Denis Lebedev

Denis Lebedev Денис Лебедев
Lebedev in 2015
Statistics
Real name	Denis Aleksandrovich Lebedev
Nickname(s)	The White Swan
Rated at	Light-heavyweight Cruiserweight
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Nationality	Russian
Born	14 August 1979 Stary Oskol, Belgorod Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	32
Wins	29
Wins by KO	22
Losses	3

Denis Aleksandrovich Lebedev (Russian: Денис Александрович Лебедев; born 14 August 1979) is a Russian professional boxer. He is a former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the WBA title since 2012 (promoted to Super champion in 2016), and previously the IBF title from May to December 2016. As of August 2016, Lebedev is ranked as the world's best cruiserweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB); second best by The Ring magazine; and fourth by BoxRec.

Professional career

Early career

Lebedev turned pro in 2001. In 2004, Lebedev won the vacant Russian light heavyweight title in a shut out 10 round decision win against Artem Vychkin. Following this victory, Lebedev took four years out and returned in 2009 fighting at cruiserweight.

World title challenge

In 2009, having a record of 16 wins, 11 by knockout, Lebedev beat Cuban Eliseo Castillo who held a win over Michael Moorer, but was not highly regarded. Lebedev then managed to knockout former WBO titleholder Enzo Maccarinelli.^[1][2] In 2010 he also stopped 2005 amateur world champion Alexander Alexeev by one-punch knockout.^[3] This guaranteed him a shot at Marco Huck's WBO title.

Lebedev vs. Huck

Lebedev challenged Marco Huck for the WBO World cruiserweight title on 18 December 2010 at the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin. Lebedev lost by a very controversial split decision, when both the Dutch and Spanish judges had Huck with 115-113 in front, while the US judge scored it 116-112 for Lebedev. Many experts at ringside thought Lebedev had deserved the decision.^[4][5] After the fight, Marco Huck claimed that he was boxing with a broken rib from the 4th round on.

Comeback trail

Lebedev vs. Jones Jr.

In May 2011, Lebedev knocked out former multiple weight world champion Roy Jones Jr. with 2 seconds left in their 10 round bout. After round 9, the scorecards read (87-84, 85-86, 90-81). The controversy arose when Lebedev punched Jones, when it was, to some, clear that Jones was not responsive and was out on his feet. The final punch put Jones out cold on the canvas and he did not regain his senses for more than 5 minutes amid active medical help.^[6] After the bout, Lebedev said that he had nothing to be sorry about.^[7] The referee was also accused of incompetence because he did not stop the fight even though Jones could no longer defend himself which led to Jones taking unnecessary damage.^[8] Roy Jones when asked about his feelings on the punch responded "I forgive him".^[9]

WBA cruiserweight champion

Lebedev vs. Toney

Lebedev next fought one of Roy Jones' old foes in November 2011, James Toney in scheduled 12 round fight for the interim WBA cruiserweight title. Lebedev was ranked by the WBA at number 3, while Toney entered as number 4, also being the first time he had fought at cruiserweight since 2003.Although Toney still possessed enough defensive skills, Lebedev dominated the fight from the start winning a lopsided decision with scores of 120-108, 120-108 and 120-108.^[10]

Lebedev vs. Cox, Silgado

Lebedev made his first defence of the interim world title at the Crocus City Hall in Myakinino, Russia on April 4, 2012 against Shawn Cox. In round 2, Cox threw a straight right hand which missed, and walked into a Lebedev counter power left hook to the head, knocking him out. With this win, Lebedev qualified for a shot at the full WBA World Champion Guillermo Jones. Lebedev was then promoted to full champion following Jones being inactive for 12 months. Jones was stripped for backing out of his scheduled WBA title defense against challenger Andres Taylor and then refusing to fight Lebedev.

