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Alexander Zolkin


BoztheMadman
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Zolkin was the first Soviet and Russian boxer to turn pro in USA. He did it the same year as the first Soviet boxers did it in Japan, 1990. It had by then become possible for Soviet athletes in general, like hockey players, to transfer abroad. A new era had come, but it wouldn't be until the late 90's and early 2000's that the Soviet boxers really made their mark on the professional boxing. However, there were three guys from the old East Bloc that made some noise in American boxing scene: Andrzej (later called Andrew) "The Foul Pole" Golota the heavyweight, Sergei "Russian Bear" Kobozev (later tragically killed) the cruiserweight and this guy, Alexander Zolkin the heavyweight. He seemed to possess everything needed to succee or at least make noise in the pro heavyweight ranks of the 90's: he was for that time very tall at 6'5 even for a heavyweight, had an 82-inch reach (208 cm) and was a good technical boxer, equipped with a lightning fast jab and could hit hard enough to knock you out. However, his only chance to become the world champion ended disappointingly. He did win the NABF title and ended his career with a respectable record of 28 (19)-3-1, having only lost to quality fighters.

 

Born in Moscow on 17 September 1964, Zolkin was the Soviet amateur heavyweight champion with 165 wins, before he was brought to Shillington, Pennsylvania sometime around or just before 1990 to train with the former super heavyweight MMA champion and former super heavyweight powerlifting world champion John Schaeffer. He made his debut as a pro on 10 May 1990, winning by TKO6 against Carlton Hollis. He went 15-0, beating guys like David Jaco (UD10), Ricky Parkey (TKO10), Art Tucker (TKO8) and James Tillis (UD10), as well as former cruiserweight world title challenger Michael Greer by TKO7 before he was matched against the super-slick Tony "TNT" Tubbs on 2 February 1993. Tubbs proved too smart and slick for the less-experienced Zolkin and outboxed him to win by decision. He then stopped the former light heavyweight world title challenger JB Williamson before experiencing another upset to another slick fighter, Mike Hunter, this time by split decision, on 5 August. Next year he first stopped former Larry Holmes-challenger Carl "The Truth" Williams by TKO7 before avenging the loss to Hunter, also by SD10. He was then matched against journeyman Rocky Pepeli for the vacant NABF title and easily stopped him in 3 rounds, putting him down once in the 2nd and twice in the 3rd round. In his first defense on 23 June 1995, he stopped the tough trialhorse Bert Cooper by TKO9, which was viewed as an impressive feat for the relatively unknown Russian. And then, on 25 August of that same year, he got the chance to avenge his first loss and did so by outpointing Tony Tubbs in a close fight, winning by a majority decision after 12 rounds.

 

Revenge was sweet and Zolkin was now on world rankings, bound for a world title fight. He vacated the NABF belt to concentrate on something bigger. His chance came on 9 November 1996 against the even-taller 6'7 Henry Akinwande, Nigerian-British WBO champion who was still undefeated at 30-0-1. It was Akinwande's first defense of the belt he won by easily destroying ko artist Jeremy Williams in 3 rounds. This time it wouldn't be so easy for Akinwande. Although Zolkin got knocked down in round 4 by a right hand, it appeared to be more of a slip than a true knockdown. He fought on but had trouble landing clean on the taller man. He was also hit after the bell in the first round after getting hurt by a right hand. Even worse, due to getting tagged repeatedly by Akinwande's right, in the 6th round he suffered an inch-long cut on his right eyelid that would take 25 stiches to close. The fight was in jeopardy but he didn't give up and fought on. Going into round 10, all 3 judges had Akinwande ahead, but one saw it closer than the others, 86-84. Other two had Akinwande far ahead and then, ring doctor Flip Homanski paused the fight with 28 seconds left of the round to look at Zolkin's cut and then stopped the fight. Both Zolkin ahd Schaeffer were outraged and protested loudly, claiming he could continue, but it was useless. The fight was over and so was Zolkin's chance of becoming a world champion, for now.

 

He retired after this disappointment but came back in 1999 and won the so-called American Northwest Heavyweight Title by TKO4 against Willie Williams. After winning 2 more fights that year, on 13 January 2000 he fought against Cuban immigrant Elieser Castillo. After 10 close rounds, two judges scored it for each fighter while the third had it even. So the last fight of his career ended as a draw. Zolkin was now 34 and even though he planned a comeback, he never fought again. He lives in Westerville, Ohio today.

Edited by BoztheMadman
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