Vassiliy Jirov

Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov (Template:Langx; born 4 April 1974), sometimes known as Vasily Zhirov, is a Kazakhstani former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2009, and held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as consecutive bronzes at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, all in the light heavyweight 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: Template:Quote 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,) and also won the USSR Youth Championship (4 fights, 4 victories, Donetsk,) 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 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

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Template:Gold1 International Junior Tournament (Middleweight), Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, December 1991:

• (no data available)

Template:Gold1 European Junior Championships (Middleweight), Edinburgh, Scotland, April 1992:

• 1/4: Defeated Thomas Hansvold (Norway) RSC 2
• 1/2: Defeated Rickard Eckvall (Sweden) 12–6
• Finals: Defeated Sinan Şamil Sam (Turkey) 11–7

Template:Bronze3 World Championships (Middleweight), Tampere, Finland, May 1993:

• 1/8: Defeated Francesco Passanante (Switzerland) RSC 3
• 1/4: Defeated Andrey Khamula (Ukraine) 15–9
• 1/2: Lost to Akin Kuloglu (Turkey) 2–9

World Cup (Light heavyweight), Bangkok, Thailand, June 1994:

• 1/8: Defeated Haik Postolokyan (Armenia) 11–3
• 1/4: Lost to Islam Arsangaliev (Russia) 4–12

Template:Bronze3 Asian Games (Light heavyweight), Hiroshima, Japan, October 1994:

• 1/4: Defeated Asghar Ali (Pakistan) RSC
• 1/2: Lost to Young-Sam Ko (South Korea) 10–17

Template:Gold1 Chemistry Cup (Light heavyweight), Halle, Germany, March 1995:

• 1/4: Defeated Sven Ottke (Germany) PTS
• 1/2: Defeated Thomas Ulrich (Germany) by walkover
• Finals: Defeated Ulf Brezina (Germany) RET 1

Template:Gold1 Sweden Open (Light heavyweight), Stockholm, Sweden, 1996:

• Finals: Defeated Stephen Kirk (Ireland) RSC 2

Template:Col-2 Template:Gold1 Korean Open (Light heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, 1995:

• (no data available)

Template:Bronze3 World Championships (Light heavyweight), Berlin, Germany, 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

Template:Gold1 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 (South Korea) 15–2

Template:Gold1 Moscow Open (Light heavyweight), Moscow, Russia, October 1995:

• Finals: Defeated Timur Ibragimov (Uzbekistan) by unanimous decision, 5–0

Template:Gold1 Chemistry Cup (Light heavyweight), Halle, Germany, February–March 1996:

• 1/4: Defeated Rostyslav Zaulychnyi (Ukraine) 12–1
• 1/2: Defeated Ramón Garbey (Cuba) 18–10
• Finals: Defeated Thomas Ulrich (Germany) by walkover

Template:Gold1 Summer Olympics (Light heavyweight), Atlanta, Georgia, July–August 1996:

• 1/16: Defeated Julio César González (Mexico) RSC 2
• 1/8: Defeated Pietro Aurino (Italy) 18–3
• 1/4: Defeated Troy Amos-Ross (Canada) 14–8
• 1/2: Defeated Antonio Tarver (United States) 15–9
• Finals: Defeated Lee Seung-Bae (South Korea) 17–4

Template:Col-end Jirov was awarded the Val Barker Trophy 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 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 WBC'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 by decision in eight rounds.

IBF cruiserweight champion

Template:Main In 1999, Jirov was given his first world title try: In front of an HBO Boxing audience, he beat IBF world Cruiserweight champion Arthur Williams by a knockout in seven rounds at Biloxi, Mississippi, 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 Canadian Dale Brown.

In 2000, he beat Saul Montana by knockout in round nine to retain the world title on an Univision televised fight, and won two non-title bouts, including one over Esteban Pizarro at the Playboy 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 (knockout win in 8).

