Sultan Ibragimov, whose biography will be discussed below, is a sample of a nugget boxer who came into the world of big sport already in adulthood and in a few years became one of the main stars in amateur boxing. Having turned into professionals, he did not get lost among the main stars of the heavyweight division and managed to become the world champion according to the WBO.
Outfighter
Sultan Ibragimov performed in the heavyweight category, having established himself as an outfighter. That is, using the length of his arms, he tried to keep his opponent at a distance, boxing from a long distance. Being a left-hander, the Sultan boxed in a right-handed stance, his right-handed punches were rather weighty, so the rivals did not risk coming closer to him, fearing to run into a strong oncoming blow.
Nevertheless, the Dagestan boxer worked well with both hands, if necessary, giving out opponents hooks and uppercuts. During his career, the Sultan proved himself a brave and desperate fighter, he was not afraid of anyone and fought in an aggressive manner, suppressing opponents with activity. This allowed him to complete most of his fights ahead of schedule - out of twenty-four fights in seventeen, he brought the matter to victory, without waiting for the final blow of the gong.
Sultan Ibragimov suffered his only defeat from Wladimir Klitschko, a boxer who prefers a similar strategy. The taller and longer-armed Ukrainian was stronger in the long-distance battle, and the Sultan did not have enough melee skills, just as he could not break through the barrage fire of long-range artillery and get closer to Vladimir.
The guy from Rostov
Dagestan, where boxer Sultan Ibragimov was born, is better known as the birthplace of the best freestyle wrestlers, but the hero of the article did not follow the beaten track and looked for his own ways of self-expression in sports. He was born in 1975 in the village of Tlyarata, Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, by origin - Avar.
He started boxing at a fairly mature age, having already graduated from school and moved to Rostov, where he enrolled to study at a financial college.
First, the Avar did it himself, then Anatoly Chernyaev, who was the first coach of the boxer Sultan Ibragimov, drew attention to a nugget from the North Caucasus. A significant role in the fate of the Sultan was played by Ramazan Abacharaev, who in the future will become his promoter. Ramadan advised Nikolai Khromov, the coach of the Russian national boxing team, to assess the potential of an unknown boxer from Dagestan.
Breakthrough
Soon, Sultan Ibragimov began to participate in the training camp of boxers of the national team as a sparring partner for team members. Here he showed himself in all its glory, boxing recklessly and desperately, sending knockdowns of the winners of the largest competitions. Impressed Khromov, contrary to tradition, included a self-taught boxer in the Russian team, and since then began the career of one of the best heavyweights in the history of the country.
Boxer Sultan Ibragimov, by and large, failed his first championship of Russia , losing in his first fight. However, coach Nikolai Khromov took a promising newcomer under his care, supporting and guiding him. The result of cooperation was a convincing victory in the national championship in 1999, and in the final, the Sultan knocked down the European champion and participant in the Olympic Games.
Having taken the status of the first number among the heavyweights, the Dagestan went to the European Championship, where he was to win. However, the young and hot Caucasian in the final battle succumbed to the provocation of his rival, because of which he had to be content with silver. The case was completely anecdotal - the Sultan in the last round of the practically won match was carried away by the attack and in the heat of the moment hit the opponent below the belt. The Frenchman fell as if slain, and the Sultan was defeated.
Victories and defeats
With sadness, the Dagestan heavyweight recalls all his life about his participation in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Before the main tournament of the Sultan suffered a terrible loss - his older brother Haji died in a car accident. He even thought about refusing to participate in the Olympic Games, but Ramazan Abacharaev managed to persuade him to go to Australia. The experiences were not in vain - in the first fight against a little-known boxer from Samoa, Sultan Ibragimov “burned” with a score of 1: 6, but managed to pull himself together and knocked him out.
Then things went smoothly, the Dagestan went to the finals, simultaneously taking revenge on his offender for the European Championship, defeating him in the quarterfinals.
