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By Scoop Malinowski
STATUS: Heavyweight Contender
HT: 6-8 WT: 246
BORN ON: July 19, 1971 IN: Kiev, Ukraine
CHILDHOOD HERO: "Muhammad Ali - the best boxer, all times."
NICKNAME: Iron Fist.
CHILDHOOD DREAM: "Spaceman or astronaut or do karate like Bruce Lee [smiles]."
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: "Wakeboarding, jet skiing, scuba diving, table tennis, study, training."
GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: "It is coming next year...in the year 2001 when I box Mike Tyson [smiles]."
MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: "None of them. (The most difficult part of boxing is the) preparation, the training. It's a long time, always the same every day. No changes. How do you say it...boring. And I have a lot of easy fights."
FUNNY MEMORY: "Five years ago in England. It was an amateur fight. After a heavy knockout, the opponent came back to me and told me, 'I will come back. Then I will show you how good I really am.' It was a very strong, heavy knockout. He was laying down for a long time. A strong hit. I wondered, next time I have to hit him harder? Is my arm too light [laughs]?"
FAVORITE MOVIES: "Rocky - very nice movie. Excellent. Many movies. Discovery Channel - very interesting to me."
MUSICAL TASTES: "Old music, classical, jazz, pop. Big fan of Cher, The Beatles and Eagles. My favorite song is 'Hotel California.'"
FAVORITE MEAL: "Italian."
FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL: "Not cereals, more yogurt and fruit."
FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: "Cranberry."
FAVORITE ATHLETES: "Dynamo Kiev soccer team. Women's gymnastics - so agile, they look so beautiful to me. Andrei Medvedev and Nicolas Kiefer (tennis)."
WORST INJURY: "Broken right hand in the semifinal at Russian national amateur championships ('94). Still I won the match but couldn't fight in the final." [His amateur record was 195 wins in 210 bouts.]
PREFIGHT FEELING: "Nothing really special. Dress and concentrate on the fight. (Upon entering ring) I'm watching the opponent...without sending signals. In the eyes of someone you can see the mirror of the inside...how he's concentrated, how willing to fight he is, if he's strong or not, if he's nervous or whatever. I'm reading them."
FUTURE AMBITION: "Together with my brother (Wladimir) to have every heavyweight championship belt in the world, in the family. We promised our mother (Nadia) that we will never ever fight against each other. We never have fought or sparred. It's the closest a brother relationship can be."
STATUS: Heavyweight Contender
HT: 6-8 WT: 246
BORN ON: July 19, 1971 IN: Kiev, Ukraine
CHILDHOOD HERO: "Muhammad Ali - the best boxer, all times."
NICKNAME: Iron Fist.
CHILDHOOD DREAM: "Spaceman or astronaut or do karate like Bruce Lee [smiles]."
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: "Wakeboarding, jet skiing, scuba diving, table tennis, study, training."
GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: "It is coming next year...in the year 2001 when I box Mike Tyson [smiles]."
MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: "None of them. (The most difficult part of boxing is the) preparation, the training. It's a long time, always the same every day. No changes. How do you say it...boring. And I have a lot of easy fights."
FUNNY MEMORY: "Five years ago in England. It was an amateur fight. After a heavy knockout, the opponent came back to me and told me, 'I will come back. Then I will show you how good I really am.' It was a very strong, heavy knockout. He was laying down for a long time. A strong hit. I wondered, next time I have to hit him harder? Is my arm too light [laughs]?"
FAVORITE MOVIES: "Rocky - very nice movie. Excellent. Many movies. Discovery Channel - very interesting to me."
MUSICAL TASTES: "Old music, classical, jazz, pop. Big fan of Cher, The Beatles and Eagles. My favorite song is 'Hotel California.'"
FAVORITE MEAL: "Italian."
FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL: "Not cereals, more yogurt and fruit."
FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: "Cranberry."
FAVORITE ATHLETES: "Dynamo Kiev soccer team. Women's gymnastics - so agile, they look so beautiful to me. Andrei Medvedev and Nicolas Kiefer (tennis)."
WORST INJURY: "Broken right hand in the semifinal at Russian national amateur championships ('94). Still I won the match but couldn't fight in the final." [His amateur record was 195 wins in 210 bouts.]
PREFIGHT FEELING: "Nothing really special. Dress and concentrate on the fight. (Upon entering ring) I'm watching the opponent...without sending signals. In the eyes of someone you can see the mirror of the inside...how he's concentrated, how willing to fight he is, if he's strong or not, if he's nervous or whatever. I'm reading them."
FUTURE AMBITION: "Together with my brother (Wladimir) to have every heavyweight championship belt in the world, in the family. We promised our mother (Nadia) that we will never ever fight against each other. We never have fought or sparred. It's the closest a brother relationship can be."
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