By Erik Schmidt: Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) cruiserweight champion Vassily Jirov (37-3-1, 31 KO’s) will be making a comeback after two years out of boxing for a possible bout on September 17th in Woodland Hills, California. Jirov, 35, a former 1996 light heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist for Kazakhstan, will be moving back down to cruiserweight for his comeback.
Jirov, who was the IBF cruiserweight champion from 1999 until losing it in 2003 in a 12 round decision loss to James Toney, hasn’t fought at cruiserweight in six years lasting fight at that weight in 2003. Jirov moved up in weight in 2004 to take on Joe Mesi, whom he came close to knocking out in the 10th round but ultimately lost by a 10 round decision.
Jirov, a small heavyweight at 6’2” 218, should have taken a hint from that fight that he wasn’t big enough to compete with the better heavyweights in the division. Instead, Jirov stuck it out and was knocked out in his next fight, a 9th round stoppage, against Michael Moorer. In July 2005, Jirov fought to an eight round draw against Orlin Norris and then struggled to defeat Luke Munsen by a narrow 10 round decision in April 2004. In Jirov’s last fight two years ago, he defeated journeyman Kenny Craven by a 2nd round TKO in July 2007.
At 35, it’s unknown how much Jirov has left in the tank. He should have moved back down to cruiserweight immediately after the losses to Mesi and Moorer, because it was pretty clear at that point that Jirov didn’t have the size to compete at the same level as he did as a cruiserweight. He was still more than good enough to hold down one of the cruiserweight titles at that point in his career.
Right now, it’s hard to say whether Jirov can still fight at the same level as he did five years ago. Certainly, the cruiserweight division is lacking in quality fighters. The WBO champions – Victor Ramirez and Ola Afolabi – are very beatable, as is the WBC champion Giacobbe Fragomeni. I could see Jirov beating one of those fighters if he has anything left of his abilities.
It would be probably asking a bit too much for Jirov to beat the likes of IBF title holder Tomasz Adamek and WBA champion Guillermo Jones right now. Jones is beatable, but he throws a lot of punches and Jirov might have problems matching his work rate. Jirov could outwork Adamek, but he might have problems with his power. Although Jirov had good power in his prime, he doesn’t hit like Adamek does.
I don’t have a lot of expectations about this comeback. I think there’s been too much time that has elapsed since Jirov has last fought at cruiserweight and I doubt he’ll have enough left to make much of a mark on the division. More than that, Jirov has taken a lot of punishment since turning pro in 1997, and the effects of all those wars may slow him down as he tries to get back into the sport.
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