By Alexey Sukachev

Preparations are fully under way for the upcoming showdown, bannered the “Battle of Two Empires”, which is going to match WBO #1 cruiserweight Denis Lebedev (21-1, 16 KOs) in by far the soundest fight of his career against aging ring legend Roy Jones Jr. (54-7, 41 KOs). The contest will headline a huge international card, promoted by Vladimir Hryunov, on May 21 at “Dynamo” arena in Krylatskoye, Moscow, Russia; several more notables – including Vyacheslav Glazkov, Alexander Bakhtin, Ismayl Syllakh and Maxim Vlasov – taking their parts in a solid undercard.

“God willing that everything will be accomplished perfectly for the Jones – Lebedev fight! I have some huge plans ahead, which will include more battles for both Denis and Russia’s top heavyweight force Alexander Povetkin. Actually, I plan something very special for Russian fans in the near future. I won’t tell you any details but it’ll be really huge”, said Hryunov to Argumenty.ru.

Meanwhile, Lebedev continues his preparations for the upcoming fight in his camp in Chekhov under the tutelage of this year Hall-of-Famer Kostya Tszyu. Lebedev trains hard with some very special sparring partners, including former cruiserweight king Wayne Braithwaite.

“I’m very glad to work with such a tremendous fighter like Kostya Tszyu”, said Lebedev to Argumenty.ru. “I feel very comfortable in such training. I also have very good fighters in my camp. Wayne Braithwaite is a bit dizzy after a lengthy flight but the other guy is simply mercurial. He is very quick and his speed is astonishing. That is what I need to prepare myself to Jones. I feel there’s a chance I will be running after Roy in the fight”.

“Roy Jones is immensely strong and very dangerous”, commented F edor to the official portal of the Professional Boxing Federation of Russia. “But Denis is full of surprises, and one of the biggest is his hard left hand. Lebedev is very strong”.

“I’m confident that Lebedev will be a winner on May 21”, said Alexander Povetkin.

“I’m fully confident in Denis as well. Roy is beatable, and there are some tiny moments, some little things, which are only observable by a competent boxing expert, which tell me Lebedev will win this fight”, said Povetkin to Argumenty.ru.

Another proud guest of the camp was former Soviet amateur superstar Victor Petrovich Ageev. Ageev, once a mercurial middleweight, who was a four-time (1963, 1965, 1966 and 1967) Soviet and two-time (1965 and 1967) European champion, says Team Lebedev shouldn’t take a victory for granted.

“That will be a hard fight for Denis. Roy is blisteringly fast. His speed kills. Even at his sixties he still will be lightning-fast. He possesses some God-given reflexes, so Denis should be fully prepared for the challenge”.

Victor Ageev is currently the president of the Professional Boxing Federation of Russia.