Check out this interview where he lines out the situation at 160, his options and what is wrong with boxing, I really hope gets the fights and stays active, the guy is awesome. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dmitry Pirog will seriously consider retirement if a bout with one of the middleweight stars isnt secured in the near future. Pirog (19-0, 15 KOs), 31, the reigning undefeated WBO middleweight champion of the world, was featured as a hero during a specifically designated press conference to honor him as the best Kuban sports person in 2011 (Kuban is a huge river in southern Russia, a native land for Pirog). The media meeting took place in Krasnodar, just near his hometown of Gelendzhik. The gap of time between my last title defense (against Gennady Martirosyan), and the next one, has definitely been too long. The reason is that negotiations with possible opponents are just under way. They started immediately after I stopped Martirosyan and they are still ongoing Ive raised the standard rather high and I dont want to let anybody myself, my team or the fans down. Yes, Im looking for the unification, I need it badly! I wish to meet other champions in the ring to unify all of the belts in the division. Thats what I want! Its a risky business, you know, and its a bit unusual for modern titlists to issue such challenges. Modern champs are interested in earning easy money; they want to fight on TV against safe, barely live opponents, to score meaningless victories. I have never put any accent on earning money in boxing. I dont need it that bad as I have some. Maybe thats the secret of my success I fight only to prove myself and Im ready to risk. Im prepared to fight the best of the division: Sergio Martinez (The Ring), Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (WBC), Daniel Geale (IBF) and Felix Sturm (WBA). But for various reasons those fights are out of reach. Those guys dont want any part of me. - Why so? Chavez Jr. is the son of the legend, and he is well protected to speak frankly. They put him against those guys, who are quite popular but who are definitely over the hill at the time of their fights with the kid. We tried to reach a deal with Sergio Martinez. I have personally flown to America. The people with Team Martinez said to me that he doesnt want to fight such a clever boxer like myself. Its understandable: if he loses, he will lose a whole lot of opportunities on HBO. Geale is very much like me. He also struggles to get along with HBO or Showtime; the American cable giants arent too interested in him. They are monsters, they have all the money. Geale is fairly known in America, Im a bit popular in Russia. I was ready to fight him in Australia but he again chose not to take the risk Theres no response from Sturm as well. He is supported by a well-known German TV channel. There were rumors the cable chiefs wanted Sturm to take a risk, to fight dangerous opponents, and my name has also been thrown in the mix, and I was ready to fight abroad but Im not here to earn money. Im here for the love of the sport. I will tell you one thing; I have never told it anyone beforehand Im not excluding the possibility of retirement if none of the champions will fight me. Im ready to hangem up if I will be limited to the present level of opposition. Im fully sure I can make a bigger impact - not as a boxer - but in another role. I have thought much about it and I feel that Im very disappointed with modern prizefighting. Its all about earning money, and I dont want any part of it. For me boxing is a sport, and I wont go against my beliefs.
Lee-Pirog on the undercard of Martinez-Macklin would've been great. Now the Ken Hershman is calling the shots at HBO starting this week, I expect Pirog to get a proper chance.
Hershman's all about putting on the best fights, regardless of the politics. At Showtime, he brought Calzaghe, Hatton, and Kessler to the airwaves when HBO could care less.
Pirog has a very complex style make him imba.Sturm see him the most dfficult to beat than Sergio&GGG.
And he is right! Pirog is very awkward and unique in the ring. He also got some power and he's not afraid to take chances (=punches in the face). He said several times that he wants to be involved into great fights. He needs the right dance partner and Golovkin might be just be the one. Martinez is a great fighter but from now on, based on his very athletic style, I think he will just decline bc of the age factor.
Yeah Golovkin-Pirog is an underground mega match up like Angulo-Kirkland was back in the day when they popped out on the scene even though they were better marketed
Pirog talks a tough game regarding unification fights, but at the end of the day it seems to me he's still perfectly content fighting overmatched guys in Russia for nice paydays rather than taking any pro-active steps to get back on HBO.
