By Rick Reeno
Last month, a rare occurrence took place in the boxing world when Matvey Korobov, a Russian Olympic middleweight and a two-time world amateur champion, signed a promotional contract with Top Rank, an American based company.
The usual course for the career of an amateur coming out of Russia, especially one with the talent and credentials of Korobov, is to begin your career in Germany under the banner of a large outfit with the right local connections - like Universum, Sauerland Event, K2 or Arena Box.
Most Russian amateurs are pressured early on to head over to Germany in search of a big professional career. Korobov had other plans. While some of his amateur counterparts were looking to Germany, he saw America as the capital of the boxing universe. As a child, he toying with basketball and soccer, but his love for boxing began at the age of 8 and intensified by the age of 13. In 1998, Korobov's parents moved to Florida to escape an economic crisis that was crippling a lot of families in Russia. He made a decision to stay behind to pursue his boxing ambitions.
After winning a junior title in 2001, he began to build a solid reputation in the amateur ranks. In 2004, he began to stand out among the pack by dominating his division for the next few years in world-class competition. He won the 2005 world championships by beating Emilio Correa. The following year he won European Championships with a win over Oleksandr Usyk, and then won the 2007 world championships with wins over Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Alfonso Blanco.
Going into the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, he was viewed as one of the most dominant fighters of any weight class and a heavy favorite to win gold. He won his opening match, but would later lose in what many considered to be a sizable upset, to Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan with a 10-7 tally.
Manager Cameron Dunkin closely followed the amateur success of Korobov and saw him a future superstar in the sport. He would eventually sign a managerial deal with Korobov and brought him to Top Rank, who were equally impressed with the young fighter. The promotional company headed by Bob Arum is not in the business of signing Olympians. They sign Olympic fighters very carefully and their decision making process has paid off. Besides Korobov, other Olympians signed during the last few years include Oscar De La Hoya (92 Games), Floyd Mayweather Jr (96 Games), Miguel Cotto (00 Games) and Vanes Martirosyan (04 Games).
After meeting with Dunkin and Top Rank, Korobov, 25-years-old, realized that his dream of fighting in America was going to come true.
"When I met Cameron and Bob Arum, I liked them and was very interested in what they had to say. After I met them there was never a question of going somewhere else. I wasn't even thinking about going to Germany. My family is here and everything in boxing is here, in America," Korobov would tell BoxingScene.com. "I wanted to box in America. There were a lot of people who told me it's easier in Germany, that you can make money there, but America is the center of boxing."
"I think I'm exactly where I need to be. In Russia it's really tough to make a lot of money in boxing. A lot of boxers from Russia go to Germany to chase the money. They all go there to box for the money, but most of them don't make that much. Some make just enough to feed their families. Of course I want to have a good career, make good money and become a champion, in the same way as other fighters like Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, but you need to work to get there."
Working to get there is a very important value to Korobov. Like many of the other top amateurs who took part in the 08 Games, he experienced the hardships of the flawed Olympic scoring system. If the system isn't changed, he believes that most amateurs will forget about working their way to an Olympic spot, and instead take the road of pursuing pro careers before gaining all of the necessary experience.
"It's bad for the Olympic games. If there is a problem with the scoring of a fight, you can't do anything out there," Korobov said. "They won't listen to protests, nothing. They don't seem to care. Everything is very political these days and about money. “
“I saw what happened to some of the American boxers after I had lost. Sometimes you don't know what the judges are watching. If this continues, Olympic boxing will end up dying. More and more boxers will decide to go pro instead of trying to get to the Olympics.”
Korobov has since relocated to Florida and is currently training for his pro debut in St. Petersburg with well-respected Dan Birmingham, who guided Jeff Lacy and Winky Wright to world titles.
"I lived all my life in Russia, but now I've been in Florida for about a month. My girlfriend will arrive next month and we'll live here. My parents have been living here for a long time. My father loves it here," Korobov said. "I'm training in St. Petersburg with Dan Birmingham. We met not long after I came down here and I really like Dan as a person. He's a very good trainer. It's tough, but I like the training process. I want to add the American style of fighting to my own. I like to learn new things, and I'm going to take it step by step to become a great boxer."
Birmingham is looking to groom the southpaw style of Korobov by showing him some of the techniques being utilized by one of the best southpaws in the sport, and Birmingam's most famous pupil, Winky Wright.
"I've met Winky Wright. We sometimes train at the same times. Sometimes Dan tells me to watch something Winky is doing, for me to see certain things that he does to see the American style of pro fighting," Korobov said.
Following the tradition of other new-age fighters like Miguel Cotto and the Klitschko brothers, Korobov began to learn English, as an amateur, to better his ability to succeed as a pro. He does speak some English, and is continuing to study the language to better his ability to communicate in the country.
"I always wanted to learn English because I knew it would only be a plus for my career. I didn’t want to spend my career talking through my brother or through a translator. I can understand what my trainer Dan says. Some things I can say and some things I can't, but we communicate very well," Korobov said.
He makes his pro debut on the televised undercard of Top Rank’s November 1 pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, topped by a rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Matt Vanda. There are ongoing discussions to place his second pro-fight on the Dec. 6 undercard to Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, which also takes place in Las Vegas.
“I’m very happy to be where I am. I’m happy with my trainer and I’m happy with my manager and I’m ready to work hard to one day become a champion,” Korobov said.