Vassiliy Jirov

Vassiliy Jirov
Statistics
Real name Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov
Nickname(s) The Tiger
Rated at Cruiserweight
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Reach 188 cm (74 in)
Nationality Kazakhstan
Born (1974-04-04) 4 April 1974
Balkhash, Kazakhstan
Stance Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights 42
Wins 38
Wins by KO 32
Losses 3
Draws 1
No contests 0

Vassiliy "The Tiger" Jirov (born 4 April 1974 in Balkhash, Kazakhstan) is a professional Kazakhstani 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.

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.

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.

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.

His record stands at 38 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw with 30 wins by knockout.

Preceded by
Arthur Williams
IBF Cruiserweight Champion
5 June 1999 – 26 April 2003
Succeeded by
James Toney

Amateur career

Professional boxing record

38 Wins (32 knockouts, 6 decisions), 3 Losses (1 knockout, 2 decisions), 1 Draw [1]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Win 7-6-1 United States Jonathan "The Jackhammer" Williams TKO 2 17/10/2009 Arizona Phoenix, Arizona, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:52 of the second round.
Win 28-18 United States Kenny "The Raven" Craven TKO 2 14/07/2007 North Dakota New Town, North Dakota, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:18 of the second round.
Win 18-4 United States Luke Munsen UD 10 20/04/2006 Idaho Worley, Idaho, United States 95-94, 94-93, 98-91.
Draw 57-9 United States Orlin "Night Train" Norris MD 8 21/07/2005 California Lemoore, California, United States 78-74, 76-76, 76-76.
Win 12-5-1 United States Troy "Basher" Beets UD 10 14/05/2005 Louisiana Kinder, Louisiana, United States 97-92, 97-92, 97-93.
Win 16-5 United States Forrest "Cisco" Neal TKO 3 07/04/2005 California Temecula, California, United States Referee stopped the bout at 1:10 of the third round.
Loss 46-4-1 United States Michael "Double M" Moorer TKO 9 09/12/2004 California Temecula, California, United States WBC Continental Americas/NABA/WBA North American Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:08 of the ninth round.
Loss 28-0 United States "Baby" Joe Mesi UD 10 13/03/2004 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States 93-94, 93-94, 93-94.
Win 27-5-2 Uganda Joseph "The African Express" Kiwanuka TKO 6 06/11/2003 Arizona Phoenix, Arizona, United States WBO NABO Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at the end of the sixth round.
Win 27-10-3 United States Ernest "M-16" Mateen TKO 7 07/08/2003 California Temecula, California, United States Referee stopped the bout at 1:09 of the seventh round.
Loss 65-4-2 United States James "Lights Out" Toney UD 12 26/04/2003 Connecticut Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States IBF World Cruiserweight Title. 109-117, 110-116, 109-117.
Win 119-7-3 Argentina Jorge "Locomotora" Castro UD 12 01/02/2002 Arizona Phoenix, Arizona, United States IBF World Cruiserweight Title. 119-110, 119-110, 119-110.
Win 17-1-1 United States Julian "Mr. K.O." Letterlough TKO 8 08/09/2001 Nevada Reno, Nevada, United States IBF World Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:24 of the eighth round.
Win 30-8-2 United States Adolpho Washington UD 10 20/07/2001 Ohio Canton, Ohio, United States 99-90, 100-89, 100-89.
Win 19-2-2 United States Terry McGroom KO 1 24/03/2001 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States IBF World Cruiserweight Title. McGroom knocked out at 1:22 of the first round.
Win 18-1 Puerto Rico Alex Gonzales KO 1 06/02/2001 Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan IBF World Cruiserweight Title. Gonzales knocked out at 1:35 of the first round.
Win 19-11-2 United States Earl Butler TKO 2 29/07/2000 Arizona Phoenix, Arizona, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:35 of the second round.
Win 21-2-1 Puerto Rico Esteban Pizzarro KO 2 19/05/2000 California Beverly Hills, California, United States
Win 23-8 United States Don Normand TKO 1 25/03/2000 Oregon Canyonville, Oregon, United States
Win 33-6 Mexico Saul "La Cobra" Montana TKO 9 12/02/2000 Idaho Boise, Idaho, United States IBF World Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:55 of the ninth round.
Win 19-0-1 Canada "Cowboy" Dale Brown KO 10 18/09/1999 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Brown knocked out at 2:52 of the tenth round.
Win 30-4-1 United States "King" Arthur Williams TKO 7 05/06/1999 Mississippi Biloxi, Mississippi, United States IBF World Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:59 of the seventh round.
Win 14-5 Ivory Coast Onebo Maxime KO 5 22/04/1999 Texas Dallas, Texas, United States WBC Continental Americas Cruiserweight Title. Maxime knocked out at 2:48 of the fifth round.
Win 9-9-1 Mexico Cesar Rendon KO 1 06/03/1999 California Indio, California, United States Rendon knocked out at 0:25 of the first round.
Win 4-4 Russia Alexander Vasiliev UD 8 05/12/1998 Ukraine Kiev, Ukraine
Win 14-18-4 United States John "The Killer" Kiser TKO 8 03/10/1998 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 9-13 United States Cliff Nellon TKO 3 06/08/1998 Louisiana Marksville, Louisiana, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:22 of the third round.
Win 19-1-1 United States Rich "The Mountain" LaMontagne UD 12 05/05/1998 Mississippi Biloxi, Mississippi, United States WBC International Cruiserweight Title. 117-111, 117-111, 116-112.
Win 21-11-3 United States Jason Waller TKO 1 14/03/1998 New Jersey Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:00 of the first round.
Win 8-21-1 United States Trent Surratt TKO 2 10/02/1998 Arizona Phoenix, Arizona, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:58 of the second round.
Win 15-9 United States Jason "The Native American Nightmare" Nicholson TKO 2 23/01/1998 Mississippi Tunica, Mississippi, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:37 of the second round.
Win 33-10 United States Art Jimmerson TKO 2 06/12/1997 New Jersey Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:55 of the second round.
Win 6-3 United States Quinton "Something Peculiar" Osgood KO 1 18/10/1997 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 5-10 United States Calvin Combs TKO 2 12/09/1997 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Referee stopped the bout at 1:17 of the second round.
Win 2-5 United States Dennis "Mad Dog" Matthews TKO 4 05/07/1997 Louisiana Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States
Win 5-6-1 Ethiopia Gesses Mesgana TKO 2 31/05/1998 New Jersey Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:23 of the second round.
Win 5-1-2 United States Tyrone Armstead TKO 4 12/04/1997 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:23 of the fourth round.
Win 1-2 United States Calvin Smith TKO 1 30/03/1997 Connecticut Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Win 2-3-1 United States Aljenon DeBose TKO 3 08/03/1997 New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:54 of the third round.
Win 2-5-1 United States Chuck Miller TKO 4 12/02/1997 New York (state) New York City, United States
Win 9-31-2 United States Exum Speight TKO 3 28/01/1997 Arizona Tempe, Arizona, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:00 of the third round.
Win 4-0 United States Vincent Brown TKO 2 18/01/1997 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

References

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