KLYCHKO BROTHERS’ TRAINER TO COACH AZERBAIJAN

Immediately after the Olympic Games in London there was a change of coaches in the Azerbaijani national team in a number of sports. Following judo, wrestling and weight-lifting, the management of the boxing team was also entrusted to a foreigner. The new chief coach of the Azerbaijani boxing team is Vladimir Zolotarev, who is well known to us all as the first personal trainer of boxing's star professionals, the Klychko brothers. 

It is significant that originally the Azerbaijani Boxing Federation had reached a six-month agreement with the Ukrainian whereby Zolotarev prepared Azerbaijani boxers for the Baku world students' championships and the European Championship, which is to be held next year. If the six-month period is a success, a long-term agreement will be signed with the new coach.

Zolotarev spoke to our magazine about his hopes for the team, his personal expectations of working in Baku, where he thinks most of the team's problems lie, and, of course, about his relationship with the Klychko brothers.

- You have been working in Azerbaijan for two months now, but your appointment was kept strictly under wraps and it was only at the last moment that the Federation confirmed the agreement. When were you offered the job of coaching the Azerbaijani national team?

- I knew that I would be working with the Azerbaijani team seven months ago. I was offered the job in the spring. Of course, it would have been wrong to agree to the new appointment two-three months before the Olympics in London. It would not have been good to change the team in the run-up to the Games. When I was in London I watched the Azerbaijani boxers closely and it was after the Olympics that I came to Baku and met the management of the Federation. It was decided to give me a six-month trial. If the boxers acquit themselves well at the coming competitions we will sign an official agreement.

- But as far as we know, you had been training some Azerbaijani boxers before the Olympics?

- I spent most of my career working with heavyweights. That was why in the run-up to the Olympics I started training Teymur Mammadov and Mahammadrasul Macidov. Both boxers justified my faith in them by taking bronze at the Olympics. But this doesn't mean that I know all your boxers. It takes time to achieve success in any new undertaking. At the end of the year we are planning to hold the Azerbaijani championships, which will include all boxers, including those in the national team. After the championships, a training plan will be prepared and then the team will start to take shape.

- How do you assess the outcome of the Olympics as a whole for Azerbaijani boxing?

- In London the boxers represented Azerbaijan in a worthy manner. However, I had the feeling that there was something not quite right about the way they were prepared. I don't like to speak about problems. If there hadn't been any there would have been no need for a new coach. But I have to say there are many promising boxers in Azerbaijan and therefore there is no need for any substantial changes in Azerbaijani boxing. All we have to do is sort out the problems.

- In London it was the heavyweights who took the medals for Azerbaijan, whereas it was the other weight categories that were the problem for our boxers…

- We need to increase competition in certain weight categories. But at the moment it is difficult to be precise. A proper opinion can only be made after the national championships which will show what everyone can do.

- Can you compare the current state of boxing in Azerbaijan and Ukraine?

- In all the countries of the CIS people love boxing. Ukrainian boxing has also had a lot of success in recent years. The changes that have been made there have borne fruit. Boxers have come back with medals from the Olympics and world and European championships. In Azerbaijan the situation is normal, too. Quite recently the team has got younger and so one shouldn't expect it to achieve great things all at once. The victories achieved at the recent European and world championships show that Azerbaijani boxing is at the development stage. All we need to do is work to a plan and continue the way we have been going.

- You are well known mainly as the first coach of the Klychko brothers. Do you stay in touch with them?

- Of course, the Klychko brothers are the pride of Ukraine. Vladimir continues his successful career and each time he wins Ukraine is happy. His other brother has gone into politics. I remember how they got into sport as if it were yesterday. The Klychko brothers wrote their name in boxing history in gold letters.

- The Klychko brothers' successful career also began in amateur boxing. Is it possible to bring up boxers like that in Azerbaijan?

- (smiles) Everything is possible in sport. All you have to do is work. If you want to be a success you have to train. I am not yet familiar with the level of training of the young Azerbaijani boxers. So it is difficult for me to judge. But it is perfectly possible to prepare world-class boxers like the Klychkos. I shall be inviting boxers to the national team after the championships. For me the main thing is a boxer's fighting spirit. He may be physically unprepared, and if so there's nothing you can do about that. When we start forming the national team then we can start talking about preparing boxers like the Klychkos.