Lebedev returned to the City Hall in December to defend his WBA title against undefeated Colombian boxer Santander Silgado (23-0, 17 KOs). Silgado started off well but was knocked out for a full ten count in round 4.^[11]

Lebedev vs. Jones

Lebedev was left with a shocking eye injury after losing his WBA world cruiserweight title to Guillermo Jones on May 17, 2013. By the end of the bout, he could not see out of the injured eye but two judges had him winning 96-94 while the third had scored the bout 97-93 before he was knocked out in the eleventh round. According to most experts, Jones should have been winning clearly, and the suspicion is that the Russian Federation had fixed the bout. This would also explain the fact that the bout was not stopped, even after Lebedev's eye was grotesquely disfigured. However, Jones was stripped of his title later in the year for failing a drug test for this fight, resulting in Lebedev being reinstated as Champion by the WBA. The fight was reversed to a No-Contest after originally being ruled a TKO. A rematch was planned for the 25th April 2014, in Moscow, Russia. After Jones was tested positive for the same substance he was tested for after the first fight, the planned rematch was cancelled.^[12]

Lebedev vs. Kolodziej, Kalenga

16 months since the Jones fight, Lebedev defended his title against undefeated Polish boxer Pawel Kolodziej (33-0, 18 KOs) at the Dynamo Palace of Sports in Krylatskoye, Moscow. In round 2, Lebedev floored Kolodziej with a well timed power left hook to the face retaining his WBA cruiserweight title.^[13]

In April 2015, Lebedev fought at Luzhniki in Moscow against interim WBA titleholder Youri Kayembre Kalenga, who only had one previous loss on his record. Both fighters were dropped once each in the fight that went the full 12 round distance. Lebedev claimed the unanimous decision with judges' scores of 116-111, 115-112 and 116-110.^[14]

Lebedev vs. Kayode

Lebedev defended his title on November 4 against undefeated Nigerian boxer Lateef Kayode at the Tatneft Arena in Kazan, Russia. Lebedev retained his world title after knocking Kayode down three times in the bout before the fight was eventually stopped by the referee. Kayode started off as the aggressor, however Lebedev was in control throughout the fight. At the time of stoppage, Lebedev was ahead on the scorecard with scores of 69-63, 69-63 and 70-63.^[15]

Unified cruiserweight champion

Lebedev vs. Ramirez

It was announced that Lebedev would be involved in a cruiserweight unification fight against IBF world champion Victor Emilio Ramirez at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow on May 21, 2016. The fight was supposed to be a co-feature of WBC heavyweight title fight between Wilder and Povetkin, however that fight was cancelled. Ramirez was coming off a split decision draw which saw him retain his IBF title against Ovill McKenzie in 2015. Ramirez became the full IBF champion after Yoan Pablo Hernandez stripped due to inactivity.^[16]

After a close, tactical first round, Ramirez started to fight on the front foot at the start of round 2, but saw himself hit the canvas. Ramirez got up and as the fight continued Lebedev began landing power shots with both hands. Ramirez stopped throwing back and turned his back. Lebedev waited for Ramirez to turn back around, then continued unloading until Ramirez dropped his hands. The power shots continued from Lebedev until referee Steve Smoger stopped the fight, although giving Ramirez every chance to get back into the bout. The official time of stoppage was 1:57 of round 2. With this win, Lebedev became the unified WBA Super and IBF world champion.^[17]

Lebedev vs. Gassiev

It was announced in August 2016, that a fight between Lebedev and unbeaten IBF #1 challenger Murat Gassiev (23-0, 17 KOs) was in the works for November or December. Gassiev became the mandatory challenger by the IBF after knocking out American boxer Jordan Shimmell in a title eliminator bout in May. The fight was set for December 3 at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow.^[18][19] At the official weigh in on December 2, Lebedev weighed in at 199.7 lbs as Gassiev weighed 198.3 lbs. Lebedev successfully applied for only the IBF title to be at stake as a result, retaining his WBA (Super) title in the process.^[20] In a warrior like performance, Lebedev kept the attack up through the 12 rounds as he went on to lose a split decision, losing the IBF title in the process. Two judges scored it 116-112 and 116-111 for Gassiev as the third scored it 114-113 for Lebedev. Lebedev was knocked down in round 5, following a left shot to the body, but managed to beat the count and immediately changed style to avoid further punishment to the body. In the post fight interviews, Lebedev thought he had done enough to win the fight or atleast earn a draw and wanted a rematch.^[21][22]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
32 fights	29 wins	3 losses
By knockout	22	1
By decision	7	2

