Vassiliy Jirov
Encyclopedia
Vassiliy "The Tiger" Jirov (born April 4, 1974 in Balkhash
, Kazakhstan
) is a professional Kazakh
boxer and former IBF
cruiserweight champion, currently fighting out of Las Vegas
under Thell Torrence. Jirov won the Olympic
gold medal at Atlanta
in 1996
.
Soon after, he moved to the United States
, settling in Scottsdale
, Arizona
, where he married and began to train at the SAR Club's boxing gym.
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 May 5, 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 December 5, he once again fought in Ukrainian territory. In his first fight as a professional in Ukraine, he beat Alex Vassilev in Kiev
by decision in eight.
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 September 18, 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 February 6, 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).
In 2002 Jirov, by then managed by the Sugar Ray Leonard
promotion company, had begun to have career problems, and he was able to defend his crown once that year, beating former world Middleweight champion Jorge Castro
of Argentina
by a 12 round decision on February 1 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.
Jirov and Toney finally met on April 26, 2003, and Jirov suffered his first career defeat, when he lost the IBF cruiserweight title to Toney by a 12-round unanimous decision. On August 9, Jirov came back, beating fringe contender Ernest Mateen by knockout in seven rounds.
On November 6, 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 July 14, 2007 Jirov defeated Kenny 'The Raven' Craven by TKO in second round of 10 round scheduled bout.
As a Heavyweight,Jirov lost to Joe Mesi by unanimous decision, after throwing a blow to Mesi that resulting in subdural bleeding, ending Mesi's career. He was later TKO'ed by former heavyweight champ Michael Moorer, after a questionable call by the referee.
His record stands at 37 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw with 30 wins by knockout.
Balkhash
Balkhash may refer to * Balkhash , a city at Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan* Balkhash Lake, a lake in Kazakhstan* Balkhash perch, a species of perch found in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
) is a professional Kazakh
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
boxer and former IBF
International Boxing Federation
The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...
cruiserweight champion, currently fighting out of Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
under Thell Torrence. Jirov won the Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medal at Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
in 1996
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
.
Soon after, he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, settling in Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, where he married and began to train at the SAR Club's boxing gym.
Professional career
Jirov made his debut as a professional on January 18, 1997, with a two round knockoutKnockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
of Vince Brown in Las Vegas. He won eleven fights that first year, all by knockout, including wins over Exum Speight and Art Jimmerson
Art Jimmerson
Art Jimmerson is a retired boxer who competed at super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight. As an amateur, Jimmerson was the 1983 National Golden Gloves Middleweight champion. He finished his boxing career in 2002, with a record of 33–18.-Biography:In November 1993,...
. In 1998, he won eight fights, six before the final bell. On May 5, he won the WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
'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 December 5, he once again fought in Ukrainian territory. In his first fight as a professional in Ukraine, he beat Alex Vassilev in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
by decision in eight.
In 1999, Jirov was given his first world title try: In front of an HBO Boxing
HBO Boxing
HBO World Championship Boxing is a sports television series, premiering in January 1973 that has shown a number of significant boxing events in the last three decades....
audience, he beat IBF
International Boxing Federation
The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...
world Cruiserweight champion Arthur Williams
Arthur Williams (boxer)
Arthur "King" James Williams is a professional boxer .Williams became professional in 1989 and fell short in his first shot at a major championship title, a 1994 split-decision loss to Orlin Norris for the World Boxing Association Cruiserweight Title. Williams was knocked out in the third round...
by a knockout in seven rounds at Biloxi
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, 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
Fight of the Millennium
The Fight Of The Millennium was a boxing match held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 18, 1999, to unify the WBC and IBF's world Welterweight championships....
undercard on September 18, retaining the crown with a ten round knockout of Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Dale Brown.
In 2000, he beat Saul Montana
Saul Montana
Saul Montana is a Mexican boxer in the Heavyweight division. Montana is the former Mexican National Champion at Light Heavyweight, IBA, NABA, WBC Mundo Hispano, WBC Continental Americas Champion at Cruiserweight, NBA, and Mexican National Champion at Heavyweight.-Pro career:Montana turned pro in...
by knockout in round nine to retain the world title on an Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
televised fight, and won two non-title bouts, including one over Esteban Pizarro at the Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
mansion.
On February 6, 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
Julian Letterlough
Julian Letterlough, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was an American boxer. Known as "Mr. KO", Letterlough was boxer who was often featured on ESPN.-Pro career:...
(knockout win in 8).
In 2002 Jirov, by then managed by the Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...
promotion company, had begun to have career problems, and he was able to defend his crown once that year, beating former world Middleweight champion Jorge Castro
Jorge Castro (boxer)
Jorge Fernando "Locomotora" Castro , is an Argentine boxer and former middleweight champion of the world, who is best known for his second defense of the title against John David Jackson in 1994....
of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
by a 12 round decision on February 1 at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. Talks had begun about a fight of his against former multiple division world champion James Toney
James Toney
James Nathanial Toney is an American professional boxer who has held world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight divisions. Toney currently fights in the heavyweight division in boxing and also now competes in mixed martial arts.-Boxing career:Toney's amateur boxing...
