Vasily Jirov
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Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov (russian: Васи́лий Вале́рьевич Жи́ров; born 4 April 1974), sometimes known as Vasily Zhirov, is a
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
i former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2009, and held the
IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2003. As an
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
he won a gold medal at the
1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, as well as consecutive bronzes at the
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and 1995 World Championships, all in the
light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
division.


Amateur career

Jirov took up boxing in 1986 when he was 12, studying at the Balkhash Technical School. His first coach was Alexander Apachinsky (Merited Trainer of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Master of Sports of the USSR). Jirov later recalled that: From 1989 to 1991, he became the champion of the Kazakh SSR three times in a row. In 1990 he became the champion of the All-Union Spartakiad of Young Students (4 fights, 4 victories,
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,) and also won the USSR Youth Championship (4 fights, 4 victories,
Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
,) received a degree of Master of Sports of the USSR in boxing. In 1991, Jirov, who was yet at the junior age class, didn't win the USSR Championship in Saratov (4 fights, 3 wins, 2nd place,) however he received an invitation to the USSR youth team. In 1994, Vassiliy moved to the
light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
division (up to 81 kg.) In December 1996, Jirov travelled to the United States, where he signed a contract with boxing promoter Bob Arum and began his career as a professional boxer.


Highlights

International Junior Tournament (Middleweight),
Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...
, Uzbek SSR, December 1991: * (no data available) European Junior Championships (Middleweight),
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, April 1992: *1/4: Defeated Thomas Hansvold (Norway) RSC 2 *1/2: Defeated Rickard Eckvall (Sweden) 12–6 *Finals: Defeated
Sinan Şamil Sam Sinan Şamil Sam (23 June 1974 – 30 October 2015) was a Turkish heavyweight professional boxer( Azerbaijani origin). As a professional boxer, Sam won the EBU,WBC international and WBC Mediterranean titles in the heavyweight division. Accordi ...
(Turkey) 11–7 World Championships (Middleweight),
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, May 1993: *1/8: Defeated Francesco Passanante (Switzerland) RSC 3 *1/4: Defeated Andrey Khamula (Ukraine) 15–9 *1/2: Lost to
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(Turkey) 2–9 World Cup (Light heavyweight),
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, June 1994: *1/8: Defeated Haik Postolokyan (Armenia) 11–3 *1/4: Lost to Islam Arsangaliev (Russia) 4–12
Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
(Light heavyweight),
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, October 1994: *1/4: Defeated Asghar Ali (Pakistan) RSC *1/2: Lost to Young-Sam Ko (South Korea) 10–17 Chemistry Cup (Light heavyweight),
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, March 1995: *1/4: Defeated Sven Ottke (Germany) PTS *1/2: Defeated Thomas Ulrich (Germany) by walkover *Finals: Defeated Ulf Brezina (Germany) RET 1 Sweden Open (Light heavyweight),
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, 1996: *Finals: Defeated Stephen Kirk (Ireland) RSC 2 Korean Open (Light heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, 1995: * (no data available) World Championships (Light heavyweight),
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, May 1995: *1/8: Defeated Ervins Helmanis (Latvia) KO 2 *1/4: Defeated Ismael Kone (Sweden) RSC 1 *1/2: Lost to Antonio Tarver (United States) 6–9 Asian Championships (Light heavyweight), Tashkent, Uzbekistan, October 1995: *1/4: Defeated Vitaliy Ilyushin (Turkmenistan) RET 2 *1/2: Defeated Ayoub Pourtaghi Ghoushchi (Iran) 10–1 *Finals: Defeated
Lee Seung-bae Lee Seung-Bae (born May 10, 1971) was a South Korean amateur boxer, who won a middleweight bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics for Korea, followed by a light heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Career At the 1996 Summe ...
(South Korea) 15–2 Moscow Open (Light heavyweight),
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, October 1995: *Finals: Defeated Timur Ibragimov (Uzbekistan) by unanimous decision, 5–0 Chemistry Cup (Light heavyweight),
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, February–March 1996: *1/4: Defeated
Rostyslav Zaulychnyi Rostyslav Zaulychnyi ( uk, Ростислав Зауличний; born September 6, 1968 in Lviv) is a retired Ukrainian amateur boxer, who represented the Unified Team (former Soviet Union) and won the Light Heavyweight Silver meda ...
(Ukraine) 12–1 *1/2: Defeated Ramón Garbey (Cuba) 18–10 *Finals: Defeated Thomas Ulrich (Germany) by walkover
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(Light heavyweight),
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, July–August 1996: *1/16: Defeated
Julio César González Julio César González Ibarra (July 30, 1976 – March 10, 2012) was a Mexican professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2011, and held the WBO and lineal light heavyweight titles from 2003 to 2004. Amateur career Gonzalez was a member o ...
(Mexico) RSC 2 *1/8: Defeated Pietro Aurino (Italy) 18–3 *1/4: Defeated
Troy Amos-Ross Troy Amos-Ross (born July 17, 1975) is a Guyanese-Canadian boxer. As an amateur, he competed in the light heavyweight division at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Personal life He is the son of ...
(Canada) 14–8 *1/2: Defeated Antonio Tarver (United States) 15–9 *Finals: Defeated
Lee Seung-Bae Lee Seung-Bae (born May 10, 1971) was a South Korean amateur boxer, who won a middleweight bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics for Korea, followed by a light heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Career At the 1996 Summe ...
(South Korea) 17–4 Jirov was awarded the
Val Barker Trophy The Val Barker Trophy is presented every four years to the most "outstanding boxer" at the Olympic Games. In theory, the award goes to the top "pound for pound" boxer in the Olympics. The winner is selected by a committee of International Boxing ...
for outstanding performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He finished his amateur career having 217 fights under his belt, with a record of 207 wins, 10 losses (no stoppages.)


