Vadim Bukhkalov: «I had never seen so much fervent boxing fans as I saw in Chechnya»

by Dmitriy Mikhalchuk

On August 15th on initiative of President of the Chechen Republic, Hero of Russia Ramzan Kadyrov a big boxing tournament was held in Grozny. In the main event of the fight card billed «The Champ Comes Home» Zaurbek Baysangurov (22-1, 16 KOs) of «K2 East Promotions» promotional company defeated Eromosele Albert (22-3-1, 10 KOs) from Nigeria by unanimous decision and retained WBA Inter-Continental light middleweight belt.

There were also other interesting bouts with high-class boxers taking part. Among them one could mark out fights of Salambek Baysangurov (3-0-0, 2 КОs) and that of undefeated Russian prospect Alexander Ustinov (17-0-0, 14 КОs). The fight card was the first major boxing event of such level in the history of the Chechen Republic.

Regional public fund named after Hero of Russia Ahmat Kadyrov was the sponsor of that boxing fest. All-Russian TV channel «RTR-Sport» and local TV channel «Grozny» were media partners of the tournament.

We offer your attention interview with leading Ukrainian promoter Vadim Bukhkalov who is business partner of Klitschko brothers and founder of «K2 East Promotions».


- What is your impression of the recent tournament?
- First of all I would like to give credit for those who organized the fight card, who supported the tournament: President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, mayor's office and personally Mayor of Grozny Muslim Khuchiev together with our company «K2 East Promotions» headed by Alexander Krasyuk. They did all possible for the tournament to be organized at top level. That boxing event was very important for the city of Grozny. Nowadays policy of the Chechen Republic is oriented to peace, development and the well-being of the region. Such is the President’s stance as well as position of all people of Chechnya. Of course, such a big sport event added much to general positive spirit. It was not a simple task to organize everything smoothly because for many people it was the first time to be involved in preparation of a sport event of such rank. Nevertheless, eventually everyone did his best and the tournament was organized perfectly.

- Fans from Caucasian region have been always famous for their ardent support of their favorite sportsmen. Can you tell us a few words about a thing which cannot be felt while watching TV boxing broadcast – about general atmosphere at the tournament?
- I attended many boxing events in the USA, Germany, and Great Britain and all over the world. Of course, we organize a lot of boxing events in Ukraine, so I have impressions to compare. I must say I had never seen such emotional and appreciative audience, so much fervent boxing fans as I saw in Chechnya. The impression was unforgettable. The arena was not large – about three thousand seats, and it was packed to capacity.

- Before the main event – Zaurbek Baysangurov’s title fight against Eromosele Albert there were five other bouts. Which one would you mark out?
- Zaur’s younger brother Salambek Baysangurov shone in the ring on the undercard. He was the aggressor from the bell and left no chances for his opponent. However, we have to give credit for his rival Semjons Moroseks: he was a firm and stout opponent and had a big heart. But Salambek was so much eager to win, he excelled Moroseks in courage and was stronger and faster in the ring. Moroseks managed to survive to round 2 due to his big heart only. The ref was absolutely right when he stopped the beating being seriously worried about Moroseks’s health.

- Will you tell us about the main event more in detail? The impression of the bout when watched from the ringside differs so much from TV broadcast.
- The fight between Zaur Baysangurov and Eromosele Albert was fast and emotionally tense. Both fought mainly from the inside, it was a true toe-to-toe battle. Probably Zaur let his opponent to land punches more than necessary, however, in return fire Baysangurov landed a lot more and paid back entirely. I am willing to concede that maybe he lost one round but in all other rounds he completely outboxed and outpunched Albert. After the fight Albert went to the hospital for examination. During the final round all people in «Dynamo» Palace of Sports were standing on their feet – such high was nerve strain. We have to give credit for Albert that he managed to go the distance under such heavy artillery fire. He put up a good show and deserved a great deal of respect.

- What this victory will bring Baysangurov in future. What steps «K2 East Promotions» plan to take concerning his nearest future in professional boxing?
- Eromosele Albert was one of the strongest and most famous opponents in Zaur’s pro career and we’re sure that due to this victory Baysangurov will go higher in world rankings. We plan that next year he will fight for one of the major world champion belts.

- Who will be his next opponent?
- Well, he just had a hard fight. I personally told Zaur that he had to forget about boxing for at least two months. He needs a rest – he had been training for a long time, fought a lot: he had three fights within four months and intervals between the bouts were rather short. So let him have a short rest and in January of 2010 we’ll organize his next fight. It is quite possible that the fight venue will be in the Chechen Republic.

- We all saw that Wladimir Klitschko, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion attended the tournament in Grozny. There were rumors in mass-media before the event that he might not find the time to attend… How was he met by Chechen boxing fans?
- We are business partners with Klitschko brothers in «K2 East Promotions» and Zaur Baysangurov is one of the strongest and most promising fighters. Of course, Wladimir is very much interested in his career. It was not so easy for Wladimir to find the time for his visit to Grozny but, by no means, could he miss the fight and he came. When he appeared in Grozny it was quite a sensation – he is immensely popular among boxing fans in Chechnya and they greeted Ukrainian champion with storm of applause.

- What do you think about future of professional boxing in the Chechen Republic? Do they in Chechnya have necessary conditions for the development of the sport?
- I was greatly impressed by the republic. There is no recession in Chechnya – we saw a lot of construction sites: building construction and road building are going on as well as construction of hotels, supermarkets, cultural and entertainment centers. City of Grozny – the capital of the republic and the whole region both are at record peak of their development. A lot of attention is paid to sports in general and to boxing in particular. The leaders of the republic are well aware of the fact that sport is very important for the nation’s health. As far as boxing is concerned it has a whole army of devoted fans in Chechnya. It arouses great interest among people which was fully confirmed by the last tournament. On the assumption of all aforesaid I believe that in the nearest future boxing may become one of the most developed, most popular and successful sports in the Chechen Republic.