Dmitry Pirog

Dmitry Pirog
Дмитрий Пирог
Statistics
Real name Dmitry Yurievich Pirog
Nickname(s) The Grandmaster
Rated at Middleweight
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Reach 178 cm (70 in)
Nationality Russian
Born (1980-06-27) 27 June 1980
Temryuk, Temryuksky District, Krasnodar Krai, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 20
Wins 20
Wins by KO 15
Losses 0

Dmitry Yurievich Pirog (Russian: Дмитрий Юрьевич Пирог; born 27 June 1980) is a Russian former professional boxer who held the WBO middleweight title.[1] Although his career was cut short due to a debilitating back injury, he is one of the few professional boxers to win a world title and retire undefeated.

Early life and amateur career

At the age of eight, Pirog was a keen chess player and won some tournaments in the town of Temryuk, Russia.[2] However, he soon felt as though he was not getting enough activity from chess, and decided to seek a sport instead. At his local gym, he discovered boxing and began fighting as an amateur, having relocated to the city of Krasnodar. In his amateur career, Pirog claims to have won 200 fights and lost 30,[2] all of which prepared him for the professional ranks.[3]

Professional career

Pirog made his professional debut on 29 July 2005, scoring a sixth-round technical knockout against Sasun Oganyan, who also debuted.[1] From late 2007 to early 2010, Pirog won many regional and international middleweight titles from both the WBC and WBO.[2] His first major world title opportunity arrived on 31 July 2010, against fellow undefeated prospect Daniel Jacobs, with the vacant WBO middleweight title on the line. Pirog came in as a relatively unknown contender to American audiences, while Jacobs had the overwhelming backing of manager Al Haymon and promoters Golden Boy,[4] as well as a very high knockout percentage. In the fifth round of the fight, Pirog scored a major upset when he knocked Jacobs down with a hard right hand. Jacobs was unable to get back up, which made Pirog the new WBO middleweight champion.[5]

Pirog's exposure to worldwide audiences grew overnight, as the fight took place on HBO pay-per-view as part of the undercard to Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz II. However, in his subsequent two years as champion, Pirog only managed to make three defences,[6][7] the last of which took place on 1 May 2012. In this fight, Pirog scored a wide unanimous decision against Nobuhiro Ishida.[8] In September 2012, Pirog was stripped of his title by the WBO after choosing to fight WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin instead of WBO interim champion Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam.[9] During training for the Golovkin fight, Pirog suffered a serious back injury—a ruptured disc—which forced cancellation of the fight.[10] Several comeback attempts by Pirog have since been thwarted by ongoing back problems, effectively forcing his premature retirement.[11][12]

