By Alexey Sukachev, July, 13

Yet another chance for making a shot at title was given to Russian 115 lbs contender Dmitry Kirillov two days ago as his IBF eliminator versus former WBO light flyweight champion Masibulele ‘Hawk’ Makepula (28-3, 18KOs) from East London, SA, has been set this autumn through the purse bid, won by Warriors Boxing Promotions. Kirillov (28-3, 9 KOs) was right there on touch with Fighnews.com to comment the news and to tell a few words about a sorrowful setback, suffered by his closest friend Roman Karmazin last Saturday in St. Louis. Here is what Dmitry has to say.

- The fight has been already set to be, hasn’t it?

- Yeah, it has. Definitely. There was a purse bid yesterday, having been won by our representatives, so the fight is on right now.

- Any thoughts about the date and venue, this bout will be taken place?

- I’m not quite sure but it will occur in early October, maybe in late September, possibly, on the 30th of that month in Los Angeles. ‘Staples Center’ is being considered as a venue now, but conditions can be changed slightly through the process of final arrangement of the fight.

- You have just mentioned the purse bid has been beaten by your representatives. What do you mean? As I’ve heard, Warriors Boxing Promotions is now regarded as a winner of the bid.

- Actually, I’m not aware of details. My own manager Steven Bash is also a promoter, but this part of his career is only starting right now. Therefore he was unable to beat the bid by himself. So it was Cedric Kushner to do it for our side. To tell the truth I don’t know how he is referred to the Warriors Boxing if ever. (Being reported as follows: “Warriors Boxing won with a bid of $56,300, beating Branco Sports Management of South Africa, who placed a bid of $46,000.”).

- There were rumors held that Hawk Makepula is next in line to face highly regarded WBC interim flyweight titlist Jorge Arce. Have you anything to say about that?

- Well. I’m sure my next opponent will be this South African. I see no way how the opponent can be changed now. He is ranked 3rd by IBF now, one place higher than me and I see no reasons for him to run away from me.

- Are you going to stay in USA till the fight will be fought or you are planning a back trip to Russia?

- I will stay in America for the further preparations and training.

- Have you already begun your training work?

- Of course. I’m trying to fill the gaps in order to be in tip-top shape prior the fight. Currently there is some common training: crosses and so on. I used to do the same while preparing for Perez fight. As for the sparring partners they are been looking for right now. Hopefully there will be somebody much like Makepula in my training camp. However, it’ll be closer to the date of the bout.

- Have you seen Makepula tapes already?

- No, none of them.

- Makepula is a short man at best. Actually, he is only 152 cm. (Makepula was only 151 cm during his 2000 fight with legendary Baby Jake Matlala. That rivalry is believed to be the shortest in boxing history and the only one with the summary height of two fighters less than 300 cm). Will it be extra hard for you to fight such type of boxer?

- I hope guys, which are to fight me in training camp, will be the first-class sparring partners and my preparation will be that good. I agree that the situation is quite unusual. I used to challenge fighters higher than me and now I’m challenging somebody, who is 10 cm shorter. That’ll be intriguing.      

- I know you had been in Roman’s (Karmazin) training camp prior his recent loss to Spinks. Moreover, I saw you waving Russian flag just before the match were started. How did you see that fight? What were the reasons for Roman not to escape the ring with the victory?

- The preparation was all-wrong for my best friend. I mean not that physical part of the training but its mental piece. I think [Karmazin] hadn’t been mentally ready for Spinks. Roman hasn’t found his pace in fight and there were no B-plan during the bout. The punches thrown were chaotic, the strategy was poor-minded, the outcome was sorrowful, unfortunately. Anyway I’m sure Roman will be prepared at his best for his next fight. Hope he will be back at the top of the game pretty soon.      

- What do you have to say in close?

- I want to thank everybody who is supporting us – either me, or Karmazin. I hope to get the work done pretty well, to beat my next opponent and to earn another crack at world title.