Photo: Ona+
By Alexey Sukachev
One can hardly find a cooler place on the Earth than Yakutsk, the capital of Sakha Republic, located in the very heart of Eastern Siberia. With January temperatures’ averaging -42 F, Yakutsk is perhaps the coldest big city (over 210 thousands inhabitants) in the world. However, this Friday will be considerably warmer in Sakha hugest settlement, thanks to a tiny local boxing tournament, featuring two of the best female bantamweights around.
In a unification, WIBF champion Oksana “Gyurza” (“Lebetina viper”) Vasilyeva (8-3, 2 KOs) will square off against WBA, WBC and GBU female titlist Galina Koleva Ivanova (9-6-3) from Bulgaria for the WIBF and WBC belts. Vasilyeva is a native of Suntar, a small town, situated approximately 650 kilometers to the West of Yakutsk. Vasilyeva acquired her regalia three years ago after a victory over compatriot Oksana Romanova and defended it twice since then. Ivanova made a huge upset last June, outpointing then 24-0 and huge hometown favorite Anita Christensen in Copenhagen to get all her belts in the process. She retained her titles with a ten-round point’s draw versus Mexican Zulina Munoz last September.
In a co-feature, Russian-based Kyrgyz Shavkhat Madaminov (9-1, 3 KOs) is taking on former kickboxing star Ayup Arsaev (7-0, 4 KOs) for a vacant Russian super featherweight title. Two more female bouts will shape up the undercard of this show.
