| Vassiliy Jirov | |
| Nickname: | The Tiger |
| Weight: | |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in[1] |
| Reach: | 74 in |
| Nationality: | Kazakhstani |
| Birth Date: | 4 April 1974[2] |
| Birth Place: | Balkhash, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Kazakhstan) |
| Style: | Southpaw |
| Total: | 42 |
| Wins: | 38 |
| Ko: | 32 |
| Losses: | 3 |
| Draws: | 1 |
Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov (ru|Васи́лий Вале́рьевич Жи́ров; 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.[3] As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics,[4] as well as consecutive bronzes at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, all in the light heavyweight division.
Jirov took up boxing in 1986 when he was 12, studying at the Balkhash Technical School. His first coach was Alexander Apachinsky (Merited Trainer of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Master of Sports of the USSR). Jirov later recalled that:From 1989 to 1991, he became the champion of the Kazakh SSR three times in a row. In 1990 he became the champion of the All-Union Spartakiad of Young Students (4 fights, 4 victories, Moscow,) and also won the USSR Youth Championship (4 fights, 4 victories, Donetsk,) received a degree of Master of Sports of the USSR in boxing.
In 1991, Jirov, who was yet at the junior age class, didn't win the USSR Championship in Saratov (4 fights, 3 wins, 2nd place,) however he received an invitation to the USSR youth team.
In 1994, Vassiliy moved to the light heavyweight division (up to 81 kg.)
In December 1996, Jirov travelled to the United States, where he signed a contract with boxing promoter Bob Arum and began his career as a professional boxer.
International Junior Tournament (Middleweight), Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, December 1991:
European Junior Championships (Middleweight), Edinburgh, Scotland, April 1992:
World Championships (Middleweight), Tampere, Finland, May 1993:
World Cup (Light heavyweight), Bangkok, Thailand, June 1994:
Asian Games (Light heavyweight), Hiroshima, Japan, October 1994:
Chemistry Cup (Light heavyweight), Halle, Germany, March 1995:
Sweden Open (Light heavyweight), Stockholm, Sweden, 1996:
Korean Open (Light heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, 1995:
World Championships (Light heavyweight), Berlin, Germany, May 1995:
Asian Championships (Light heavyweight), Tashkent, Uzbekistan, October 1995:
Moscow Open (Light heavyweight), Moscow, Russia, October 1995:
Chemistry Cup (Light heavyweight), Halle, Germany, February–March 1996:
Summer Olympics (Light heavyweight), Atlanta, Georgia, July–August 1996:
Jirov was awarded the Val Barker Trophy for outstanding performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
He finished his amateur career having 217 fights under his belt, with a record of 207 wins, 10 losses (no stoppages.)
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 Alexander Vasiliev in Kyiv by decision in eight rounds.
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).
There were reports that Jirov's team and HBO were trying to negotiate a matchup against Roy Jones Jr., but those talks fell through. [5]
In 2002 Jirov, then managed by the Sugar Ray Leonard promotion company, defended 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. It also marked the downturn in Jirov's fighting career, and after a few more fights, he retired in 2009.
Jirov lives in Arizona and works at the Scottsdale Boxing Club as a coach. Reflecting on his time as a fighter, Jirov said: “I travelled the world, got paid and kicked some ass.”[6]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Win | 38–3–1 |  Jonathan Williams | TKO | 2 (10), | 17 Oct 2009 | | ||
| 41 | Win | 37–3–1 | Kenny Craven | TKO | 2 (10), | 14 Jul 2007 | | ||
| 40 | Win | 36–3–1 | Luke Munsen | UD | 10 | 20 Apr 2006 | | ||
| 39 | Draw | 35–3–1 | Orlin Norris | 8 | 21 Jul 2005 | | |||
| 38 | Win | 35–3 | Troy Beets | UD | 10 | 14 May 2005 | | ||
| 37 | Win | 34–3 | Forrest Neal | TKO | 3 (10), | 7 Apr 2005 | | ||
| 36 | Loss | 33–3 | Michael Moorer | TKO | 9 (12), | 9 Dec 2004 | | ||
| 35 | Loss | 33–2 | Joe Mesi | UD | 10 | 13 Mar 2004 | | ||
| 34 | Win | 33–1 |  Joseph Kiwanuka | RTD | 6 (12), | 6 Nov 2003 | | ||
| 33 | Win | 32–1 | Ernest Mateen | TKO | 7 (10), | 7 Aug 2003 | | ||
| 32 | Loss | 31–1 | James Toney | UD | 12 | 26 Apr 2003 | | ||
| 31 | Win | 31–0 |  Jorge Castro | UD | 12 | 1 Feb 2002 | | ||
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Julian Letterlough | TKO | 8 (12), | 8 Sep 2001 | | ||
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Adolpho Washington | UD | 10 | 20 Jul 2001 | | ||
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Terry McGroom | KO | 1 (12), | 24 Mar 2001 | | ||
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Alex Gonzales | KO | 1 (12), | 6 Feb 2001 |  | ||
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Earl Butler | TKO | 2 (10), | 29 Jul 2000 | | ||
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Esteban Pizzarro | KO | 2 (10), | 19 May 2000 | | ||
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Don Normand | TKO | 1 | 25 Mar 2000 | | ||
| 23 | Win | 23–0 |  Saúl Montana | TKO | 9 (12), | 12 Feb 2000 | | ||
| 22 | Win | 22–0 |  Dale Brown | KO | 10 (12), | 18 Sep 1999 | | ||
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Arthur Williams | TKO | 7 (12), | 5 Jun 1999 | | ||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 |  Onebo Maxime | KO | 5 (12), | 22 Apr 1999 | | ||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Cesar Rendon | 1 (8), | 6 Mar 1999 | | |||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 |  Alexander Vasiliev | UD | 8 | 5 Dec 1998 |  | ||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | John Kiser | TKO | 8 (10), | 3 Oct 1998 | | ||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Cliff Nellon | TKO | 3 (8), | 6 Aug 1998 | | ||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Rich LaMontagne | 12 | 5 May 1998 | | |||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Jason Waller | TKO | 1, | 14 Mar 1998 | | ||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Trent Surratt | TKO | 2 (8), | 10 Feb 1998 | | ||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Jason Nicholson | TKO | 2 (10), | 23 Jan 1998 | | ||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Art Jimmerson | TKO | 2 (10), | 6 Dec 1997 | | ||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Quinton Osgood | TKO | 1 (8), | 18 Oct 1997 | | ||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Calvin Combs | TKO | 2 (8), | 12 Sep 1997 | | ||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Dennis Matthews | TKO | 4 (6), | 5 Jul 1997 | | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 |  Gesses Mesgana | TKO | 2 (8), | 31 May 1997 | | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Tyrone Armstead | 4 (6), | 12 Apr 1997 | | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Calvin Smith | TKO | 1 (4) | 30 Mar 1997 | | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Aljenon DeBose | TKO | 3 (6), | 8 Mar 1997 | | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Chuck Miller | TKO | 4, | 12 Feb 1997 | | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Exum Speight | TKO | 3 (6), | 28 Jan 1997 | | ||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Vincent Brown | 2 (6), | 18 Jan 1997 | |