Super featherweight Seymur Isayev faces an uncertain future, manager Grisha Zeigermaher told WBN following his controversial stoppage.
Isayev hit the canvas following a four-second body jab on Friday night in Russia against Mark Urvanov, which instantly brought criticism. After denying any match-fixing in an honest interview with World Boxing News on Sunday, an embarrassed Zeigermaher was not hopeful about landing big fights for Isayev.
Before the loss, which came from the slightest of punches, Isayev was 12-0 and was being linked to facing top names. The Urvanov defeat has set that momentum back massively, as Zeigermaher explained to WBN.
“As I said, I’m embarrassed. Being knocked out is not a problem, but not in this way. We [GZ Fight Management] work hard to provide our fighters with opportunities. We have never been involved in any match-fixing and always do our best for the fighters so their chances of victory increase.”
During the aftermath, Isayev stated the blow left him struggling for air.
“Seymur said that it hit him right on the liver, and he couldn’t breathe after the fight,” said Zeigermaher. “But we have given him two chances already, and in both of the fights, he lost by KO [one of the fights was an exhibition fight]. We are not hopeful for a rematch or any other big fights at the moment.
“Seymur needs to find a good team with proper sparring partners where he can improve. Then we can think of his future fights.”
Defending his management company, Zeigermaher is adamant that GZ will learn from experience in the sport.
“Even though we mainly specialize in kickboxing and are pretty new in boxing management, we look forward to growing. Our kickboxers travel to Russia to fight regularly, and I would like to mention that the level of competition there is incredible.
“They have a good sports infrastructure with good resources for the fighter to develop and be the best [financially, good coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, camps, nutrition, and many competitions and sparring partners to compete]. So fighters who travel there [unless they are top-level] start one step behind.”
On the negativity Seymur received, he concluded, “My first thought was that it was a low blow or an injury. I rewatched the video, and had I been just a boxing fan in this situation, I would have thought it was also match-fixing. I agree that it does look like a dive. Personally, I’m not aware of any match-fixing or deliberate dive.”
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
