Houston launching pad in ring
Russian, Uzbeks strive for success in area despite obstacles
The era of globalization, beginning in the late ‘80s, coincided with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and freeing of markets in the individual republics that emerged as a result of the breakup. Free for the first time to travel outside their borders, many boxers from the former Communist Bloc began making their way to the United States to fight for money in lieu of medals.
The trend has continues 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Russia’s Medzhid Bektemirov and Uzbekistan’s Bahodir Mamadjonov and Akhror Muralimov, all born at or around the collapse of the Soviet Union, are three boxers who recently relocated to Houston to pursue their pugilistic dreams.
On Friday, May 30, Bektemirov (14-0, 11 KOs) beat Shannon Miller (25-51-8, 18 KOs) in a TKO duiring at Savarese Promotions card at the Bayou City Events Center.
Mamadjonov (16-1, 11 KOs) and Muralimov (150, 12 KOs) are scheduled to fight at the Stafford Convention Center on June 27.
Ironically, all three might have performed too well for their own good and, as a result, they have now difficulty finding opponents.
“It’s the old stigma about the East Europeans, especially guys from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and all of Russia,” said Lou Savarese, Bektemirov’s promoter. “They’re really hard, hard guys, they train super hard and they’re really tough.”
Bruiser from Russia
Bektemirov, a light heavyweight, has had several fights fall through because his opponents pulled out in the last minute.
“With Medzhid, one of the big problems is on YouTube you see that the guy’s really explosive and he’s been crushing a lot of guys,” Savarese said. “So a lot of guys don’t want to fight him and if they do, they just want so much money.”
Trained by Ronnie Shields and fighting under the Savarese banner since 2012, Bektemirov has fought 10 of his 13 fights in Houston and won over a local fan base, many of whom are Russian expatriates. Negotiations are underway to match him against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (8-0, 7 KOs) of Ukraine in Los Angeles in August now that he’s gotten past Miller, Savarese said.
Bektemirov said through translator Ruslan Ilyakhunov that he will leave the match-making headaches to Savarese and channel his focus instead toward being prepared, he added.
“This is professional
boxing,” Bektemirov said. “You can’t predict what’s going to happen. You just train and wait.”
Although avoided in the ring, Bektemirov has been sought after as a sparring partner by world-ranked light heavyweights. Houston-based Edwin Rodriguez (24-1, 16 KOs) and Cedric Agnew (26-1, 13 KOs) recruited Bektemirov to help them prepare for recent world title fights.
“My skills went up after sparring with them because they’re fast and much better technique fighters,” Bektemirov said.
Manager Ken Richardson said his two Uzbek fighters have exceeded his expectations since he took the munder his wing three years ago. Both have beaten previously undefeated prospects; lightweight Mamadjonov stopped Angelo Santana (14-1, 11 KOs) on a Showtime-televised bout last year, and heavyweight Muralimov knocked out Nigerian Olan Durodola (17-2, 16 KOs) in 2012.
“They’ve progressed much further than where I expected them to be at this point,” Richardson said. “I’mreally impressed with their knowledge of the sport and how they continue to grow.”
But because of their impressive showings, the Uzbeks have been deemed too dangerous for other fighters to want to face. Mamadjonov signed with Don King Promotions last year but opted out in March because he wasn’t getting enough fights.
Many boxers tend to be overprotected, Mamadjonov said, cherry picking their opponents.
“At this time fighters are businessmen; fighters are not fighters,” Mamadjonov said. “We are real fighters. We’ve taken many fights on short notice and we took many risks. We’re not scared. We’re not here to make money. We’re here to become world champions.”
Mamadjonov declared he would take on anyone in the lightweight division. At the top of his hit list are Houston’s former triplecrown world titleholder Juan Diaz and WBC titleholder Omar Figueroa.
“They’re looking for opponents but they never call me,” he said.
Echoing Mamadjonov’s sentiments, Muralimov said boxing is losing many fans to MMA because of the reluctance of top fighters to face eachother.
“I’m ready anytime,” Muralimov said. “I’m calling out all other fighters – Deontay Wilder, Andy Ruiz, Bryant Jennings , Bermane Stiverne, Chris Arreola. I’ll fight anyone. No problem.”