By Alexey Sukachev and Dmitry Vasilyev, May, 31, 2007

It’s official. On June, 30, Russian heavyweight hope Alexander Povetkin (11-0, 9 KOs) will try to overcome the stiffest test in his short but almost flawless career by facing two-time world title challenger Monte ‘Two Gunz’ Barrett (31-5, 18 KOs) in a decent attempt to step up hugely in class.

The Povetkin-Barrett showdown will crown a huge Moscow boxing card, promoted by Yuri Fedorov Sports Lab in association with Sauerland Event and Seminole Warriors Boxing, and with the help of Putinka Boxing Stars. The show will likely feature an IBF super flyweight clash for the vacant belt between local hero Dmitry ‘The Baby’ Kirillov (28-3, 9 KOs) and Mexican veteran Ricardo ‘Chapo’ Vargas (39-12-3, 13 KOs), a heavyweight rematch of the debated first fight between Ukrainian Oleg Platov (25-1, 21 KOs) and Nigerian Henry Akinwande (49-3-1, 30 KOs), and also a huge number of local and foreign prospects is expected to fill the card. The event, scheduled to take place at Olimpiyski Sports Arena, was officially announced yesterday at RIA Novosti press center in Moscow.

It’s so hellishly hot in Moscow nowadays that even asphalt is melting with the same speed as ice under the punishing sunshine. The scorching heat was, however, opposite to the cool atmosphere inside a huge building of RIA Novosti, the leading Russian news agency. The heat was off both literally and in terms of public interest, as there were ultimately no signs of the upcoming event. “We decided to make this promotion much shorter but much more intensive at the same time. We're gonna start advertising in a week or so, however, I’m sure we are doing it right. Russian spectators are a bit specific as they are buying all the hype moments prior the show starts, no matter which kind of sport it is,” explained Yuri Fedorov, promoter of the card, the same man who arranged the first ever heavyweight title bout in Russia the last December.

Announcing the main event of the show were the leading participant Alexander Povetkin, his co-manager Vladimir Hrunov, his coach Valery Belov, Yuri Fedorov and former amateur legend Victor Petrovich Ageev, who is currently the president of RPBF (Russian Professional Boxing Federation). The first to address the audience his words was Fedorov.

“I’m very happy to meet all of you here once again and to launch our event officially. I’m twice as happy with the fact, that it took us only half a year to arrange a new show. Moreover, our team was ready to stage an even more impressive fight night with Oleg Maskaev defending his WBC crown versus Vitaly Klitschko in clearly the most anticipated bout in our history. Unfortunately, that deal has never been done. Nevertheless, we decided to bill our event as “The Boxing Show No. 2”. We mean it’ll be the second ever boxing card of such significance in our country”.

“Headlining the show will be two of the most skillful Russian pugilists. Alexander Povetkin is the guy our country has been looking for. His upcoming fight with Monte Barrett is awesome. The co-feature bout of the evening, matching Dmitry Kirillov and Ricardo Vargas, is one step from finally being done. However, I can’t announce it right now, as not all the papers are signed as of date. We don’t want to fail at the moment so be patient and give us just a bit to make that fight official. As for the whole program we hope to pick it up really strong. There will be no less than seven fights on the card. We have learnt a lot from the mistakes, made by us prior the first show, so that we are going to make all the pairs competitive”.

The Russian promoter was especially happy with the fact, that both headliners are Russians with the special pride within them, “It was a moment of national glory, when Oleg Maskaev knocked Rahman out and then successfully defended his title against Peter Okhello. And I was happy of him and his fantastic road to the world-wide recognition. That, however, is something special, as both Povetkin and Kirillov were made as fighters in our country. They started here, they fought here, and they developed their careers also here. And that’s the reason for a great significance of their June 30 showdowns for our fans. They can watch their local heroes entering huge and winning important bouts with their own eyes widely open and that’s fascinating”.

The ring legend Michael Buffer is very likely to stun the fans with his weird voice, announcing evening’s key fights. “Michael Buffer isn’t the only positive surprise for future spectators. We have lots of pretty gifts and announcements for the fans, so be ready to cover them,” Fedorov told the press before giving the microphone to Victor Petrovich Ageev.

“I’m thrilled with the Sasha’s next fight. He was unstoppable as an amateur, capturing Russian (2002), European (2003) and world (2004) heavyweight championships, finally smashing everybody on his way to the Athens 2004 Olympic gold medal. He is just the same as a pro: powerful, energetic and relentless. Alexander is in for a tough test with Monte Barrett, who is no gimme, but I’m sure, he will pass the exams brilliantly. We all hope, that’ll be just the beginning of a long, long way towards major titles and the unified championship in the king of weight divisions. I wish him all the best inside and outside the ring”, expressed the president of RPBF.

“First of all, I want to thank all my fans for their enormous support throughout my whole career. Also I want to thank Victor Petrovich for his kind words," started the only Russian to win an Olympic gold medal in the most prestigious weight category. “I’m preparing for my fight with Barrett right now. The initial part of preparation is important but not that intensive. The main training work will start, as soon as my sparring partners are here and they’ll land Moscow about June 12”.

