The AIBA Pro Boxing’s (APB) social media campaign “Boxer of the Week” headed to one of the world’s strongest boxing nations this week, namely Russia. Boxing fans were delighted to discover that current World Champion and London 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist Misha Aloian has been announced on the APB roster and will soon step into the ring as a pro.
As usual the campaign focused on questions that were raised by fans on the APB Facebook (facebook.com/APB.Boxing) and Twitter (@APB_Boxing) pages to create a fan-generated interview. The result of this process was an intimate portrayal of an intelligent athlete who is hoping to dominate his category at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The three time Russian National Champion explained that the most important fights of his career included wins over London 2012 Olympic Champion Robeisy Ramirez from Cuba to win the World Championships in 2011, and his victory over Welshman Andrew Selby in the same tournament. Interestingly, he also mentioned a defeat to the Mongolian boxer Tugstsogt Nyambayar at the 2009 World Championships in Milan as something which spurred him onto greater things.
“It was also that fight that gave me the motivation to improve my boxing skills and techniques”, said the Russian. “I believe that challenge helped me to become the National Champion three times in a row and also come back to the World Championships in 2011 and get gold”.
He also revealed some trade secrets when he explained to fans that “Your mental state is a decisive factor during the fight and it usually depends on your preparation and readiness for the fight. If I am 100% ready for a fight then why should I worry? If a boxer enters the ring with doubts or worries, he will never be able to overcome his opponent. My philosophy is quite simple. Boxing is my life’s work and if I am doing my favourite job I have nothing to worry about”.
Interestingly he says the Russian team, which was the most dominant nation at this year’s European Continental championships, has begun to significantly change their style of boxing, hence their sudden success. “The whole National team is gradually changing the style of their boxing training”, he said “as the sport is being judged in a manner that resembles the pro-style ever more closely. This is the future of our sport and the athletes have to develop at the same pace as the sport does”.
Aloian believes that APB is the way forward for the sport. “The pro style of this competition attracts me a lot. I am sure that within APB, there will only be the best boxers in the world and I get a guaranty of several fights a year against the best possible opponents”.
