By Alexey Sukachev
Andrey Ryabinskiy, the CEO of the “World of Boxing” promotional company, announced his upcoming plans in an interview with the “Izvestia” media outlet. Ryabinskiy talked about several of most dominant Russian fighters, including WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KOs), WBO light heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev (23-0-1, 21 KOs), WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (25-2, 19 KOs) and heavyweight stalwart Alexander Povetkin (26-1, 19 KOs).
On Lebedev vs. Jones , “We’ve finished our negotiations with Don King successfully. I haven’t yet seen the agreement myself and haven’t yet signed it though. But yesterday we talked directly to King and we’ve worked out all the inconsistencies. The rematch between Denis (Lebedev) and Guillermo Jones will take place in the 20's of April either at Crocus Arena or at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Denis is now overseas. It was my decision to send him there, but the idea was raised by the whole team. Denis was very glad to get some experience in the States”.
About Alexander Povetkin , “I’ve talked to Sasha, and I offered him several coaches to work with. We shall announce the name when we know it… It’s a complicated question about where Povetkin should train. He has already trained in the USA but something went wrong, and Alexander didn’t like training there. Everything should be voluntarily. Povetkin likes training at home, and we shall offer him such conditions, he will be most comfortable with”.
“Alexander hasn’t yet chosen whom he will be working with. He hasn’t yet signed with the “World of Boxing”, and I don’t want to press him, to make him uncomfortable. I want to work with fighters only if they wish it themselves. Our agreements are absolutely voluntary. We’ve offered a deal to Sasha, he read it, we’ve answered his questions, and he said he was interested in. (If we sign Alexander), Povetkin will fight next in the second half of May against a very well-known fighter”.
About Sergey Kovalev , “Sergey looked perfect against Ismayl Sillakh. He is very hard, very brutal, and his is very exciting. Kovalev is a great fighter with great personality. We’re now in negotiations with his manager Egis Klimas to stage a fight in Moscow. Kovalev has an agreement with the American network to fight next in March, so his next fight taking place in Russia is unlikely. We shall fight in Russia when it is convenient for all the parties”.
About Bob Arum talking a possible fight between Manny Pacquiao and Ruslan Provodnikov , “I would be happy to arrange such a fight here, in Russia. I’m ready to take part in this promotion (both organizationally and financially) at any time. It’s obvious that we are going to have activities in common with Bob Arum. Either it will be a fight between Ruslan and Manny, or maybe it’ll be another fight."