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
32	Loss	29–3	Murat Gassiev	SD	12	3 Dec 2016	Megasport Arena, Moscow, Russia	Lost IBF cruiserweight title
31	Win	29–2	Victor Emilio Ramírez	TKO	2 (12), 1:57	21 May 2016	Megasport Arena, Moscow, Russia	Retained WBA (Super) cruiserweight title; Won IBF cruiserweight title
30	Win	28–2	Lateef Kayode	TKO	8 (12), 1:22	4 Nov 2015	TatNeft Arena, Kazan, Russia	Retained WBA cruiserweight title
29	Win	27–2	Youri Kayembre Kalenga	UD	12	10 Apr 2015	Luzhniki Palace of Sports, Moscow, Russia	Retained WBA cruiserweight title
28	Win	26–2	Paweł Kołodziej	TKO	2 (12), 2:08	27 Sep 2014	Krylatskoye Sports Palace, Moscow, Russia	Retained WBA cruiserweight title
27	Loss	25–2	Guillermo Jones	KO	11 (12), 1:54	17 May 2013	Crocus City Hall, Moscow, Russia	Lost WBA cruiserweight title
26	Win	25–1	Santander Silgado	KO	4 (12), 2:16	17 Dec 2012	Crocus City Hall, Moscow, Russia	Retained WBA cruiserweight title
25	Win	24–1	Shawn Terry Cox	KO	2 (12), 2:40	4 Apr 2012	Crocus City Hall, Moscow, Russia	Retained WBA interim cruiserweight title
24	Win	23–1	James Toney	UD	12	4 Nov 2011	Megasport Arena, Moscow, Russia	Won WBA interim cruiserweight title
23	Win	22–1	Roy Jones Jr.	KO	10 (10), 2:58	21 May 2011	Krylatskoye Sports Palace, Moscow, Russia
22	Loss	21–1	Marco Huck	SD	12	18 Dec 2010	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany	For WBO cruiserweight title
21	Win	21–0	Alexander Alexeev	KO	2 (12), 2:43	17 Jul 2010	Sport- und Kongresshalle, Schwerin, Germany
20	Win	20–0	Ignacio Esparza	KO	4 (12), 2:59	22 Feb 2010	Udmurtia State Circus, Izhevsk, Russia	Retained WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
19	Win	19–0	Ali Ismailov	RTD	6 (12), 3:00	17 Dec 2009	Gladiator Fight Club, Saint Petersburg, Russia	Retained WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
18	Win	18–0	Enzo Maccarinelli	TKO	3 (12), 2:20	18 Jul 2009	MEN Arena, Manchester, England	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
17	Win	17–0	Eliseo Castillo	TKO	5 (8), 2:50	22 Mar 2009	Mashinostroitel, Balashikha, Russia
16	Win	16–0	Dzmitri Adamovich	TKO	4 (10), 2:19	17 Dec 2008	KRC Arbat, Moscow, Russia
15	Win	15–0	Nick Okoth	TKO	2 (8), 2:47	6 Sep 2008	MEN Arena, Manchester, England
14	Win	14–0	Archil Mezvrishvili	KO	1 (8), 1:35	19 Jul 2008	Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, Chekhov, Russia
13	Win	13–0	Artem Vychkin	UD	10	24 Sep 2004	Ice Sports Palace Sibir, Novosibirsk, Russia	Won vacant Russia light-heavyweight title
12	Win	12–0	Bagrat Makhkamov	TKO	2 (8)	6 Jul 2004	Soviet Wings Sport Palace, Moscow, Russia
11	Win	11–0	Yevhen Bubylych	UD	8	26 Jun 2004	Soviet Wings Sport Palace, Moscow, Russia
10	Win	10–0	Siarhei Karanevich	UD	6	29 May 2003	Centr na Tulskoy, Moscow, Russia
9	Win	9–0	Berry Butler	KO	4 (8), 2:48	15 Mar 2003	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany
8	Win	8–0	Dzmitri Yavmenenka	TKO	2 (4)	3 Oct 2002	Casino Conti, Saint Petersburg, Russia
7	Win	7–0	Roman Babaev	RTD	4 (6), 3:00	10 Sep 2002	Soviet Wings Sport Palace, Moscow, Russia
6	Win	6–0	Dzmitri Adamovich	KO	5 (8)	23 Apr 2002	Soviet Wings Sport Palace, Moscow, Russia
5	Win	5–0	Rihsiboy Shamirzaev	TKO	9 (12)	26 Dec 2001	KRC Arbat, Moscow, Russia	Retained Russia light-heavyweight title
4	Win	4–0	Mirzohid Jianbaev	TKO	4 (6)	7 Nov 2001	KRC Arbat, Moscow, Russia
3	Win	3–0	Nourdine Melikh	TKO	3 (12), 1:50	09 Jun 2001	Druzhba Multipurpose Arena, Moscow, Russia	Won vacant Russia light-heavyweight title
2	Win	2–0	Denis Deryabkin	UD	6	6 Mar 2001	CSKA, Moscow, Russia
1	Win	1–0	Teymuraz Kekelidze	UD	6	27 Feb 2001	Moscow, Russia	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