In the decisive match, he was opposed by the great Felix Savon, a two-time Olympic champion from Cuba. Fearing a formidable opponent, the coaches advised the Sultan not to aggravate and choose the tactics of the second number. However, Felix also feared the Sultan and himself, in turn, acted in a counterattack manner.
According to Ibragimov himself, he later realized the need for active attacking actions and rushed to the attack, when an experienced Cuban already secured a solid advantage on points. Nevertheless, the silver medal of the Olympic Games was a great reward for a boxer, who had not even thought about big victories until recently.
The end of an amateur career
In 2001, Sultan Ibragimov took part in the championship, where in the final he lost to the heir to Felix Savon from Cuba. Despite this, he still refused to switch to professionals and sought to participate in the next Olympics. However, according to the Dagestan, he sharply negatively accepted changes in the rules adopted by the World Boxing Federation, which turned men's martial arts into a kind of fencing with gloves.
Not wanting to take part in the profanation of his favorite sport, Sultan Ibragimov decided to leave amateur boxing and try to realize himself as a professional.
Relocation to the USA
Many Russian boxers chose Germany to start their professional career, which became a serious brake on their further progress. After all, European boxers, by definition, were doomed to a long stay in the framework of their continent, conducting interesting fights to second-rate rivals.
Sultan Ibragimov and his promoter Ramazan Abacharaev acted more wisely, immediately went to the USA, where for talented boxers there was every opportunity for rapid growth. The manager of the Sultan was another native of Rostov - Boris Greenberg, who owns his own business in Miami.
Thanks to such support, the Sultan was spared the need to fight for a piece of bread and was able to fully concentrate on training.
America’s White Hope
Sultan Ibragimov spent his first fight in the professional ring against Tracy Williams, a little-known fighter with a negative balance of victories and defeats in the asset. The Russian boxer confidently knocked him out, without even waiting for the end of the first round. Then Sultan Ibragimov held four more fights against passing opponents, in all of which he confidently won.
A difficult test for the Sultan was his sixth fight, where he was opposed by the undefeated boxer Chad Butler, who had four knockouts in four fights. Tough and stubborn Chad was not at all afraid of Ibragimov’s blows and was constantly eager to exchange short gifts.
With great difficulty, the Sultan still defeated him, being able to provide the judges with a more favorable impression of his activity. After this fight,
Angelo Dundee, the legendary coach of Muhammad Ali and other boxing stars, even said that Sultan could be the first white-skinned world heavyweight champion in many years.
World champion
For three years, Sultan Ibragimov, whose photo began to appear on the covers of leading boxing publications more and more often, spent 19 fights, in all of which he prevailed over his rivals. Thus, he earned the right to the eliminator - the battle for the title of official contender for the fight with the holder of the champion belt. The rival of Dagestan was a strong American Ray Austin.
The Sultan tried to dominate the ring from the very beginning, and even sent Ray to the knockdown in the fourth round. However, he leveled off the position at the end of the match and in the tenth round in the form of a reciprocal courtesy he himself laid the Sultan on the canvas with a powerful blow. According to the judges, the fight ended in a draw, as a result of which the status of the official contender for the fight with Klitschko went to Austin as the holder of a higher rating.
Sultan Ibragimov, whose wife was his main fan, was comforted by the opportunity to fight for the WBO world title. In 2007, he met in the ring with Shannon Briggs. The fight was quite stubborn, but the Sultan had the advantage, defeating the enemy by decision of the judges.
The fight with Klitschko
Ibragimov managed to defend his title by defeating the legendary heavyweight Evander Holyfield. For some time, there was talk of holding a unifying battle with WBA World Champion Ruslan Chagaev, but due to an injury to the latter, these plans remained unfulfilled.
In 2008, a fight between Sultan Ibragimov and Vladimir Klitschko took place, in which IBF and WBO champion belts were played. The more experienced and overall Ukrainian turned out to be stronger, retaining the title of the strongest in the world.
After this battle, the Dagestan fighter announced his retirement, explaining this by a left arm injury.
The son of Sultan Ibrahim is also involved in boxing, so that soon the fans of the famous boxer will be able to watch the emergence of a new professional ring star.