Denis Lebedev is a professional boxer from Russia, performing in the first heavy weight category (up to 90.5 kilograms). World Champion in IBF (2016) and WBA (2012 - until present). The boxer once served in CSKA, so he enters the ring in military uniforms, this is his real chip. And here is why in the form of airborne forces, we will explain a bit later. On the account of the Russian 33 matches, including 30 victories (22 KOs), one draw and two losses.
Boxer Denis Lebedev: biography
He was born on August 14 in 1979 in the city of Stary Oskol, USSR. He grew up in a friendly sports family, where his father and older brother were boxers. Initially, Denis began to do gymnastics. And if the section had not closed then, and Lebedev would not have had to end this sport, then, probably, he would have been more of a professional gymnast than a first-class boxer.
However, fate turned everything exactly as it should have - at the insistence of his father, Denis still enrolled in the boxing section. Every day they went to a sports club with their brother and trained for several hours. The older brother always had better results than Denis. In view of this, the latter was often upset and threatened to quit boxing, because there nothing shines for him. But life does not know other people's rules, but dictates only its own. Denis had to overcome his fears and failures, and he remained in professional boxing.
Acquaintance with boxing
The first coach of Denis Lebedev was Evgeny Sergeyev, it was he who developed the talent and a sense of fearlessness in the guy. A few years later, Lebedev Jr. collected all the titles and awards in amateur city and regional competitions. In 1997, Denis Lebedev became the European champion among amateurs under 75 kilograms, and a year later he won third place in the Goodwill Games (New York-1998) in the category of up to 81 kilograms.
In 1999, Denis was taken into the army. Many boxer fans and admirers know that Lebedev always enters the ring in a sailor suit and a beret. This is a kind of business card of an athlete. Naturally, many fans have a question about where the boxer Denis Lebedev served. The form emphasizes the belonging of the Airborne Forces. And he served in the Central Sports Club of the Army. Here he trained, as it should be a real athlete. He had a personal trainer and all the necessary boxing attributes for professional training. After the demobilization, boxer Denis Lebedev signed a contract with CSKA and performed in a professional ring under the auspices of the club. And he explains the appearance of a vest and beret in his outfit by the fact that among his friends there are many paratroopers, of which he is proud. And they do not mind that he defends the honor of Russia in the ring in this way.
Professional career
The biography of boxer Denis Lebedev dates back to his amateur career, where he had an unprecedented international success. After the army, Lebedev began his professional boxing career in light heavyweight. It all started in 2001: already in the third official match, he won the title of champion of Russia. Then he repeated the same success in 2004. From 2001 to 2004. boxer Denis Lebedev held 13 fights that all ended in his victory. In 2004, the athlete announced that he was leaving the world of professional boxing.
Return: first heavy weight
In 2008, Denis decides to return to the ring and achieve more. After a 4-year break, he practices hard and regains his former shape. In the first heavyweight boxer, Denis Lebedev began to fight with eminent and experienced rivals. In March 2009, the Russian knocked out an experienced boxer from Cuba Eliseo Castillo (5 round, 2 minutes, 50th second). In the same period, Lebedev did away with such experienced fighters as Enzo Maccarinelli, Ignacio Espara, Roy Jones, Sean Cox and many others.
Fight against Marco Hook: first defeat
In December 2010, Russian boxer Denis Lebedev fought against German Marco Hook (reigning world champion). During the fight, both boxers looked tantamount to competing with each other. However, Denis Lebedev still retained the advantage, despite the fact that the German boxer scored a large number of “clean shots”. The fight for the WBO title (Mark Hook's 5th defense) ended without knockouts. All of Berlin froze in anticipation of the announcement of the winner. A judge from America rated 116-112 in favor of the Russian, and the other two judges scored 113-115 in favor of Mark Hook. As a result, the overall result remained with the current WBO champion.
After this fight there were many conflicts, disputes and disagreements. Fans were unhappy that they gave the victory to the German, because Denis Lebedev looked worthy. Surprisingly, even the German fans themselves were of the opinion that their boxer deserved an unfair victory, calling the referee’s verdict “robbery”.