References

1. Davies, By Gareth A. "Enzo Maccarinelli faces make or break fight against Russian Denis Lebedev". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
2. "ENZO MACCARINELLI VS DENIS LEBEDEV". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
3. Brickhaus (2010-07-18). "Denis Lebedev vs. Alexander Alexeev, full fight. Knockout of the year candidate at 9:45.". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
4. "Huck decisions Lebedev, but looks more like a loser - Boxing News". Boxing News 24. 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
5. "Huck defeats Lebedev by controversial decision - Boxing News". Boxing News 24. 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
6. "Roy Jones Jr Gets Brutally Knocked Out By Denis Lebedev In Russia". ThisIs50.com. 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
7. "Спорт: Тренировочный день". Lenta.ru. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
8. "Спорт: Рефери рассказал о нокауте Роя Джонса". Lenta.ru. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
9. "Спорт: Рой Джонс простил Лебедеву последний удар". Lenta.ru. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
10. "Denis Lebedev v James Toney: Toney looks awful as Lebedev takes UD win - Boxing News". Boxing News 24. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
11. "Lebedev knocks out Silgado to keep WBA cruiserweight belt". Eurosport Asia. 2012-12-17. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
12. http://www.boxingscene.com/lebedevs-loss-jones-finally-reversed-says-hryunov--92182. Missing or empty |title= (help)
13. "Denis Lebedev Crushes Pawel Kolodziej In Two - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
14. Sports, Fox. "Denis Lebedev beats Youri Kalenga, retains WBA cruiserweight title". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
15. "Lebedev beats Kayode to retain title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
16. Esco, Wil (2016-02-18). "Lebedev-Ramirez scheduled for unification fight". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
17. "Lebedev stops Ramirez in 2nd round, unifies titles". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
18. "Denis Lebedev vs. Murat Gassiev Set For December 3 in Moscow - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
19. "Lebedev, Gassiev to square off Dec. 3 in Moscow". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
20. "Lebedev-Gassiev make weight. Only IBF title at stake". Boxing Scene. December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
21. "Lebedev wants rematch with Gassiev". Boxing Scene. December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
22. "Murat Gassiev beats Denis Lebedev on points to land IBF cruiserweight title". Sky Sports. December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Denis Lebedev from BoxRec