The Kazakhstan boxing school has always been famous for its masters. Today, a vivid example of this is ring star Gennady Golovkin, on whose behalf many boxers around the world shudder. But in this article we will not talk about him, but about a man who is, perhaps, the discoverer of America as Mecca of boxing for Kazakhs. His name is Vasily Zhirov. This famous man has just done a tremendous journey and was able to visit the world top of sports, owning a champion belt among professionals.
Birth
Vasily Zhirov was born on April 4, 1974 in the Karaganda region of the Kazakh SSR (Balkhash city). By nationality - Russian. He began to engage in boxing in 1986 in the section that operated at the local vocational school. His first coach was Alexander Ivanovich Apachinsky, who is the honored coach of the republic.
Youthful achievements
Vasily Zhirov became a master of sports in 1990. And a year later he was invited to the youth team of the Soviet Union.
In 1992, European Championship was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in which Zhirov took first place, speaking in the category of up to 74 kilograms. In the same year, he won the championship of Kazakhstan for the first time, which he subsequently won three more times. Such achievements could not go unnoticed for the sports leadership, and he was already invited to the adult team.
Transition to a new level
1993 was also very successful for Vasily. He won the CIS tournament and became the bronze medalist of the world championship, which was held in Finnish Tampere. His weight category was then average.
The next year, Zhirov moved to the category higher (up to 81 kg) and was able to take the bronze of the Asian Games and the Asian Championships in it. But, of course, the athlete’s most striking performance was the Atlanta Olympics (1996), which he won so convincingly that he received the Val Barker Cup for it.
In total, in the amateur ring Vasily Zhirov spent two hundred and seventeen fights, of which he emerged victorious in two hundred and seven.
Professional career
Zhirov received professional status in 1997. For performances, he chose the first heavy weight.
The first year of performing in the professional ring brought him 14 victories. As a result of such a sprint, in May 1998, Vasily got a chance, for the first time for himself, to enter the title fight against Rich La Montana. The fight lasted for all the twelve rounds allotted for this, according to the results of which a native of Kazakhstan became the owner of the intercontinental belt.
A year later, Zhirov defeats Onebo Maxime, thanks to which he won the vacant title of the Continental Champion of America.
Peak career
As life has shown, the main battle of Vasily Zhirov in his career took place on June 5, 1999, when he met with Arthur Williams. This fight was for the world champion title (IBF). The fight ended in the seventh round with a Kazakh victory. For three years, Vasily successfully defended his title from the claims of other applicants, until April 26, 2003, met with James Toney, whom he lost on points.
Transition to the heavy weight category
In early 2004, Vasily Zhirov, whose biography at that time consisted of many fights, decided to move to a new division for himself. His first opponent was Joe Mezi, who at that time was one of the most promising fighters. The fight was held on March 13, 2004 and ended in an extremely dubious and unconvincing victory for the American judges with a score of 94-93. And this despite the fact that Zhirov sent the opponent knocked down three times.
In total, in this category, a Kazakh athlete with Slavic roots held five fights. He won two of them, lost two, one ended in a draw, after which he decided to return to his native weight.
The last fight in Zhirov’s career was on October 17, 2009.
Interesting Facts
It is reliably known that all world boxing champions go through difficulties in their lives during the training process. Zhirov was no exception. His coach, with the goal of developing Vasiliy’s high-speed qualities, made him run along the corridor, running away from the German shepherd. This is how the boxer learned to run very fast. The athlete's idols were Mohammed Ali and Ray Leonard.
By education, Vasily is a gas and electric welder.
Among the admirers of Zhirov’s talent, there are such Hollywood stars as Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke, who repeatedly came to actively support him during the battles held on American soil.
Also, according to the athlete himself, the most joyful event for him was the arrival of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to the fight, which Vasily won in his native land. After the fight, the boxer got the opportunity to personally communicate with the first person of the state.
Life today
Many world boxing champions after leaving sports drop out of the "cage", but not Zhirov.
The former champion now lives in America and is engaged in coaching. In addition, he raises his two sons (Nicholas and Jacob), who actively swim in the pool. Will they choose the path of their father in the future? It is still unknown. As Vasily Zhirov himself says, boxing is not the kind of activity that he would recommend to his children.
A native of the Soviet Union himself now helps people maintain optimal physical fitness, optimizes their nutrition, and teaches self-defense. He also plans to open a fitness room in Los Angeles. After so many years of tremendous workload, Zhirov has also become a vegetarian, and is also engaged in energy, which is completely harmless to humanity.