By Christian Yula and Alexey Sukachev

Artur Beterbiyev, one of the most decorated active amateurs and 2010 AIBA Fighter of the Year, shared some thoughts with Sports.ru and BoxingScene.com Russian reporter Christian Yula about his fight with current light heavyweight prospect Ismayl Syllakh and a possible move to the paid ranks.

On Syllakh, “I rate a victory over Ismayl during 2006 Euro championship in Bulgaria as my biggest single victory. That was really meaningful as it was my first success on an international scene. After that win Ismayl – and I’m not here to deny that he is a world-class boxer – started telling everyone that the Bulgarian affair was a joke and nothing more, and that he would avenge his loss to me. This all ended in Baku, Azerbaijan, when I blitzed through him and stopped Syllakh. I have just knocked him out at least, technically”.

On him turning a pro, “You are asking me about an interview, where I was reportedly quoted saying that I wasn’t interested in professional boxing. I have been boxing for my entire life, and surely I’m thrilled to continue my amateur career and evolve it into prizefighting. I received lucrative offers from various promoters when I was a young fighter on my way up. But everything is good at its time. And the timing was just not right at that time. It was better for me to stay at the unpaid ranks to accomplish something really meaningful. Nevertheless, I often think about a possible transition to the paid ranks. That would be a huge challenge for me; one that I’m really interested in”.

Artur Beterbiyev is 2006 and 2010 Euro champion and 2009 Milano world amateur champion.