Ukrainian Heavyweight Vyacheslav 'Czar' Glazkov Prepares For Tomasz Adamek
Vyacheslav Glazkov photo by Main Events
by Sarah Deming
BROOKLYN, N.Y.–How do you sell the quiet skill of a Ukrainian heavyweight to American fight fans?
The anxiety of this question seemed to hang in the air of Underground Boxing as Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov began his media workout. Everything about the 29-year-old, from his crewcut to his trunks to his musculature, bespoke function over flash.
On March 15, Glazkov will face former world champion Tomasz Adamek at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Glazkov and team hope this will be the final hurdle before a shot at heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. It is an intriguing match. The 37-year-old Adamek is post-peak, but he only has two losses. Glazkov, a 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, is bigger and fresher, but he looked less than stellar in a disputed draw last year with Malik Scott.
The misleadingly named Underground Boxing occupies the sunny third floor of a storefront in Sheepshead Bay. Its floors are covered with rubber tiles that mandate the removal of high heeled shoes. All the ladies in stocking feet contributed to the feeling of being at some kind of intimate Russian family party rather than a press event. The affable proprietor Ilya Mesishchev circulated among the guests, making introductions and pointing out his wall of trophies.
Glazkov bullied the heavy bag for a while then went in the ring to work pads with trainer Eduard Menchakov. The two men have known each other for 20 years.
“He started boxing when he was ten,” Menchakov told me through an interpreter. “His father was with him everywhere.”[[MORE]]
Glazkov walked on his hands across the ring as Menchakov told me how the current Ukrainian crisis had weighed on his pupil.
“He is so worried every day. He has a wife and a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter,“ Maenchakov said. "This win is so important to him. To bring pride to his country. To bring good news.”
It was nice to hear there would be sparring. When it comes to floor work, heavyweights are sort of boring to watch. They need victims.
Newton “The Butcher” Kidd was gloving up in one corner. Originally from Jamaica, Butch was a good amateur who won the new York City Golden Gloves twice. He is now 8-8 as a pro cruiserweight and works as a trainer at Trinity Gym.
“I’m not going toe-to-toe with him,” said Butch, who was giving up at least 30 pounds.
Yet when the bell rang it was Butch who came forward, bravely pressing the action while Glazkov circled. It was a gentlemanly exercise, but once or twice a round Glazkov would let something fly, as though to remind us all that he could stop it any time he chose. In the third it was a lead right. In the fourth a hook that froze Butch in place. They did five rounds that way, Glazkov impassive, Butch more and more vulnerable.
When it was over, everyone applauded and wandered around the gym for a moment, taking pictures. The earlier tension was gone, replaced by a kind of giddy languor.
“I don’t think I hit him once,” said Butch.
I assured him this wasn’t true.
“I was surprised he didn’t fight me more on the inside,” he reflected. “But that’s probably good. Adamek’s dangerous on the inside. The guys who beat him before – Klitscho and Dawson – did it by boxing.”
Glazkov sat on the ring apron, red-faced, flanked by publicists. When I put my high heels back on, they were trying to teach him to say, “Thank you to my fans for watching NBC Sports Network.”