting for come fight time”, says well-known Russian boxing personality Alexander Kolesnikov. “I didn’t want this fight to be done but that is how it works at paid ranks”. “Alekseev had numerous ways to get his title chance – he was ranked by all four major sanctioning bodies – but he chose to fight us. It was his decision, not ours. That doesn’t work well with Russian fans”, says Lebedev’s manager Vladimir Hryunov, a villain himself among a big group of Russian boxing admirers.
Alekseev sees it somewhat different. “I don’t recognize my tape as a trick just to make this bout happen”, he says in one of his interviews. “I really think so, and that tape wasn’t pre-arranged to hype an upcoming action. I wasn’t choosing words or writing a speech. Team Lebedev did everything to slow our negotiations and I just wanted to make this damn fight. I released this tape and I got what I wanted – now we are fighting each other. Only Lebedev is in my way of fighting Marko Huck and becoming a new champion of the world!”
Both fighters were decorated amateurs but while Lebedev was just an exceptionally good one, Alekseev was truly marvelous and outstanding. He won 2005 world amateur championship, finished second two years before, was a three-time (2002, 2003 and 2005) Russian champion and took part in 2004 Athens Olympics (both in 2003 and 2004 he lost narrowly to future heavyweight contender Odlanier Solis – 15-18 and 21-24 respectively). Lebedev wasn’t that successful but he developed a nice pro career even despite a four-year long hiatus when he was forced out of boxing because of poor fees and a necessity to take care of his family. When he returned to the ring, however, he didn’t lose a single piece of his former skills. It was proved in 2009 when he consecutively defeated Eliseo Castillo (20-2-1), Enzo Maccarinelli (29-3) and Ali Ismailov (16-2-1) to become Russia’s Fighter of the Year.
“I have got acquainted with Lebedev for the first time in July 2008 during Povetkin-Sykes undercard”, remembers Kolesnikov. “I was going to my place at ringside, when – bang! – Denis finished his Georgian for Archil Mezvrishvili (8-2) with a single punch in the very first round of his comeback fight. Yeah, that was truly amazing. But it wasn’t until Macca’s destruction when I finally noticed him as a supreme Russian cruiserweight. He is very powerful, and his left hook is just a pure magic. That’ll be a “Southpaw Disaster”: a left-hook killer (Lebedev) against a straight left-hand surgeon (Alekseev). It’ll be a sweet of sweat in the ring. I feel this fight won’t end in decision; there will be a stoppage. The winner will be the one who will land the first clean power punch. It’s that simple”.
Alekseev started his pro career in 2006 and notched 16 wins (15 by the way of kayo) in three years before losing in nine painful rounds to unheralded Argentinean Victor Emilio Ramirez in January 2009 in what was one of the biggest upset of that year. He amassed three victories since then (two of them inside the distance) to re-build his confidence and to get back to the top. Alekseev got a major twelve week preparation for an upcoming fight including two weeks of sparring with three different opponents.
Lebedev’s camp was even more intensive. He stood in pairs with two former champions in Brudov and Guyana’s former WBC titleholder Wayne “Big Truck” Braithwaite – a proof can be seen in photos and video (by Andrey Bazdrev) below.
“I saw one of Alekseev’s fight on YouTube”, reflects Braithwaite during his talk with Bazdrev. “Lebedev has good chances to crush him down. He needs not to go straightforwardly at Alekseev but to use angles and cut the ring. Denis will crack him. What have I said? Denis will crush him? Yeah, and I would have destroyed him as well, man. You can say I’ve already done that”, smiles The Big Truck.
Russian fight fans are leaning towards Lebedev as well. A survey in Allboxing.ru forum says us that 54.1% of users think Denis will win this one (43.8% - by way of kayo and 10,3% - by decision). 33,4% are favouring Alekseev (half of them by decision and exactly the same number by kayo), while 6,7% are betting on a draw with 5,8% being wrong in that this fight wouldn’t have been done.
“We all laughed at Alekseev’s challenge when it came, clapped our hands, smiled and began our preparations for something amazing”, writes Bazdrev in his blog . “I started thinking somewhat later when I have gathered my brains, a half dozen of Alekseev’s tapes and some tactics notes together. Alekseev is clone of Wladimir Klitschko in good way. Same speed, same body movements, a bit more of sidesteps – here is what I see. Uh, don’t forget – he is lefty. Such amateurs, old-school amateurs aren’t produced nowadays.
Then I wrote a detailed plan on this fight for myself thinking of what Denis can do and what he cannot do inside the ring. Plan A, plan B and my “prediction” below this: TKO win for Denis. This fight is really important. Alekseev can do less than Klitschko; Lebedev is Povetkin for the poor. But what will work in Schwerin for Lebedev/Alekseev will also count for Povetkin/Klitschko this fall”.
We shall see if this is a right opinion or not pretty soon. The fight starts in several hours.
