Olympic Gold Medalists for Kazakhstan - Vassiliy Jirov, Vladimir Mikhaylovich Smirnov, Olga Shishigina, Bakhtiyar Artayev, Bakhyt Sarsekbayev (Paperback)

Chapters: Vassiliy Jirov, Vladimir Mikhaylovich Smirnov, Olga Shishigina, Bakhtiyar Artayev, Bakhyt Sarsekbayev, Ilya Ilin, Yermakhan Ibraimov, Bekzat Sattarkhanov, Alexander Parygin, Yuriy Melnichenko. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 30. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Vassiliy "The Tiger" Jirov (born April 4, 1974 in Balqash, 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. Jirov made his debut as a professional on January 18, 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 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_(boxer). In 2000, he beat Saul Montana by knockout in round nine to retain t...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=29387