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Alexander Gurov-The Cruiserweight Klitschko


BoztheMadman
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The subtitle is more a joke due to his physical resemblance to Wladimir, but Gurov really was the best Ukrainian cruiserweight of his era, having won the Euro title no less than 4 times and also the minor IBC title. He is known for his several sudden knockout wins and losses, and 3 of his most important fights ended in 1 round. He stopped Norbert Ekassi in 1 round, then lost to Terry Dunstan and finally David Haye also in 1 round. He seems to have been a "kill-or-be-killed" type. Extremely tall for a cruiserweight at nearly 6'6, Gurov could box and punch but his chin was his weakness. He had a very long career of 19 years in pro boxing and ended with a record of 42 wins, 36 by ko, 6 losses and 1 draw.

 

Born in Mariupol, southeast Ukraine, 7 April 1971, Gurov turned pro in 1993. He won his first 13 fights and drew one, against Valery Vikhor, then one of the best cruiserweights in East Europe. He was then matched for the vacant European title against Norbert Ekassi of Cameroon and France, who had stopped Johnny Nelson in 3. It was 17 January 1995 in Levallois-Perret, where Ekassi was based but it didn't help him as Gurov put him down twice in the first round to end the fight after only 1 minute and 18 seconds! However, only 2 months later, Gurov was upset by the 14-0 Frenchman Patrice Aouissi, who beat him by TKO 3 and took his title. They had a rematch on 24 October and this time Gurov prevailed by KO 5, taking his title back. He then received an even bigger fight against the reigning WBA champion Nate Miller of Philadelphia. Miller was shorter by 3 and a half inches but a very good puncher with boxing skills. It was 22 February 1997 in Fort Lauderdale when Miller easily dispatched the Ukrainian by TKO 2. In his first defense of the Euro belt, things got even worse when Gurov was caught after only five seconds by a big right by Terry Dunstan and counted out after 20 seconds of the fight. Dunstan was undefeated at the time and would later get dramatically koed by Carl Thompson.

 

Gurov's career floundered for a while after that dramatic loss and two straight losses in title fights. He fought in Ukraine for a while but then got an offer to fight for the European belt again against Torsten May of Germany, 22-2-0. He had to come to Germany but was victorious by TKO 8 on 21 April 2001 and could celebrate his third European title reign. This time he managed to defend it successfully in his first defense against Ruediger May, brother of Torsten, and won even easier by TKO 4. May was his equal in height and was a quality fighter, having only lost once before on points, so this was a major victory for Gurov. He then received another chance to win the WBA belt against the new champion, Jean-Marc Mormeck, another Afro-French fighter. It was Gurov's second fight on American soil, 1 March 2003 at Thomas & Mack Center in Vegas. Gurov had a significant height advantage of 6 inches, but Mormeck was very strong and good at fighting on the inside. The fight was rather competitive and even for the first 5 rounds or so and then Mormeck started taking over. He hurt Gurov at the end of round 7 and stopped him early in round 8 with a barrage. Gurov had one fight in Mariupol after that but then had a year-long layoff before returning in late 2004. In his second comeback fight he beat Vincenzo Rossitto of Italy in Italy to once again recapture the European title, by TKO 2, afer Rossitto suffered an injury. On 24 February 2005 he won the Inter-continental WBA title by KO 1 against Finnish Allan Gronfors. Since Gronfors stood 5'8 1/2, it was one of the biggest mismatches ever seen, physically speaking.

 

He then defended his European title against David Haye on 16 December '05 at Bracknell Leisure Centre in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. It was to be another quick blowout as Haye caught him with a massive straight right and Gurov was knocked out after only 45 seconds. He rebounded by beating the rather solid Shaun George by UD12 23 February 2007. His attempt to become the five-time European champion was unsuccessful however, as he dropped a majority decision to Vincenzo Cantatore, the best Italian cruiserweight, 22 June that year in Rome. After beating countryman Vitali Shkraba by TKO 4 two months later, Gurov retired. But he came back in March 2011 after 3 years of absence and beat the debutant Volodymyr Afanasiev by TKO 2. He then didn't fight for over a year before he had his last hooray when he beat the 22-0-1 Edson Roberto Dos Santos Borges by KO 1 in 28 seconds to win the IBC title. Another "blitz ko" was a fine and symbolical way to end his career.

 

Alexander Gurov was one of the first notable Ukrainian and post-Soviet boxers in the pro scene of the 90's. He was the first one to win a European title and he started fighting professionally 3 years before the Klitschko brothers. He fought his entire career as a cruiserweight, due to his lithe build. He was managed by German Titov, a Russian manager who also managed Ruslan Provodnikov and Evgeny Gradovich.

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