. 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.
Jirov and Toney finally met on April 26, 2003, and Jirov suffered his first career defeat, when he lost the IBF cruiserweight title to Toney by a 12-round unanimous decision. On August 9, Jirov came back, beating fringe contender Ernest Mateen by knockout in seven rounds.
On November 6, 2003, he won the NABO regional cruiserweight title with a six round knockout of Joseph Kiwanuka
Joseph Kiwánuka
Joseph Kiwánuka, MAfr was a Ugandan prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Rubaga from 1960 until his death.-Biography:...
in Phoenix. Jirov's next fight was against ex-heavyweight champion, Michael Moorer
Michael Moorer
Michael Lee Moorer is a retired American boxer who is a former light heavyweight and heavyweight World Champion.-Biography:Moorer is a native of Monessen, Pennsylvania, which is in Southwestern Pennsylvania.-Professional career:...
. 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
Orlin Norris
Orlin Levance Norris, born October 4, 1965 in Lubbock, TX, is an American boxer who held the WBA cruiserweight title and fought in several noteworthy boxing matches in the 1980s and 1990s...
. 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 July 14, 2007 Jirov defeated Kenny 'The Raven' Craven by TKO in second round of 10 round scheduled bout.
As a Heavyweight,Jirov lost to Joe Mesi by unanimous decision, after throwing a blow to Mesi that resulting in subdural bleeding, ending Mesi's career. He was later TKO'ed by former heavyweight champ Michael Moorer, after a questionable call by the referee.
His record stands at 37 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw with 30 wins by knockout.
Amateur career
- 1992 Junior European Champion in Edinburgh, as a Middleweight.
- 1993 3rd place at 1993 World Amateur Boxing Championships1993 World Amateur Boxing ChampionshipsThe Men's 1993 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Tampere, Finland from May 7 to 16. The seventh edition of this competition, held nearly a year after the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, was organised by the Tampere Boxing Association, member of the Finnish Boxing Association...
in Tampere, Finland, as a Middleweight.- Defeated Francesco Passanante (Switzerland) TKO 3
- Defeated Andrei Khamula (Ukraine) points
- Lost to Akin Kuloglu (Turkey) points
- 1994 3rd place at Asian Championships in Hiroshima, Japan as a Light Heavyweight.
- Defeated Asghar AliAsghar AliAsghar Ali is a United Arab Emirates cricketer. He played two One Day Internationals for them in 1994.-References:**...
(Pakistan) TKO - Lost to Yong-Sam Ko (South Korea) points
- Defeated Asghar Ali
- 1995 3rd place at 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships1995 World Amateur Boxing Championshipsthumb|German stamp from 1995The Men's 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany from May 4 to May 15. The eighth edition of this competition, held a year before the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, was organised by the world governing body for...
in Berlin, Germany as a Light Heavyweight.- Defeated Ervin Helmanis (Latvia) KO 2
- Defeated Ismael Kone (Sweden) TKO 1
- Lost to Antonio TarverAntonio TarverAntonio Deon Tarver , nicknamed the "Magic Man", is a professional boxer from Orlando, Florida and the former WBC, WBA, IBF, & The Ring light heavyweight champion....
(United States) points
- 1996 OlympicSummer Olympic GamesThe Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
Gold Medalist at Light Heavyweight at the Atlanta Games.- Defeated Julio César GonzálezJulio Cesar GonzalezJulio César González Ibarra is a Mexican boxer and the former Lineal & WBO light heavyweight champion.Gonzalez was born in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, and still claims Mexico as his native country although he has lived in the United States for several years...
(Mexico) TKO 2 - Defeated Pietro AurinoPietro AurinoPietro Aurino is a retired male boxer from Italy. Nicknamed The Killer he represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was stopped in the second round of the men's light-heavyweight division by Kazakhstan's eventual gold medalist Vassili...
(Italy) points - Defeated Troy Amos-RossTroy Amos-RossTroy Amos-Ross is a Guyanese Canadian boxer, currently residing in Brampton, Ontario. He competed in the light heavyweight Troy Amos-Ross (born July 17, 1975 in Georgetown, Guyana) is a Guyanese Canadian boxer, currently residing in Brampton, Ontario. He competed in the light heavyweight Troy...
(Canada) points - Defeated Antonio TarverAntonio TarverAntonio Deon Tarver , nicknamed the "Magic Man", is a professional boxer from Orlando, Florida and the former WBC, WBA, IBF, & The Ring light heavyweight champion....
(United States) points - Defeated Lee Seung-BaeLee Seung-BaeLee Seung-Bae was a South Korean amateur boxer, who won a middleweight bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics for Korea, followed by a light heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.-Career:...
(South Korea) points
- Defeated Julio César González
- Winner of the Val Barker TrophyVal Barker TrophyThe Val Barker Trophy, named for boxer Val Barker, is presented every four years to an Olympic boxing athlete who exemplifies style during competition.-Recipients:...
for Outstanding Boxer at the 1996 OlympicSummer Olympic GamesThe Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
Games