There were reports that Jirov's team and HBO were trying to negotiate a matchup against Roy Jones Jr., but those talks fell through. <ref>There's No Stopping Roy Jones</ref>

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 Argentina 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

Template:Main 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 in Phoenix. Jirov's next fight was against ex-heavyweight champion, Michael Moorer. 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. 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, Jirov also lost to Joe Mesi 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 Dubai and is a coach at Boxing Golden Ring. Reflecting on his time as a fighter, Jirov said: “I travelled the world, got paid and kicked some ass.”<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
42	Template:Yes2Win	Template:Nowrap	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Williams	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	17 Oct 2009	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	37–3–1	Template:Flagicon Kenny Craven	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	14 Jul 2007	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	36–3–1	Template:Flagicon Luke Munsen	UD	10	20 Apr 2006	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
39	Template:DrawDraw	35–3–1	Template:Flagicon Orlin Norris	Template:Abbr	8	21 Jul 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	35–3	Template:Flagicon Troy Beets	UD	10	14 May 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	34–3	Template:Flagicon Forrest Neal	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	7 Apr 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
36	Template:No2Loss	33–3	Template:Flagicon Michael Moorer	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	9 Dec 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
35	Template:No2Loss	33–2	Template:Flagicon Joe Mesi	UD	10	13 Mar 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	33–1	Template:Flagicon Joseph Kiwanuka	RTD	6 (12), Template:Small	6 Nov 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	32–1	Template:Flagicon Ernest Mateen	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	7 Aug 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
32	Template:No2Loss	31–1	Template:Flagicon James Toney	UD	12	26 Apr 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	31–0	Template:Flagicon Jorge Castro	UD	12	1 Feb 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	30–0	Template:Flagicon Julian Letterlough	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	8 Sep 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	29–0	Template:Flagicon Adolpho Washington	UD	10	20 Jul 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	28–0	Template:Flagicon Terry McGroom	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	24 Mar 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	27–0	Template:Flagicon Alex Gonzales	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	6 Feb 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	26–0	Template:Flagicon Earl Butler	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	29 Jul 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	25–0	Template:Flagicon Esteban Pizzarro	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	19 May 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	24–0	Template:Flagicon Don Normand	TKO	1	25 Mar 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	23–0	Template:Flagicon Saúl Montana	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	12 Feb 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	22–0	Template:Flagicon Dale Brown	KO	10 (12), Template:Small	18 Sep 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	21–0	Template:Flagicon Arthur Williams	TKO	7 (12), Template:Small	5 Jun 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Template:Flagicon Onebo Maxime	KO	5 (12), Template:Small	22 Apr 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Template:Flagicon Cesar Rendon	Template:Abbr	1 (8), Template:Small	6 Mar 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Template:Flagicon Alexander Vasiliev	UD	8	5 Dec 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Template:Flagicon John Kiser	TKO	8 (10), Template:Small	3 Oct 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Template:Flagicon Cliff Nellon	TKO	3 (8), Template:Small	6 Aug 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Template:Flagicon Rich LaMontagne	Template:Abbr	12	5 May 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Template:Flagicon Jason Waller	TKO	1, Template:Small	14 Mar 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Template:Flagicon Trent Surratt	TKO	2 (8), Template:Small	10 Feb 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Template:Flagicon Jason Nicholson	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	23 Jan 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Template:Flagicon Art Jimmerson	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	6 Dec 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Template:Flagicon Quinton Osgood	TKO	1 (8), Template:Small	18 Oct 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Template:Flagicon Calvin Combs	TKO	2 (8), Template:Small	12 Sep 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Template:Flagicon Dennis Matthews	TKO	4 (6), Template:Small	5 Jul 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Template:Flagicon Gesses Mesgana	TKO	2 (8), Template:Small	31 May 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Template:Flagicon Tyrone Armstead	Template:Abbr	4 (6), Template:Small	12 Apr 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Template:Flagicon Calvin Smith	TKO	1 (4)	30 Mar 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Template:Flagicon Aljenon DeBose	TKO	3 (6), Template:Small	8 Mar 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Template:Flagicon Chuck Miller	TKO	4, Template:Small	12 Feb 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Template:Flagicon Exum Speight	TKO	3 (6), Template:Small	28 Jan 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Template:Flagicon Vincent Brown	Template:Abbr	2 (6), Template:Small	18 Jan 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small

External links

• Template:Sports links