Round 2: The Russians Are Coming

The Russians Are Coming! - Friday 24th June 2011 - The Real Fight Club, 2-6 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3NQ

How can we possibly describe “The Russians are coming”, The Real Fight Club’s most recent event that took place on Friday 24^th of June at the Club premises in Curtain Road and in which the cream of the crop of London and Moscow’s White Collar athletes collided in a forerunner to the upcoming “Foreign Policy” series?

“Let’s put it this way”, said organiser Alan Lacey “If there was a wall across the ring to symbolize a division between Western and Eastern Europe, it would have fallen brick by brick on the night – and not just under the power of the punches but most importantly for the true sportsmanship and respect shown by both teams inside and outside the ring.” The action was relentless, the crowd enthusiastic  and there was a very good atmosphere overall. In other words, it was really fun.

Societe General’s banker Alexey Polyakov and Ural Metals’ CEO Alexei Kiselev already stated before the fight that having fun in good company was the reason they decided to travel to London and step into a ring.  “Even the weather feels like we are still in Moscow” Saving Bank’s Oleg Selivanov pointed out to stress he felt comfortable fighting for the first time away from home.

On the other hand, for some of their British counterparts, it was business as usual. Corporate Psychologist John McCormack and Walker Hamill’s Recruitment consultant Luke Worthington were having respectively their 19^th and 5^th fight, simply because they like it, while for “debutants” Copping Joyce Chartered Surveyor John Giblin and ICAP’s Mark Nichols it was the fulfilment of a long time aspiration and interest in the game.

But, in the ring, it doesn’t matter what your job title, nationality or motivation is: you got to fight!

And so they did...

John “Cracker” McCormack vs Oleg “Aristarhan” Selivanov.

Sheffield’s best known boxers, like Naz Hamed, Junior Witter and Kell Brook, are famous for their awkward styles. You can add John McCormack’s name to the list. In the first of the three 2 minutes rounds, he stalked Selivanov and landed his jab with regularity,  switching stance and thriving on a high work rate, while Oleg was happy blocking and staying out of trouble. After taking the opening stanza, the “Cracker” decided to give his opponent some breathing space and turned into a counter puncher, but often waited too long to retaliate and allowed “Aristarhan” to land a solid 1-2 combination that evened the round.  He would not do the same mistake in the third, where he crowded Selivanov on the ropes without giving him time to regroup. Oleg took more chances than before but it was McCormack’s arm to be raised in victory. Selivanov stated before the fight that his strategy was going to be mostly defensive and that he was not looking to impress but just survive till the end. Fair play to him, he was successful in his plan and then some.

Luke “Cool Hand” Worthington vs Andrey “High Tower”  Ryndak.

Both fighters set a very fast pace from the beginning. Luke landed first with his jab and Ryndak retaliated with a three punches combo. Only temporarily shocked, Worthington opened with his own combinations to the head but Andrey displayed good defensive skills.  Cleverly, “Cool Hand” lowered the target and worked the body forcing “High Tower” to drop his guard. By landing some good hooks, he forced the referee to give his opponent two standing counts. It appeared evident that Ryndak had problems finding a comfortable range and, after sustaining a rally of head shots ending with a crunching right hook, he touched the canvas. The referee came to his rescue waving the fight off.  Great display of technique for Worthington and of heart by Andrey.

John “GBH” Giblin vs Danny “The Bull” Perjesi.

Perjesi ring monicker perfectly describes his style. He looked more comfortable when fighting inside and working the body and pressed the fight throughout all three rounds.  In the first, he had also success with the left hook and the overhead right, but got caught with Giblin’s own right hand. John seemed to have figured him out in the second, where he scored a series of 4 short hooks to the head to stop him on his tracks, but Danny landed a perfect uppercut on top of his body blows to even the session. Both men were landing in the third, with Perjesi still applying the pressure and Giblin nailing him on the way in, in spite of a nose bleed.  Danny looked overall the busier man but, although John was administered a standing 8 count in the third, the bout ended with a draw.

Mark “The Corruptor” Nichols vs Dmitry “The Hangover” Savinykh.

The first round was fast and furious. Mark flicked the jab out constantly, while moving in and out, bobbing and weaving,while Savinykh fought in spurts, looking for space to open up with combinations. The second started as battle of jabs until Nichols decided to gamble adding the right hand and paid the price with a bloody nose. But in the following session he got through with several 1-2s, stepping up the tempo to disrupt his opponent’s rhythm. It was a tough one to call, really, but “The Hangover” got the nod from the referee in the end. “What’s the point of training if you don’t fight?” said Dmitry before the bout. Well, as it turned out, that point has been successfully made.

“Cyclone” Clint Miller vs “Hit’Em” Arder Payir.

As soon as the first bell rang and the fighters engaged immediately in a “Hagler-Hearns” alley war, one could sense this bout would not go the distance. Not at that pace. Clint established himself as the aggressor charging forward head down with total disregard for defence and paid the price with a bloody nose. He was more careful in the second, but the height and reach gap in Pavir’s favour proved too much and the referee stopped the bout after he was knocked down by a rabbit punch while retreating from an Arder’s rally. When asked before the bout what his game plan was, Pavir answered simply “To win.” So he did and congratulations to him, but if this fight was scored on sheer guts, it could have gone either way.

