By Alexey Sukachev / Alexandra Novikova, October, 15, 2006

A huge presser was held yesterday at ITAR-TASS Press Centre, Moscow, Russia, to make the other coverage of the upcoming (Dec. 10 at Olympiysky Sports Arena, Moscow, Russia) show, featuring several best Russian prizefighters with Oleg Maskaev – Peter Okhello WBC heavyweight title clash as the main event of the evening. It has been officially announced that Alexander Povetkin vs. Ross Puritty collision is a go for now, while Roman Karmazin’s and ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson’s bouts are also possible to be arranged in Moscow on the undercard of the show. 

Headlining the press conference was Olympic (Athens, 2004) super heavyweight gold medalist Alexander Povetkin (9-0, 7 KOs as a pro). Also answering the questions were: WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev (45-0, 33 KOs), promoter of the show Vladimir Hrunov, producer of the show Yuri Fedorov, Valuev’s manager Boris Dimitrov, former amateur legend Victor Petrovich Ageev (the president of the Russian Professional Boxing Federation) and former amateur star Yuri Alexandrov (the vice-president of the RPBF). Povetkin’s promoter Wilfried Sauerland had been scheduled to appear in attendance but had to miss it due to some visa problems. Prior the very beginning of the presser an inspiring event was held as Nikolay Valuev was awarded by Victor Petrovich Ageev with the special crystal glove from RPBF “for an outstanding contribution in development of the Russian professional boxing”. The glove was huge enough for Russian champion to put his giant fist inside it.

Alexander Povetkin

On the upcoming fight with Puritty: “That’ll be a tough test for me to challenge such an experienced fighter. I don’t want to overlook him. However, I’m not quite sure that the bout will take its place due to possible circumstances with his [Puritty] health… He is a tough pugilist, but I can’t say, he is the toughest one. Only the fight will show if he is as strong as Friday Ahunanya or Ed Mahone, whom I have already defeated this year… I’m not willing to fly overseas to see him live. I hope tapes will be enough to review all his peculiarities”.

On his spars with Valuev: “Me and Nikolay are friends. It’s not correct to call them spars; we are just standing in pairs, improving our skills and shape and sharpening our techniques. Those mutual training sessions are extremely useful for me. I hope, for Nikolay as well”.

Nikolay Valuev

On Alexander Povetkin: “Sasha is a wonderful personality, and it’s not only a joy but also a great honor to be here supporting him prior his fight with Puritty. I can ensure you that our spars are as good for him as they are for me. I’m learning lots of useful things during out mutual work. I can hardly underestimate it… I have seen Puritty once in a lifetime but I can’t recall him and his boxing style in details. So that it’s a bit tricky for me to predict the pace of the bout. However, it’s clear for me that the final result will be in Sasha’s favor… I do think, Povetkin is a future champion with the incredible superstardom potential”.

On his future fights: “I don’t know if I’ll be granted with another optional defense. If the answer is ‘yes’, I shall fight somebody from the top-ten of the WBA rankings, but surely not the No. 1. Otherwise, I will sit and wait for the winner of the upcoming (Nov. 18) WBA eliminator between Ruslan Chagaev and John Ruiz”.

On fighting Wladimir Klitschko: “Well, I am ready. The point is that I’m not sure, he is ready for that. I think he has lots of other things to do, than to fight me in a unification bout. That’s the way I’m feeling it”.

On his contractual disputes with Joseph O’Donnell: “He is nobody, and nobody knows him. This guy was just trying to spoil my career and to elevate himself the highest possible level as well as to earn some money to by using my name. But he has no chances of doing this. He is keeping me angry with his continuous lawsuits but I’m confident in winning all of them”.

On the reports, concerning his assault versus local guard in his hometown of St. Petersburg: “There’s lots of lie there about that so-called ‘assault’. I’m sure, there’s somebody, trying to prevent all my career and future life from being successful. I hope I will go through it the same way I’m doing it in the squared ring”.

Vladimir Hrunov

On signing Ross Puritty: “Ross is widely known all over the former Soviet Union, thanks to his sensational KO over Wladimir Klitschko eight years ago… He was talking trash all the way in his letter. I had to tell him to be a little bit more polite and modest while contacting the camp of the Olympic and future pro champion. We have answered by inviting Ross for the last show in his pro career as he would certainly retire following his fight with Alexander (laughs)… The contract is signed, and the only thing, that can prevent Sasha from fighting Ross, is his [Puritty] possible KO loss to David Tua or an injury, he can sustain during that fight… If Puritty is out, we shall try to find a replacement for Povetkin on the short notice. We hope it’ll be done as soon as it’ll be possible in this case”.

On the status of the fight: “It’ll be a ten-rounder with no minor belts at stake. We don’t want to hurry at all as it’ll be the first ten-rounder for Povetkin. Day by day we shall bring Sasha to the world title fights”.

On Povetkin’s preparation: “We shall try to find somebody similar to Ross Puritty: the same height, the same weight, the same style et cetera… Povetkin will be preparing for the Puritty fight in his hometown of Chekhov under the guide by Valery Ivanovich Belov”.

On Roman Karmazin: “We hope to arrange him a fight here, on the undercard of the show. However, there are lots of circumstances, concerning the details of his promotional deal with DKP. I’m in good connection with Don King and I hope, he will allow Roman to please his home crowd with another significant win… His future opponent is Don’s choice, not ours”.

On Mike Tyson: “He is a legend; the most well-known fighter in world boxing history. That’ll be an honor to host one of the stages of his World Tour. Negotiations are under way right now… Mike is scheduled to fight in Macao on Dec. 31, and that’s the main problem to find the common language with our Chinese partners”.

On the undercard: “One fight is already set. I’m proud to present here our future star, Dzhimi Kapanov (1-0, 1 KO). He will fight an opponent TBA on the undercard of the show. He was that impressive in his last sparring session”.                

Yuri Fedorov

On the show and its promotion: “The show is definitely set; no doubt about that… Our budget is about five million dollars… We hope to make a Russian citizenship for Oleg [Maskaev] prior his bout with Okhello with the help of the Russian Government… We want to thank everybody, helping us, especially the press and the Government”.