Povetkin Drops Bomb, Says He Parted Ways With Hryunov

By Alexey Sukachev

Vladimir Hryunov remains in the headlines, and not necessarily for the right reasons.

It was learned on Monday that the ringside physician for Guillermo Jones’s stoppage win over Denis Lebedev in their cruiserweight championship massacre in May was prohibited to stop the bloody mess under very controversial circumstances. Hryunov confirmed the news, while not offering any comment about a subsequent Lebedev’s decision to break ties with him.

The Russian promoter and manager will now have the opportunity to respond to – or dodge – questions regarding another major defection. 

WBA regular heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin announced late Monday evening that he plans to sever all ties with Hryunov. The news came on the eve of his departure to Kyrgyzstan for the first stage of the preparations for the fight of his life against unified World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on Oct. 5 in Moscow.

“Vladimir Hryunov is no longer associated with me; all negotiations are presently being carried out directly with Andrey Ryabisnkiy”, said Povetkin to the “Soviet Sport” Russian daily. “He (Ryabinskiy) will now form my team, and he will arrange my training camps. Vladimir has talked too much and has done too little. There’s nothing which links us now”.

Andrey Ryabinskiy’s twitter remains silent at the moment.

Vladimir Hryunov acted as Povetkin’s manager and Russian representative since turning pro in 2005, approximately one year after his Gold medal winning run in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The fractured relationship between Povetkin and Hryunov lends an interesting sidebar to his forthcoming heavyweight championship showdown with Klitschko, The bout will be promoted by Hryunov, who put up a massive bid of $23 million to secure the rights to stage the lineal heavyweight championship contest.

Editor's Note: Sauerland Event is still Povetkin's promoter and Wilfried Sauerland handles his management.