By Vadim Pushkin

On the eve of Khabib Allakhverdiev’s fight of a lifetime against Adrien Broner, the fighter's flamboyant promoter, Vladimir Hryunov, received some bad news coming in from Russia.

Though posted at Pro-box.ru, PBFR’s official portal, just on October 2 - the date which is set in the paper is actually September the 14th. It is also said that the license had been revoked ahead of schedule.

Reasons, voiced for the ban, differ from one source to another one. According to TASS media agency, Igor Mazurov, secretary general of the PBFR, pointed to Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as an initiator of the ban.

“We have received a complaint about Mr. Hryunov from the RUSADA”, said Mazurov. “It has solid grounds”. “Mr. Hryunov was invited to take part in a discussion but he has failed to attend the committee to discuss this issue. He can appeal both to the Council and to the Conference of the PBFR, and he can also proceed with legal actions in the court. But I doubt that the court will take such an appeal into consideration”.

According to Mazurov, “He [Hryunov], as a promoter, cannot line up and arrange fights under the aegis of the Professional Boxing Federation of Russia”. “There can be ‘rogue’ fights in the state but not at this level”, added Mazurov.

A different version of the story has been presented by Mazurov to R-Sport.

“Vladimir Hryunov had his license revoked for multiple reasons and multiple violations of rules and regulations of the Professional Boxing Federation of Russia”, commented a long-time Russian boxing commissioner by phone.

“Now he cannot arrange legal fights in Russia – at least, as a promoter. Unfortunately, due to imperfection of the Russian legislation and, particularly, due to imperfection of the Federal Law of Physical Culture and Sport, illegal fights are still being staged in our state. This decision [of the PBFR] can be appealed but whether Mr. Hryunov is going to protest it is another question”, said Mazurov, who is also a vital part of the European Boxing Union and some major sanctioning bodies too.

The real reason behind the ban, which isn’t straightforwardly voiced by local media, can be a recent major quarrel between Hryunov and newly introduced Russian boxing (and mortgage business) tycoon Andrey Ryabinskiy, who is not only an owner of the “World of Boxing” but also the vice-president of the PBFR.

Once partners, Ryabinskiy and Hryunov broke their ties somewhere in 2014. This August their anticlimactic rivalry reached its apex during a memorable Crimean event, organized by Hryunov and best known not for the fights but for Roy Jones filing a petition for Russian citizenship after the meeting with no other than Vladimir Putin. Roy Jones received his new papers in September but before that point Hryunov’s supporters and Ryabinskiy personally exchanged blows in the press with former accusing the billionaire of unsuccessful efforts to block the event.

It’s to be noted that PBFR isn’t the only local boxing federation in Russia, which governs prizefighting. However, it’s by far best established, most powerful and well-known around both local and worldwide boxing community. Concurring commissions, like the Interregional Boxing Federation of Russia or Russian Professional Boxing Board (RPBB), almost ceased to exist being limited to mostly off-TV, tiny venues and marginal fights between incompetent rookies and long-time shot veterans. The latest surge by the RPBB was contained and then repelled by the PBFR, who were able to find new, stronger lobby at the WBC among others.
With Hryunov completely independent those or new sanctioning bodies can draw more power and attention than ever.

“It’s an old story with Mr. Ryabinskiy who is also a vice-president of the PBFR”, commented Hryunov to the Soviet Sport. “Imagine Al Haymon and Bob Arum were the vice-presidents of the American national commission or federation. They would have banned each other immediately”.

“I don’t think it’s only Ryabinskiy who is interested. We have communicated before, and we were in the same bout while proceeding with legal actions against Don King after an infamous second Guillermo Jones vs. Denis Lebedev fight. Maybe it’s not Ryabinskiy but someone behind him, who is trying to create difficulties. There were efforts to block my shows in Crimea, and now in fraternal Venezuela”, said Hryunov to Vadim Tikhomirov.

“They have tried to hamper my plans in Crimea, when I was asked to pay in cash to the doping officer. I was later contacted by Nikita Kamaev, an executive director of RUSADA, and he has also asked to pay the officer and not to sign any papers whatsoever”.

“During our meeting with Mr. President [Vladimir Putin] we have come to agreement that a new governing body for prizefighting in Russia will be arranged under the aegis of the Ministry of Sports. Just like in MMA, where the same body is being ruled by Fedor Emelianenko, our head will be Roy Jones Jr”.

“You know what? My friend Alexander “The Surgeon” [Zaldostanov] told me that I should consider myself a people’s promoter. I really am, I feel that way. I’m a man on the mission, that’s what I’m living from. In December we shall have our first event, when Roy Jones Jr. is going to fight for the title in his fifth weight class. And regarding the license… There are plenty of other commissions that can issue me a license. And we shall create another one too. People’s promoter, after all, doesn’t need the PBFR specific license to do what he has to do”.

Vladimir Hryunov is best known for his work with Russian top heavyweight Alexander Povetkin and cruiserweights Denis Lebedev and Grigory Drozd, all three making a storied transition to Andrey Ryabinskiy. Hryunov was also played a part in arranging Wladimir Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin for an enormous purse bid amount of 23 million USD, with his party in that move being Ryabinskiy. He is now guiding career of Chudinov brothers, Alexander Ustinov, Ramal Amanov and some other fighters.