Q&A: Dmitry Kirillov!

By Alexey Sukachev, May, 25, 2006

To be near the top of the hill and not to climb it is a big disappointment. Dmitry Kirillov was able to do it twice but fell short both times. On January 3rd, 2004, Russian stylist brought hell of a fight to Japan-based North Korean Masamori Tokuyama in his backyard, but a lack of championship experience took its big toll as a close though unanimous decision for WBC super flyweight titleholder.

Kirillov soon was back on track with the four easy wins in a row over mediocre opposition. Last September Dmitry, however, passed his toughest test to date by defeating Reynaldo Lopez of Cartagena, Columbia, in IBF 115 lbs eliminator. Kirillov was lucky to earn extremely hard fought majority decision over rugged Columbian southpaw despite being knocked down two times in last round. With the victory Russian earned another shot at world title as a mandatory challenger for Nicaraguan IBF 115 lbs champion Luis Alberto Perez.

The fight, once scheduled for April 1st, has finally taken place on the 6th of May in Worcester, MA, USA. But what had been once thought as a God-blessed chance turned out to be the saddest moment of entire Kirillov’s career. Being outboxed and outscored by guest challenger for almost all of twelve rounds Luis Perez was able to leave the squared circle with a highly controversial split decision --- 115-113 and 114-113 by Michael Ancona and David Hess respectively for Nicaraguan with 110-117 by Paul Berry in favor of Russian contender --- and his IBF belt with him. Showtime press row as good as a vast majority of independent observers saw this as an easy win for 162cm fighter of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Back to his hometown Dmitry Kirillov took a moment to share his thoughts and feelings about Perez fight and possible showdowns with other near-bantam champions with yours truly.

- Good to see you here once again, Dmitry!

- That’s it. I’m finally here chatting with you.

- Let’s talk about your last fight with Luis Alberto Perez. Unfortunately it hasn’t been televised here in Russia yet, so our fans are unaware of how it lasted. Rumors are held though that the result of the bout was extremely controversial. What do you have to say about this?

- Not much to tell you, friend. That was hell of a robbery! It was the worst judges’ decision I’ve ever met in my life and it has occurred with me. I won all the rounds except two-three of them in that bout, but was never close taking a victory. Yeah, right, he’s a hard-hitter. But guess what. I dominated him over the entire fight with my speed, jabs and fast combinations. I’m confident that I was the one to leave it with the belt. I can’t say I was shocked – that’s an understatement. I could realize I had been robbed only two or three hours after the title clash.

- Most of observers, having watched the fight, think it was you who controlled the rhythm during the first seven rounds. Was your advantage that big?      

- Surely! Not only during the first seven rounds but during the whole bout. I can’t even say that I had dropped the 8th round. Of course, I was hit by the double uppercut in the mid of the eighth --- my credits to Luis --- but it wasn’t that strong and I easily recovered from it. Moreover, I clearly won the rest of the round as good as the rest of the fight. Once again, just to make it clear --- there were no legal ways of how Perez could win that fight.

- Luis Alberto Perez is a mysterious champion as he fights less than once in a year. What can you tell about him and how can you rate him among the other big guys in 115 lbs?

- It’s too difficult to compare all those boxers. I can’t say Luis is a bum. Hell not! He’s strong determined fighter with the warhead in his left hand. But he’s too slow, too predictable. Perhaps, too large for this weight division. Roman (Karmazin – current IBF junior middleweight titlist) said me prior the fight his daily weight is over 155 pounds. Whoa! It’s really a secret how he can make it into the limits of super flyweight division.

- Your have fought two world champions --- Luis Perez and Masamori Tokuyama. Who is stronger or possibly easier to fight with?

- Well, that’s not kind of question I can answer exactly. They are the different pugilists first of all. Tokuyama used to make the things done on distance, while Nicaraguan is a slugger with enormous strength and toe-to-toe ability. But it’s necessary to point out that I had taken Japanese without deep preparation. I wasn’t to fight him on short notice; however, it was the way I had been prepared for the WBC title clash. I was too young, too green. When I started to press the action, it was far late and not decisive. On the other hand, I had been prepared greatly for the Perez fight. I had watched his tapes, investigated his style and he was no problem for me. If I had taken Japanese with the same level of physical and psychological determination, I challenged Nicaraguan; I would have been a reigning champion to date.