“I’m not taking him lightly, I think he is an extremely tough opponent who will refuse to go down and will fight his best with me. However, I’m not scared at all, and I’m confident in winning the fight. A knockout will be perfect for me, but I’m not going to summon the storm inside the ring. The danger is doubled, when you’re fighting such an experienced guy like Monte Barrett, and everything becomes possible. That is why I shall not be looking for a moment to unload with the one-and-done murderous punch. If it comes, then OK; if not, I’ll tend to win the bout on points. Anyway, I’ll try to impress the partisan crowd and to make it happy with an exciting fight”.

Continued Vladimir Hrunov, “We started searching a foe for Alexander right after his two-round demolition of David Bostice. Danny Williams was once the most possible candidate. Our team offered him a definite place, a definite time, and our financial conditions were excellent as well. The contract was all but signed but there were Alex’s video tapes to watch, and after watching them Williams preferred to fight in Britain a little bit more.”

“Enter Barrett. Folks say that ‘he’s way past his prime’, ‘he’s done’, ‘he can’t fight anymore,’ but those statements suck. Monte Barrett was very competitive in his last two fights against Hasim Rahman and Nikolai Valuev. Imagine these fights were for the world titles. Moreover, Monte is currently training under Buddy McGirt’s guidance along with Lamon Brewster, who’s getting ready for his July belt crack at Wladimir Klitschko. These facts speak for themselves. We are in for the toughest fight of our career so far, and no way will it be easy for Alex. But we need it to match our abilities with our ambitions.”

“We’re going to increase our preparation after the June 12, when Alexander’s sparring partners are to arrive. Sasha will train specifically for Monte with two of the hottest undefeated American prospects. We’re also planning to invite one of the former world heavyweight champions to get our man prepared enough for Barrett”.

“Speaking about the detailed training regimen, it’s up to Valery Ivanovich Belov, Povetkin’s coach. We shall be getting ready for the fight in Alexander’s hometown of Chekhov at ‘Vityaz’. I know journalists are often criticizing Alex for ‘insufficient endurance’. I invite all of you to visit Alexander’s open training on June 23. Alex will be put in continuous sparring session with three different fighters, each session will last no less than four rounds and there will be no break between them.”

Ending the first part of the presser was Yuri Fedorov once again, who claimed that his company would continue to pick up huge boxing shows with the best of Russian pugilistic cream involved. “Slavic fighters possess three of four major heavyweight belts today. I’m sure, that Sultan Ibragimov will be the fourth to join Oleg, Ruslan and Wladimir and to make it a clean sweep for Eastern Europe again. If he’s victorious on Saturday night, and we hope he is, Sultan’s first title defense can be held in Moscow. We wish Sultan good luck and we shall be thrilled with an opportunity to see him fighting in the very heart of our country.”

After all the monologues were finished, the time has come for reporters to ask their questions and to point out some details.

Alexander, can you compare Monte Barrett with your previous opponents? Which flaws and weaknesses does he have?

Monte is surely my toughest opponent in my whole career. To tell the truth, I don’t know much about him right now. I saw a few rounds of his gutsy effort against Nikolai Valuev and that’s all. Not so much, so no opinion is formed and there’s nothing currently to speak about. But I’m going to study his fights carefully in order to know more about him as well as to be fully prepared for any of his bitter surprises.

Yuri, who will fill the undercard of the show?

That’s a hard question to answer right now. Not all the contracts are signed, not every appearance is guaranteed. Boxing is a huge business and we must obey its common rules. We shall announce all the bouts a bit later. However, the negotiations are under way for another great rematch in the heavyweight division between up and coming Ukrainian KO artist Oleg Platov and the former WBO titlist Henry Akinwande. Their first fight resulted in a split decision victory for Platov. Nothing is signed today but we hope to finish our negotiations successfully in the nearest future. The card will also feature a good number of foreign prospects. Some of them will represent Sauerland Event. Speaking about Sauerland Event, we want to thank them for their enormous impact to our professional boxing and to appreciate their help in staging this show.

Tell us more about the Kirillov-Vargas showdown.

It was reported earlier by the official site of RPBF and then throughout the web, that this fight is on. However, we shall announce it a little bit later when all the contract issues will be fully solved. Anyway, we are very happy to host this battle in our country. We all know Dmitry as a decent fighter and a brave warrior. Unfortunately, as strong as he comes, he is unlucky to the same degree. He fought his heart out against Masamori Tokuyama in 2004, finding himself on the wrong edge of fairly close decision. Then he was robbed against Luis Perez two years later. We don’t want such an experience for him for the third time in a row. That’s the reason why we’re doing our best to put his title fight on this show.

Will Vladimir Povetkin (the younger brother of Alexander) fight on June 30?

Yes, he will. Vladimir looked sluggish and rusty against his first ever pro opponent. Nothing to wonder about as he missed almost seven years of training since his amateur career had been finished. We shall see how he is going to develop himself in the near future. The road is wide open for Vladimir and we shall try to boost his career along that road.

Will any celebrities attend the event?

Lots of them. We hope to see here Nikolai Valuev, Arthur Abraham and ring legend Kostya Tszyu as well. This show will surely be unforgettable. Take your seat at Olimpiyski Sports Arena on June 30, and enjoy the Sweet Science at its best.

Timetable of events:

June 12: The special presser announcing specifically Povetkin – Barrett showdown;

June 21: The final presser, featuring all the participants;

June 23: The open training sessions of participants;

June 29: The official weigh-in at Olimpiyski Sports Arena;

June 30: The show.