Dmitry Pirog

Dmitry Yurievich Pirog (Russian: Дмитрий Юрьевич Пирог; born 27 June 1980) is a Russian politician and former professional boxer. In boxing he competed from 2005 to 2012, and held the WBO middleweight title from 2010 to 2012. Although his career was cut short due to a debilitating back injury, he is one of the few professional boxers to win a world championship and retire undefeated.

Dmitry Pirog
Дмитрий Пирог
Pirog in 2018
Statistics
Real nameDmitry Yurievich Pirog
Nickname(s)The Grandmaster
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Reach178 cm (70 in)
NationalityRussian
Born (1980-06-27) 27 June 1980
Temryuk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights20
Wins20
Wins by KO15

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.[1] 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. At the early stages of his amateur career he didn't have a trainer, instead he studied carefully VHS tapes of Sugar Ray Leonard and later Floyd Mayweather Jr., which affected his style heavily. In his amateur career, Pirog claims to have won 200 fights and lost 30,[1] all of which prepared him for the professional ranks.[2]

Professional career

Early career

Pirog made his professional debut on 29 July 2005, scoring a sixth-round technical knockout over fellow debutant Sasun Oganyan. On his fourth fight, he defeated Sergey Tatevosyan to become the Russian national middleweight champion. Tatevosyan was an experienced veteran and gave Pirog a tough fight, but Pirog's skills ultimately prevailed and he won a unanimous decision 98–91, 98–93, and 97–95.[3] From late 2007 to early 2010, Pirog won many regional and international middleweight titles from both the WBC and WBO.[1]

WBO middleweight champion

Pirog's first world title shot arrived on 31 July 2010, against fellow undefeated prospect Daniel Jacobs, with the vacant WBO middleweight title on the line. The belt had last belonged to Sergio Martínez, who was stripped due to not complying with the WBO's rules. 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. Jacobs started the fight well and was ahead by 39–37 on all scorecards by round four. However, Pirog managed to hurt Jacobs with a right hand. 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 and the referee waved off the fight, giving Pirog a knockout win and making him the new WBO middleweight champion. After the fight, Pirog said "After the second round, I knew I was good. I hurt him in the second and I knew I could come back and do it again."[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 Márquez vs. Juan Díaz 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, with scores of 120–108, 119–109, and 117–111, against Nobuhiro Ishida.[8]

Injury and retirement

On 25 August 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 to face Golovkin on an HBO pay-per-view main event were thwarted by ongoing back problems, effectively forcing his premature retirement.[11][12]

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.[1][13]

Political career

In March 2017, Pirog replaced Alexander Metkin in the State Duma, the Russian lower house, representing governing party United Russia.[14][13]

Sanctions

Pirog was sanctioned by the British government in 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.[15] He was also sanctioned by the United States Treasury on 24 March 2022.[16]

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

See also

References
  1. Sukachev, Alexey (21 June 2010). "Dmitry Pirog Talks American Debut, Daniel Jacobs, More". BoxingScene. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. Montoya, Gabriel (July 2010). "Dmitry Pirog Looks to Checkmate Danny Jacobs". Max Boxing. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. "Dmitry Pirog Talks American Debut, Daniel Jacobs, More". 21 June 2010.
  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" Archived 2016-01-31 at the Wayback Machine. 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.
  13. https://en.crimerussia.com/gover/private-ambulances-real-estate-in-spain-and-estranged-spouses-main-trends-of-officials-income-declar/
  14. "Dmitry Pirog, Former WBO Champion, Enters Russian State Duma". 5 March 2017.
  15. "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  16. "U.S. Treasury Sanctions Russia's Defense-Industrial Base, the Russian Duma and Its Members, and Sberbank CEO". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
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