Professional boxing record

20 fights, 20 wins (15 knockouts), 0 losses[1]
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
20 Win 20–0 Japan Nobuhiro Ishida UD 12 1 May 2012 Russia Krylatskoye Sports Palace, Moscow, Russia Retained WBO middleweight title
19 Win 19–0 Armenia Gennady Martirosyan RTD 10 (12), 3:00 25 Sep 2011 Russia Olimp, Krasnodar, Russia Retained WBO middleweight title
18 Win 18–0 Argentina Javier Francisco Maciel UD 12 26 Mar 2011 Russia DIVS, Yekaterinburg, Russia Retained WBO middleweight title
17 Win 17–0 United States Daniel Jacobs KO 5 (12), 0:57 31 Jul 2010 United States Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, US Won vacant WBO middleweight title
16 Win 16–0 Estonia Sergei Melis TKO 6 (10), 2:42 27 Apr 2010 Russia Yubileyny Sports Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia Won WBC Baltic middleweight title
15 Win 15–0 United States Eric Mitchell TKO 5 (12), 1:07 6 Feb 2010 Russia Aquarium Hotel, Myakinino, Russia Retained WBO Asia Pacific middleweight title
14 Win 14–0 Ghana Kofi Jantuah UD 12 26 Jun 2009 Germany Völklingen, Saarland, Germany Won vacant WBC International middleweight title
13 Win 13–0 Uzbekistan Kuvanych Toygonbayev RTD 5 (12), 3:00 6 Dec 2008 Russia Circus, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Retained WBO Asia Pacific and WBC Asian Boxing Council middleweight titles
12 Win 12–0 Serbia Geard Ajetovic UD 10 19 Jul 2008 Russia Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, Chekhov, Russia
11 Win 11–0 Russia Aslanbek Kodzoev KO 4 (12), 1:27 12 Apr 2008 Russia Palace of UGMC, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia Won vacant WBO Asia Pacific middleweight title;
Retained WBC Asian Boxing Council middleweight title
10 Win 10–0 Russia Alexey Chirkov RTD 2 (12), 3:00 25 Oct 2007 Russia Casino Vodoley, Ekaterinburg, Russia Won vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council middleweight title
9 Win 9–0 Belarus Aliaksandr Vaiavoda TKO 9 (10) 2 Jun 2007 Russia Hotel Olimp, Krasnodar, Russia Won vacant WBC CIS and Slovenian Boxing Bureau middleweight title
8 Win 8–0 Argentina Juan Manuel Alaggio TKO 4 (10) 24 Mar 2007 Russia FK Yunost, Kaliningrad, Russia
7 Win 7–0 United States Rodrigues Moungo TKO 1 (6), 2:54 10 Dec 2006 Russia Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia
6 Win 6–0 Russia Zviadi Purtskhvanidze RTD 5 (10), 3:00 25 Oct 2006 Russia Casino Crystall, Moscow, Russia Retained Russia middleweight title
5 Win 5–0 Uzbekistan Islam Yusupov TKO 2 (10) 17 Jul 2006 Russia Akademia, Gelendzhik, Russia WBC CIS and Slovenian Boxing Bureau middleweight title eliminator
4 Win 4–0 Russia Sergey Tatevosyan UD 10 16 Apr 2006 Russia Casino Crystall, Moscow, Russia Won Russia middleweight title
3 Win 3–0 Russia Sergey Gribkov TKO 3 (6) 23 Dec 2005 Russia Vityaz Podolsk, Russia
2 Win 2–0 Russia Denis Balandin RTD 3 (6), 3:00 4 Nov 2005 Russia Stavropol, Russia
1 Win 1–0 Russia Sasun Oganyan TKO 6 (6) 29 Jul 2005 Russia Gelendzhik, Russia Professional debut

Titles in boxing

Achievements
Vacant
Title last held by
Sergio Martínez		 WBO middleweight champion
31 July 2010 – 25 August 2012
Stripped 		Succeeded by
Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam
Promoted from interim status

Personal life

Pirog is a diploma graduate of Kuban State University and holds a managerial boxing license. Some of the boxers he has managed include Fedor Papazov and Vasily Lepikhin. In 2010, Pirog was the vice president of the Professional Boxing Federation in the Southern Federal District of Russia.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Professional boxing record for Dmitry Pirog from BoxRec. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sukachev, Alexey (21 June 2010). "Dmitry Pirog Talks American Debut, Daniel Jacobs, More". BoxingScene. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Montoya, Gabriel (July 2010). "Dmitry Pirog Looks to Checkmate Danny Jacobs". Max Boxing. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Jacobs and Pirog conference call transcript". Boxing News 24. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Rafael, Dan (1 August 2010). "Dmitry Pirog puts away Daniel Jacobs". ESPN. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Christ, Scott (26 March 2011). "Dmitry Pirog Wins, But Doesn't Wow Against Javier Maciel". SB Nation. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Baklanov, Nikolai (26 September 2011). "Photos: Dmitry Pirog Makes a Statement in Krasnodar". BoxingScene. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Pirog outpoints Ishida to retain WBO belt". fightnews.com. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Stangrit, Gregory (3 September 2012). "Dmitry Pirog Not Surprised WBO Took Away His Title". BoxingScene. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Rafael, Dan (5 July 2012). "Dmitry Pirog out with back injury". ESPN. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  11. ↑ Stangrit, Gregory (23 June 2013). "Dmitry Pirog is Still Hoping To Return To The Ring". BoxingScene. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Pushkin, Vadim (11 January 2016). "Dmitry Pirog Comeback Rumors Are False, Says Promoter". BoxingScene. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
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