Jerome “The Black Samurai” Knight vs Alexei “Kiss My Fist” Kifelev.

An entertaining display of showmanship from Jerome Knight.  For the first two rounds, he danced around the ring, his hands low, scoring body and head hooks at will but also displaying a good defence, which relied on a fluid head and upper body movement as well as blocking. In the third, Alexei had partial success by concentrating his attack to the body, but it was not enough and Knight sealed the decision ending the round with a great left hook flush on the nose of his opponent. Entering his first ever bout, Alexei described himself as a defensive fighter and his game plan was simply seeing it through without touching the canvas. That much he did and with the experience gained on the night, it can only go upwards from here. Come back and fight again!

Joe “The Red Bull” Clapson vs Richard “Nifty” Nash.

Joe was aware before the bout that, in order to be effective, he would have to keep always on the front foot, press aggressively and get close inside. Nash used his reach advantage well jabbing to keep the distance, but eventually Clapson got through and caught his head temporarily wobbling him. Also, although,at the price of eating a few jabs, he produced some quality body work. The second round was fairly even, with the difference that it was Richard to come forward and press. In the third, Nash managed to bully the opponent on the ropes and score some good uppercuts that forced the referee to give Joe an eight count. With one round in the bank each and one even, the bout ended in a draw.

“Rocking” Rob Bailey vs Valery “Fu” Korf.

Valery Korf’s love for boxing stems from his reading of authors like Jack London and Ernest Hemingway, who cherished the Sweet Science. Having never fought before (“except against my wife” he said), he came into the ring relying purely on his instincts. And that was just enough for him to score the only clean knock out of the evening. Slipping and blocking punches, while putting together nice combinations that landed effectively upstairs and downstairs or throwing single power shots, he ended the bout in the second round with a right hook that put Bailey on the canvas almost on the bell.  Hopefully the experience and confidence gained tonight will help him in a rematch with Ms Korf ! Rob Bailey entered the ring for the first time tonight looking for a mental and physical challenge and, in spite of the result, must be respected for pushing himself to do what 99% of the people would not even dream about. It takes a man to get into a ring.

Fernando “Jabali” Anaya vs Alexey “Crazy Russian” Polyakov.

Fernando started first jabbing to the body and head of Polyakov, but failed several times in his telegraphed attempts to score with an overhand right. He won the second session clearly scoring with looping right hooks, while Alexey tried to cut the ring to no avail. Anaya’s right found the target in the third, but he lost balance missing with a hook allowing the “Crazy Russian” to swarm all over him for the bout to end in a draw.

Richard “Nifty” Nash vs Alexander “The Bull” Matveev.

“It’s just a bit of fun. I am going to get in there, do my job and see where it gets me” was Richard’s pre-fight statement. With three rounds already under the belt, he entered the ring for the second time on the evening against “The Bull” Matveev. In the first, Alexander was feinting to create openings but took as much as he gave when getting inside. His best work showed on the ropes where he landed good uppercuts and hooks, although leaving himself open to left hook counters. In the second, after sustaining a body attack, Nash started connecting with straight punches that swung the round his way and ended strong with a devastating uppercut.  Matveev was still applying pressure in the third but Richard landed his right at will to gain the decision. Job done.

John “Cracker” McCormack vs Konstantin “Pug” Ustimenko.

The Real Fighting doctor McCormack entered the ring again to score another win. Although he claims there are parallels between psychology and boxing, what we witnessed was a totally physical war of attrition.  In the first, “Pug” tried to press the fight but John refused to give ground, overall outpunching his opponent. Particularly, he landed a blow to the stomach from which Konstantin did not seem to recover for the rest of the fight. Ustimenko found a second wind in the next round, where both men landed clean engaging in some good exchanges but ended up just covering up in the third while McCormack punched furiously everything he could possibly hit, including elbows and gloves, to gain the decision.

“Lightning” Larry Ekundayo vs Daryl Williams.

The main event of the evening was a highly competitive 4x2 amateur bout between Fight Club trainer Larry Ekundayo, 29 years old, and social worker Daryl Williams, 21.  It was a clash of styles, with Larry comfortable moving around and picking his shots from the outside and Daryl pressing the fight and effective on the inside. The first session was fairly even. Williams tried to cut the ring and managed to nail Ekundayo on the ropes with uppercuts on at least two occasions, but was caught in the middle of the ring with body shots and a good right hook. Larry dominated the second with fast 1-2 combos, a good straight right to the body and perfect one to the head, with Daryl still pressing the fight.  He did manage to trap his opponent on the ropes again in the third, but without being able to score cleanly. At this point, Ekundayo looked warmed up and at ease, again scoring straight punches in the centre of the ring. Although it looked more like a slip, Williams touched the canvas in this round and got counted. Daryl had his moments in the fourth, scoring again with hooks and uppercuts with the opponent on the ropes, but Larry’s work was far more eye catching. Good flurries, feints and bolo punches sealed the decision in favour of Ekundayo. Both men are about to debut as pro and it would not be surprising if they meet again in the paid ranks with a title on the line.