- How was the training camp for the fight?

- I had been working for about one month in Freddie Roach’s elite gym in Los-Angeles. It’s an incredible place to learn the sweet science. I was there near the A-class fighters such as Bobby and Manny Pacquiao, Israel Vasquez and others. And atmosphere there; it was wonderful! I have trained my boxing abilities and improved them vastly. My props for Freddie, who is the great coach and boxing specialist, and for all the guys there.

- Whom did you spar with?

- Well, I was standing with WBO 122 lbs champion Daniel Ponce De Leon, one guy from Philippines, whose name I can’t recall right now, and with the fringe American contender Jose Navarro. That had helped me very much prior the bout.

- The fight was scheduled on the first of April but later postponed. How had it affected your preparation?

- Not that bad. In fact it was helpful for me as much as for Perez who had taken a chance to make his weight. As for me, I got more time to improve my physical conditions and boxing abilities since I had arrived in America only one week before the 1st of April. So, there was no harm in that postponement.

- Did you have any bad thoughts right after the fight?

- No! I was sure I had done enough to earn the decision. You can’t even understand how upset I was, when I finally realized I was no winner in the fight. When the ref said that it was a split decision, fans there started booing and then it was declared a victory for Perez. I couldn’t even imagine something like that.

- One says people started booing and whistling immediately after the scorecards had been declared.

- Right! You know, American fans they are rough, maybe, but more they are honest and they know something about the sweet science. When the Showtime crew tried to talk to Luis, they whistled so loudly that the interview started a bit later. People started coming right after the final bell and saying: “You are the winner! We know who has won today!” That was so touching. I want to thank them all for the warmest support during and after the fight. They allowed me to feel myself home there in Worcester.

- Well, that’s good. But didn’t you think later why you had been robbed so insolent, did you?

- That’s an easy equation, which can be solved without using AI. Don King is the answer. It’s well-known that Perez is his fighter. And few days prior the bout I had turned down 5-years-long agreement with DKP.        

- What was the reason for that?

- I haven’t been satisfied with the conditions of agreement. It was too unfair and, moreover, far too long for me. And also Roman told me that Don isn’t the same Don, he was decades ago. Fighters are running from him, not only heavyweights. And I see Roman’s as an example of that. He struggled but couldn’t get any money fight for about a year. That sucks! Therefore I decided to choose Steven Bash, Karmasin’s manager and adviser, as my own representative. So I signed 3-years-long deal with him. However, the price was a little bit expensive --- I’ve returned home without any belt. Had I fought Perez under King’s guidance; I would have been world champion up to now.

- Two of three judges represented Ohio, native King’s State, and Iowa State, where I can hardly remember any title fights since long ago.

- Exactly! These guys were Don’s emissaries. Everything has been done not to allow me to capture the title.

- How much have you been paid for Perez fight?

- It’s not a value, you can even laugh at. (Smiles sadly) $8000 was my fee. I even started to think of giving up this challenge but the desire of winning the title was much stronger. So I decided to take this fight without a chance of being rewarded properly. It was a painful disgrace that they had spoilt the dream of all my life.

- Hadn’t you felt that the judges’ decision had been fixed before it started and your only chance was to knock your rival out of the ring?

- Definitely, I thought about it prior the clash, but then it all faded due the innocent desire of becoming champion of the world. Unfortunately, I’m not a KO artist at all. My way of getting a victory is to stay game, slick and stylish throughout the whole fight.  

- There were talks that you had filed a protest against controversy, occurred in Perez fight, and send it to IBF.

- No, not really. I must pay about $10000 for that. Which is two thousand dollars extra my fee. That’s too much for me. So, all my future doings with this protest are under consideration right now.

