up and coming super middle wieght

Victor Oganov: Russian Powerhouse By Paul Upham: This Saturday night in Townsville in Northern Queensland, the "Destroyer" Victor Oganov makes his long awaited return to the Australian boxing scene after an absence of sixteen months. The reappearance of the Russian powerhouse with the iron fists will rock the super middleweight ranks both locally and around the world as he begins what he hopes will be a run towards a world title. The 29 year old last fought in Australia in September 2004. Returning to Russia, it took him over a year to secure permanent residency. Now fighting out of the Tszyu Boxing Academy in Sydney and managed by Kostya Tszyu, Oganov feels that his life is in perfect order to allow him to fully concentrate on capitalising on his potential with a world title win. "Now I am training better, boxing better and feeling better," Oganov told SecondsOut. "I could not concentrate on boxing three times a day and hard training before. Now everything is in place for me. I am a realist, but I think it is very possible for me to become world champion in the next one to two years." Tszyu has secured a number of fights for Oganov in Russia this year and he had his return win on December 23 when he stopped Konstantin Makhankov in round 4 in Tyumen. It brought his record to an incredible 23 wins from 23 fights with 23 knockouts. Makhankov was dropped twice in round 3 from punches to the body and head, but saved by the bell. Oganov had him down twice more in round 4 when the corner threw in the towel. "Victor was just so much stronger than him and put on pressure till the end," said Oganov's trainer Igor Goloubev, who is also the Head Trainer at the Tszyu Boxing Academy. "He looked good. He was very focused before the fight. After the 1st round he controlled the fight without being too aggressive. It was a good fight for him to come back after being away for so long." The win was very special for Oganov. While he stayed fit whilst living in St.Petersburg, awaiting his chance to return to Australia, it was frustrating sitting on the boxing sidelines for over a year. "It was a good job," he said. "Not bad. The opponent was good. He had a hard chin. Punching him was like punching a wall. I am happy and enjoying boxing now. I am enjoying training and the fights." While Kostya Tszyu has flown the flag for professional Russian boxing for a number of years, the recent world title success of fellow countrymen Roman Karmazin and new WBA heavyweight champion Nicolai Valuev has given further inspiration to Oganov to reach the top. He trained with Valuev many years ago in St Petersburg at the start of his professional career. "Nicolai is a much better fighter now than he was two years ago," said Oganov. "He believes in himself and he has great power." Not overly tall for a super middleweight at 5'9'', Oganov is strong and compact like a tank and explodes with his punches with awesome power. While he is undefeated as a professional and has won every fight by knockout, even as an amateur his special power was evident to see. His record of 55 wins and 15 losses is most notable that all of his wins were by knockout. "Victor does have a special power," said Goloubev. "He has a different power. It is short and explosive. I can feel it on the hand pads with him. I feel sorry for those fighting against him." "He's got tremendous power, very technically good punching power," Kostya Tszyu said of his protege. "One of the best punchers was probably Mike Tyson and he reminds me of Mike when he punches, which means he can knock out anybody, anytime." The scary thing for Oganov's opponents is that he feels he will be able to hit even harder in the future. "Yes, I have always had power," he said. "I think I can be even stronger. But one day I really want to win a fight by points. I want to be able to show my skills now. If it happens, I will be happy. Fortunately for me so far, all my professional fights have finished early." Originally from a small city in the Komi Republic in Northern Russia where forest, oil and gas mining industries are prevalent, Oganov's mother still resides there while he has a brother who lives in St Petersburg. Joining him in Australia is his wife Sveglana, who he met in his home town. "She loves Australia even more than me," says Oganov. Without the help of Tszyu and some other friends in Sydney, Oganov would have been unable to pursue his world title goal from Australia. He wants to conquer the super middleweight division as a way of saying thank you to those who have helped him. "Kostya has helped me every way he can and I am so happy," he said. "He is my manager, but our relationship is not like a business one. We are friends. It doesn't matter what has happened in the past, I am happy now." Current IBF/IBO flyweight world champion Vic Darchinyan has also been a great help to Oganov. "Vic is my close friend," he says. "He is the reason that I am here today. When I first came to Australia two years ago for the first time, after the first week, I wanted to go back to Russia. I was worrying about everything. I thought it was going to be too hard for me. I was living on the Central Coast away from Sydney. I met Vic Darchinyan and he showed me Sydney and introduced me to many friends both Australian and Russian. He is a good man." The super middleweight division has been one of the most talked about in Australia over recent years due to the feud and feats of arch rivals Danny Green and Anthony Mundine. "I really want a fight with Green or Mundine," said Oganov. "It is good for me and my future, but it is not an important fight for them with me. I don't think they will want to fight me. I have sparred with Danny Green. He is a strong boxer. He believes in himself. But I think he is now more of a businessman than a boxer. Maybe it is no good for him because he can't concentrate only on his boxing." While Oganov has only seen Mundine fight on television a couple of times, he is amazed that everyone in Australia wants to talk to him about the Man. "Everybody wants to ask about Mundine," he says. Green and Mundine are due to finally fight in April and like many people, Oganov believes it is a hard fight to pick a winner. "It is a hard question," he said. "I wish good luck to both of them and whoever is the best on the night will win. Mundine can win on points. Danny can win by knockout." Goloubev has no doubt that with more fights and training, Oganov will be able to compete with the best super middleweights in the world like Green and Mundine. "Victor needs some more fights this year before we will be ready for a world title eliminator," he said. "I think he will be able to beat any of the world champions now, Markus Beyer, Jeff Lacy, Mikkel Kessler or Joe Calzaghe. I think Victor has a very good chance to become world champion one day." "We are planning on him fighting six times in 2006 to get his confidence back," said Tszyu. This weekend Oganov faces 25 year-old Nigerian Sunday King Hammer 11-2 (11) for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title at the Townsville Entertainment Centre in Queensland. "I don't know too much," Oganov said of his opponent. "He is a big puncher. Maybe he does not have the experience or skills that I have. But he can punch. I want to finish the fight very fast. I will have a very fast plan. I believe in myself and I will win. I am learning that from my friend Vic Darchinyan." "This fight will be a good test for Victor," said Goloubev. The fight is promoted by Serge Serdechniy and his company Inter Sport Events. Tickets ranging from $30 to $150 are on sale through the Townsville Entertainment Centre box office or by telephone (07) 4771 4000. The fights will commence at 7pm with Townsville locals Shaun Quagliotto and Wayne Parker making their professional debuts. Oganov is already scheduled for another fight in Russia on February 23 and has no doubt that he will be ready for that date. "I think Victor is very excited and he is happy to be fighting so often," said Goloubev. "Igor and I, now we have a good connection," Oganov said of his trainer. "When we first started training together, we were still learning to work together. Now everything is very good and I am ready for some more knockout wins starting this weekend."