Professional career

Jirov made his debut as a professional on 18 January 1997, with a two-round
knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
of Vince Brown in Las Vegas. He won eleven fights that first year, all by knockout, including wins over Exum Speight and Art Jimmerson. In 1998, he won eight fights, six before the final bell. On 5 May he won the
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's regional cruiserweight title with a 12-round decision over Rich La Montaigne, who became the first boxer to last the full distance against Jirov. On 5 December he once again fought in Ukrainian territory. In his first fight as a professional in Ukraine, he beat Alexander Vasiliev in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
by decision in eight rounds.


IBF cruiserweight champion

In 1999, Jirov was given his first world title try: In front of an HBO Boxing audience, he beat
IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
world Cruiserweight champion Arthur Williams by a knockout in seven rounds at Biloxi,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, to become that organization's world cruiserweight champion. For his first defense, he fought at the main supportive event at the Felix Trinidad-Oscar De La Hoya undercard on 18 September, retaining the crown with a ten-round knockout of
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. In 2000, he beat Saul Montana by knockout in round nine to retain the world title on an
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
televised fight, and won two non-title bouts, including one over Esteban Pizarro at the
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mansion. On 6 February 2001, Jirov went to Kazakhstan to defend his crown in his home-country for the first time. There, he retained the title with a first-round knockout of Álex González. He won three more fights that year, one a world title affair against
Julian Letterlough Julian Letterlough (December 25, 1969 – July 8, 2005) was an American professional boxer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Known as "Mr. KO", Letterlough was boxer who was often featured on ESPN. Pro career Letterlough became a professional boxer ...
(knockout win in 8). In 2002 Jirov, then managed by the Sugar Ray Leonard promotion company, defended his crown once that year, beating former world Middleweight champion Jorge Castro of
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by a 12-round decision on 1 February at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix. Talks had begun about a fight of his against former multiple division world champion James Toney. However, negotiations took long and Jirov spent more than one year outside the ring, time in which the IBF threatened to take away recognition of Jirov as world champion if he did not defend his crown soon. As a result of these managerial problems, Jirov also moved from the SAR club gym, favored by his management, to Joe Diaz's Gym, near Downtown Phoenix.


Losing the title to Toney

Jirov and Toney finally met on 26 April 2003, and Jirov suffered his first career defeat, when he lost the IBF cruiserweight title to Toney by a 12-round unanimous decision. On 9 August Jirov came back, beating fringe contender Ernest Mateen by knockout in seven rounds. On 6 November 2003 he won the NABO regional cruiserweight title with a six-round knockout of
Joseph Kiwanuka Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
in Phoenix. Jirov's next fight was against ex-heavyweight champion,
Michael Moorer Michael Lee Moorer (born November 12, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 to ...
. Jirov was beaten by Moorer via TKO in the ninth round. Over the next six months, Jirov defeated Forrest Neal by knockout in round 3 and defeated Troy Beats by unanimous decision. His next fight was against former heavyweight and cruiserweight contender
Orlin Norris Orlin Levance Norris (born October 4, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the WBA cruiserweight title from 1993 to 1995. As an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves title. He is the brothe ...
. Jirov and Norris fought to a draw. In his first return bout to the cruiserweight division (April 20, 2006) he defeated Luke Munsen in a unanimous decision. On 14 July 2007 Jirov defeated Kenny 'The Raven' Craven by TKO in second round of 10 round scheduled bout. As a
heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
, Jirov also lost to
Joe Mesi "Baby" Joe Mesi (born November 27, 1973) is an American retired boxer and Democratic Party politician from Tonawanda, New York. During his career, he defeated former world champion Vassily Jirov as well as former title challengers Bert Cooper, M ...
by unanimous decision, after throwing a blow to Mesi that resulted in subdural bleeding near the fight's end. It also marked the downturn in Jirov's fighting career, and after a few more fights, he retired in 2009.


Post-fight career in boxing

Jirov lives in Arizona and works at the Scottsdale Boxing Club as a coach. Reflecting on his time as a fighter, Jirov said: “I travelled the world, got paid and kicked some ass.”


Professional boxing record


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jirov, Vassiliy 1974 births Living people People from Karaganda Region Olympic boxers of Kazakhstan Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Kazakhstan Southpaw boxers International Boxing Federation champions Olympic medalists in boxing Asian Games medalists in boxing Boxers at the 1994 Asian Games Kazakhstani male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Asian Games bronze medalists for Kazakhstan Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Light-heavyweight boxers Heavyweight boxers World cruiserweight boxing champions Kazakhstani people of Russian descent Converts to Islam