- Have you any hope on changing the result of the contest?

- No, no chance has been left. We shall try to arrange an immediate return match with Perez. I hope his words after the fight will get along with his doings, and he’ll give me a chance to avenge this controversial loss.

- Don’t want to irritate you, but lots of boxing fans here, in Russia do think you have been awarded with a highly controversial victory over Columbian Reynaldo Lopez last September and your loss in Perez fight was somewhat fair that way (Fightnews scored that bout as a draw: 114-114). What do you think about this?

- Well, actually I’m sure I was much better that day. Boxing fans, you know, even specialists, they don’t know everything. I haven’t watched the fight on TV, but I know I may have been looking stunned or hurt during that bout. Especially in the last round when Reynaldo floored me two times in a row. That’s not what it really was. I was in control of the game and it was me, not Lopez, who deserved the decision.

Believe me; I don’t want to take anything from Reynaldo. Columbian is a brave warrior, tough as nails and, moreover, an excellent fighter who can combine fascinating technique with the outstanding punching power. But I was able to break him down and make him pay for all his mistakes. That was twice as hard, because I had watched no Lopez tapes at all before the bout. I was dearly shocked then, when it came to my attention, that he is a southpaw. And that was not my fault – I had been told earlier by my former promoter that Lopez worked in orthodox stance.

- Let’s imagine the fight between Reynaldo Lopez and Luis Alberto Perez. Who will be the winner in that case?

- That’s not an easy question to answer. But actually I don’t see any ways, which can lead Perez to a victory in that encounter. Luis is a tough slugger, who used to solve his problems inside in toe-to-toe action. He can’t box well, therefore he need to catch his rival with the tremendous left hook or something like that. On the other hand, Lopez is a boxer-puncher, who is able to combine stylish fight, when there’s a need, with the cruelest brawls, you can ever imagine. Stylistically he’s much better than Perez. And no doubt, that he’s faster and, what is even more important, he’s a smarter guy. So I am to choose Lopez over Perez in that fight.     

- Who is in your team?

- I’m working with Boris Zykanov. He’s a good friend of mine and an excellent trainer. Nevertheless he was pretty unknown for a while. But when he led Roman Karmazin through the Ouma fight to capture the world title, people started to realize he was an outstanding coach. I really enjoy working with him. Then Steven Bash, my current manager. As I mentioned before I have a 3-years-long promotional deal signed with him. I hope he’ll be able to put me forward into the contenders’ poll.

- What can you say about “YUKA promotions” (One of the biggest Russian promotional companies), which guided you throughout the Russian chapter of your career?

- First of all I want to thank them for everything, they have done for me. However, I can’t help saying that they treated me the wrong way. I’m fully unsatisfied with their work with me. These guys were unable to give me an opportunity to fight for the titles. Moreover, they even appeared to have no abilities to accomplish this severe task

- What are your plans for the nearest future?

- I shall take a little rest, and then in several weeks fly to America for the further preparations. There I hope to review all possible variants and to choose an opponent for my future bout. I hope it will be Luis Perez therefore I’ll be able to avenge my loss.       

- If it’s not Nicaraguan champion, who will it be? Is there any chance that you will be matched up with Martin Castillo or Fernando Montiel?

- Why not?! Steven Bash is working right now towards arranging those match-ups. It’s worth saying that Showtime is definitely interested in my person and that is the most promising outcome of my previous fight. I hope everything will be ok rather soon, and I’ll get another crack at title.

- Do you think about moving up in weight to 118 lbs and about possible showdown with IBF titlist Rafael Marquez?

- Actually, I feel myself very comfortable at 115 lbs. But I don’t mind moving into the limits of the bantamweight. All possible fights there depend on financial conditions, I should be provided with.

- Maybe, it’ll be better to visit Japan for more title opportunities?

- Kawashima, Tokuyama, Hasegava – it’ll be an interesting task to edge these guys. But once again that’s all about my fees.

- Thank you a lot for a long conversation. Good luck to both you and your family!

- Not at all. Good luck!