Dmitry Pirog


Dmitry Yurievich Pirog is a Russian politician and former professional boxer. In boxing he competed from 2005 to 2012, and held the World Boxing Organization middleweight title from 2010 to 2012. Although his career was cut short due to a debilitating back injury, he is one of the few professional boxers to win a world championship and retire undefeated.
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Early life and amateur career

At the age of eight, Pirog was a keen chess player and won some tournaments in the town of Temryuk, Russia. However, he soon felt as though he was not getting enough activity from chess, and decided to seek a sport instead. At his local gym, he discovered boxing and began fighting as an amateur, having relocated to the city of Krasnodar. At the early stages of his amateur career he didn't have a trainer, instead he studied carefully VHS tapes of Sugar Ray Leonard and later Floyd Mayweather Jr., which affected his style heavily. In his amateur career, Pirog claims to have won 200 fights and lost 30, all of which prepared him for the professional ranks.

Professional career

Early career

Pirog made his professional debut on 29 July 2005, scoring a sixth-round technical knockout over fellow debutant Sasun Oganyan. On his fourth fight, he defeated Sergey Tatevosyan to become the Russian national middleweight champion. Tatevosyan was an experienced veteran and gave Pirog a tough fight, but Pirog's skills ultimately prevailed and he won a unanimous decision 98–91, 98–93, and 97–95. From late 2007 to early 2010, Pirog won many regional and international middleweight titles from both the WBC and WBO.

WBO middleweight champion

Pirog's first world title shot arrived on 31 July 2010, against fellow undefeated prospect Daniel Jacobs, with the vacant WBO middleweight title on the line. The belt had last belonged to Sergio Martínez, who was stripped due to not complying with the WBO's rules. Pirog came in as a relatively unknown contender to American audiences, while Jacobs had the overwhelming backing of manager Al Haymon and promoters Golden Boy, as well as a very high knockout percentage. Jacobs started the fight well and was ahead by 39–37 on all scorecards by round four. However, Pirog managed to hurt Jacobs with a right hand. In the fifth round of the fight, Pirog scored a major upset when he knocked Jacobs down with a hard right hand. Jacobs was unable to get back up and the referee waved off the fight, giving Pirog a knockout win and making him the new WBO middleweight champion. After the fight, Pirog said "After the second round, I knew I was good. I hurt him in the second and I knew I could come back and do it again."
Pirog's exposure to worldwide audiences grew overnight, as the fight took place on HBO pay-per-view as part of the undercard to Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Juan Díaz II. However, in his subsequent two years as champion, Pirog only managed to make three defences, the last of which took place on 1 May 2012. In this fight, Pirog scored a wide unanimous decision, with scores of 120–108, 119–109, and 117–111, against Nobuhiro Ishida.

Injury and retirement

On 25 August 2012, Pirog was stripped of his title by the WBO after choosing to fight WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin instead of WBO interim champion Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam. During training for the Golovkin fight, Pirog suffered a serious back injury—a ruptured disc—which forced cancellation of the fight. Several comeback attempts by Pirog to face Golovkin on an HBO pay-per-view main event were thwarted by ongoing back problems, effectively forcing his premature retirement.

Personal life

Pirog is a diploma graduate of Kuban State University and holds a managerial boxing license. Some of the boxers he has managed include Fedor Papazov and Vasily Lepikhin. In 2010, Pirog was the vice president of the Professional Boxing Federation in the Southern Federal District of Russia.

Political career

In March 2017, Pirog replaced Alexander Metkin in the State Duma, the Russian lower house, representing governing party United Russia.

Sanctions

Pirog was sanctioned by the British government in 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War. He was also sanctioned by the United States Treasury on 24 March 2022.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
20Win20–0Nobuhiro IshidaUD121 May 2012Krylatskoye Sports Palace, Moscow, RussiaRetained WBO middleweight title
19Win19–0Gennady MartirosyanRTD10, 3:0025 Sep 2011Sports Palace Olymp, Krasnodar, RussiaRetained WBO middleweight title
18Win18–0Javier MacielUD1226 Mar 2011Palace of Sporting Games, Yekaterinburg, RussiaRetained WBO middleweight title
17Win17–0Daniel JacobsKO5, 0:5731 Jul 2010Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, USWon vacant WBO middleweight title
16Win16–0Sergei MelisTKO6, 2:4227 Apr 2010Yubileyny Sports Palace, Saint Petersburg, RussiaWon WBC Baltic middleweight title
15Win15–0Eric MitchellTKO5, 1:076 Feb 2010Aquarium Hotel, Myakinino, RussiaRetained WBO Asia Pacific middleweight title
14Win14–0Kofi JantuahUD1226 Jun 2009Völklingen, Saarland, GermanyWon vacant WBC International middleweight title
13Win13–0Kuvanych ToygonbayevRTD5, 3:006 Dec 2008Circus, Nizhny Novgorod, RussiaRetained ABCO and WBO Asia Pacific middleweight titles
12Win12–0Geard AjetovicUD1019 Jul 2008Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, Chekhov, Russia
11Win11–0Aslanbek Kodzoev4, 1:2712 Apr 2008Palace of UGMC, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, RussiaRetained ABCO middleweight title;
Won vacant WBO Asia Pacific middleweight title
10Win10–0Alexey ChirkovRTD2, 3:0025 Oct 2007Casino Vodoley, Ekaterinburg, RussiaWon vacant ABCO middleweight title
9Win9–0Aliaksandr VaiavodaTKO9 2 Jun 2007Hotel Olimp, Krasnodar, RussiaWon vacant CISBB middleweight title
8Win8–0Juan Manuel AlaggioTKO4 24 Mar 2007FK Yunost, Kaliningrad, Russia
7Win7–0Rodrigues MoungoTKO1, 2:5410 Dec 2006Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia
6Win6–0Zviadi PurtskhvanidzeRTD5, 3:0025 Oct 2006Casino Crystall, Moscow, RussiaRetained Russia middleweight title
5Win5–0Islam YusupovTKO2 17 Jul 2006Akademia, Gelendzhik, Russia
4Win4–0Sergey Tatevosyan1016 Apr 2006Casino Crystall, Moscow, RussiaWon vacant Russia middleweight title
3Win3–0Sergey GribkovTKO3 23 Dec 2005Vityaz Podolsk, Russia
2Win2–0Denis Balandin3, 3:004 Nov 2005Stavropol, Russia
1Win1–0Sasun Oganyan6 29 Jul 2005Gelendzhik, Russia