By Christian Yula

At 36, Ali Ismailov (18-3-1, 13 KOs) has little time left. Having made his professional debut six years ago, the two-time (2000 and 2004) Azerbaijani Olympian and bronze medalist of 1999 Houston world championship took four years to establish himself as a player in cruiserweight division. However, last year was a complete disaster for a rugged stocky brawler, who originally hails from Donetsk, Ukraine. Firstly, Ismailov was held to a dubious split decision while fighting WBO champion Victor Ramirez in his backyard in Argentina. Then he was stopped in six by tough-as-nails slugger Denis Lebedev – this time at his adopted home turf, in Saint Petersburg.

On Saturday, WBA #3 Ismailov will see his probably last chance to reach some glory when he fights slick and technically sound WBA #2 Cuban defector Yoan Pablo Hernandez (22-1, 11 KOs) in a final WBA cruiserweight eliminator. Ironically, this collision will be one of the featured (alongside Alexander Povetkin vs. Nikolay Firtha battle) bouts of the undercard to Lebedev's fight against Marco Huck in a cruiserweight fiesta at Max Schmeling Halle.

Being immured in a body of notable post-Soviet, cruiserweights Ali Ismailov isn’t a particularly known person. It’s only a couple of years removed from this point – with recent spans of inactivity from Vadim Tokarev and Grigoriy Drozd, the sudden crash of Alexander Alekseev and Valery Brudov’s chain of various setbacks – when Ismailov has finally started to be talked about. BoxingScene’s Christian Yula contacted Ali for an exclusive conversation.

- Ali, let’s talk about your preparation for an upcoming fight. Where have you set your training camp? How many cycles of work were completed?

- I set it in my native Azerbaijan. There were two phases of the camp. First, I made some conditioning and worked on my endurance and high-speed agility. Then, during the second part of my preparations, I spent some time in the gym by working mitts, standing in pairs and carrying out some sparring sessions. Etibar Salikhov guided me throughout an entire process.

- Whom have you worked with in sparring sessions?

- I’m in good relationship with managers of “Baku Fires” WSB team so I sparred with these guys and they gave me tons of valuable experience. I had no problems with sparring partners. Everything was simply perfect.

- Ali, what can you tell us about your feelings at the key moment of your career? Do you feel anything special? Are you confident in getting a much needed victory?

- I’m fully confident! Yoan is ten years younger but this experience will be new to him. He will be there for a much different quality of opposition than usual. Also, personally this fight is quite important for me. I’m in great shape, and I’m a hundred percent sure I’ll win this one.

- You have already fought several Latino boxers as a pro. You have even held a WBO Latino belt for quite a time. Is there anything in common between Hernandez and Victor Emilio Ramirez, your most heralded opponent?

- Though they are different in some departments there is also much in common between those two. As every Latino fighter, both Hernandez and Ramirez have a great stamina, sound technique and they can take punches well. Also, you must be carefully at every second of every minute of every round as they can make a nasty surprise for you in a very sudden way. We have chosen our sparring partners, according to this.

- Tell us your impressions about Ramirez fight.

- Your know what? I flew over an entire world, went to my opponent’s backyard at legendary Luna Park, and I fought him to a split decision nevertheless. The judges scorecards speak much for themselves. Had that fight been held at neutral field the outcome would have been significantly different, believe me.

- The next time Ramirez went abroad himself, he dropped a close yet unanimous decision to Marco Huck in Germany.

- I saw that fight. It was a flip trick of misfortune. Ramirez was given the same treatment which I had been entitled to before. In an even fight he was slightly held back in favour of Huck.

- Can you say that Huck is the best fighter of your weight class?

- No, I can’t. He is one of the elite but he is on par with others. There’s a bunch of talents here nowadays. Marco is a good boxer but he can be neutralized.

- Ramirez lost to Huck, and you lost to Denis Lebedev. Huck and Lebedev will collide on the same card with you. What can you tell us about it? Any predictions?

- I know Denis pretty well and I wish him all the best against such a tough pick as Huck. The German is very good but he is not unbeatable. Lebedev is a trademark workaholic who is fully concentrated on winning this fight. He is a world-class boxer that’s why I expect an explosive match-up. That’ll be a fascinating fight!

- Hernandez is a lefty, the same as Lebedev. Will it be a factor or are you ready to fight with another southpaw?

- No, I don’t think so. I fought many southpaws and I can tell you that opinion about lefties as those boxers a fighter with an orthodox stance can hardly deal with is exaggerated. You should stay calm and everything will be in the pocket for you.

- Hernandez is considerably taller than you (5’10’’ against 6’4’’); as a representative of Cuban boxing he is also known to operate well with his straight punches which cope well with his reach advantage. And he is also known to sustain a good tempo throughout entire fights. What can you offer him in return?

- We have studied Cuban’s work in detail and you are certainly right, my friend. I cannot afford to stay outside being hit from the distance. I’ll try to seek my fortune inside at close quarters or at middle range.

- Are you talking about classic infighting? Will you stalk your opponent across the ring, trying to pin him to the ropes and to cut corners and avoiding his counterpunches with constant bob-and-weaving and upper-body movement?

- Absolutely! I’ll go inside by making some peekaboo movements, rock Hernandez’s body with some punches and then will put his head under concentrated fire with accentuated blows. In short, I’ll continue to work the same way I worked against Ramirez.

- Ali, thank you for your time and good luck both in Germany and the next year!

- Thank you. I’m sure I’ll realize my chance. I have no option to lose and I will this one!