Alexey Papin

Artyom Hovhannisyan made his professional debut at the age of 17. For Mexico – a common thing, for Russia – a rarity. I had to get specials. permission from a sports doctor. Artyom was not at all nervous, he blissed out when we walked to the ring. Won in less than a round. He landed an opponent on the floor three times – that jorniman was almost twice his age.

We met Hovhannisyan a year before. It’s the day off, I’m lying at home, he writes to me in Direct. He introduced himself and listed the achievements for amateurs. We worked together quickly. Tyoma already had excellent technique, but he loved to fight more than boxing. It was rolling then, but to move on, you had to become a thinking boxer. I taught him to control the ring, cut corners, knit multi-hit combinations. He made me watch the fights of Lomachenko, Crawford and other high IQ boxers.

Artyom has brains, punch, speed and athleticism. If done right, he could become a superstar in boxing. Well-known reporter Elli Sekbakh said about Tyoma “Armenian Alvarez, only left-handed”. Like Canelo Alvarez, Hovhannisyan needs a lot of fights. Now he is 20 and he plays four fights a year. Young boxers should learn not to be afraid of long fights, to control emotions and not to rush. Gradually, I began to see meaningfulness in his actions. The theme never works across squares. It turns out, looks closely, finds gaps and hits pointwise.

In his first 10-round fight, he boxed with an unbeaten Mexican Damian Sosa, a sparring partner of Saul Alvarez. Sosa suffered from Hovhannisyan’s attacks on the body and I told Tyoma: “Don’t hit him on the head now, only in the stomach”. He freaked out: “What kind of nonsense? How can I only hit in the stomach? ” I say: “do it!” It was fun. Hovhannisyan freaked out, but did what was needed and won the battle with a crushing score. In the gym, we love to argue – it gives results that he and I are happy with.

Artyom beat that Mexican in Montreal. He was signed by a Canadian promotion. Local fans love Tyoma’s style. They call him “Razor”, the blade. For what hits – how it cuts