Krassyuk Discusses Negotiations and Fight with Navarrete

Alexander Krassyuk, head of the K2 Promotions and CBDO of Ready To Fight, in a comment to LuckyPunch, unveiled details regarding the organization of the fight for the WBO lightweight title (up to 135 lbs) between Denys Berinchyk (18-0, 9 KOs) and Emanuel Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs).

- Were the WBO and Top Rank interested in seeing Denys in a championship fight against an opponent like Navarrete? Were there any attempts to place someone else, more known to the American public, in this fight? We understand that there's a lot of money at stake, and everyone has their interests.

- Yes, indeed, everyone has their interests, and big money is at stake, but we must realize that this is not just a big step in boxing, in sports, but also in our philosophy, our worldview. We are getting rid of the inferiority complex. In this particular example, we prove that our interests, as well as the interests of other individuals and groups playing in this market, are equal. The intellectual and physical work performed by boxers in general, in total, gives a certain result. And the one who works better receives this result in a positive way. Therefore, there are rules that all players observe, and they know them well. And we have been waiting for this chance for a long time.

We know that in this weight category, there is another champion, Vasyl Lomachenko, who held the WBO belt in this weight category for a long time. And that is precisely why Denys did not have the opportunity to fight for the WBO World Champion belt earlier. However, patience, painstaking work, focused work have yielded results. And we hope that on May 18th, another championship title will be obtained for the Ukrainian.

- Regarding the money. Can you say how many times more Denys will earn for this fight than for the fight with Anthony Yigit?

- Denys Berinchyk is a world-class boxer. This is confirmed by history. Apart from being an Olympic silver medalist, the official contender for the WBO title, he has been occupying the highest positions in the world rankings for more than 5 years. And under the circumstances described above, he did not get the opportunity to fight for the WBO title at that time. Now it has been achieved. Thus, Denys will fight and receive a purse adequate for a championship bout. We also plan further fights with his participation and are already negotiating with possible potential opponents for Denys. This does not mean we underestimate Navarrete or look past him. However, we are adults and have been in this business for a long time and know that planning and working out a strategy is very important not only as a step but also as a basis for building an athlete's career.