Vassiliy Jirov

From Kazakhstan Encyclopedia

Template:Unreferenced Template:Infobox boxer

Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov (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. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, as well as consecutive bronzes at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, all in the light-heavyweight division.

Amateur highlights

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 Alex Vassilev in Kiev by decision in eight.

IBF cruiserweight champion

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).

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 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

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.

Professional boxing record

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Template:Abbr Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
42 Template:Yes2Win 38–3–1 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 1998 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 Template:Small

References

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External links

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