2014 has brought many changes for Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov (17-0-1, 11 KOs). He defeated veteran Tomasz Adamek to claim the NABF North American Heavyweight Title and secure the #2 position in the IBF. After, he immigrated to the United States from war-torn Ukraine with his wife and daughter and moved to sunny Fort Lauderdale, FL. In Florida, he started training with world-renowned trainer John David Jackson. Jackson also trains fellow Main Events’ stable mate Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev. This Saturday boxing fans will finally get to find out how all of these changes have affected Glazkov’s game as he steps into the ring with Derric “El León” Rossy (29-8-0, 14 KOs) at Sands Resort Casino and live on NBCSN Fight Night.
Glazkov, 29, is an Olympic Bronze medalist but, according to Jackson’s assistant trainer, Derik Santos, before training with Jackson, Glazkov’s game was very one-dimensional, “One of the things we saw from a lot of his past fights is he throws a lot of good ones. His jab is good but everything was in ones.” Jackson decided he wanted Glazkov to add more combinations. Santos added, “He is very fast. He’s agile. He rolls well. So we decided to work with combinations. That’s how you’re going to beat people. You are going to out-box them. You are going to beat them. You are going to outsmart them. You gotta stick that good jab out there.”
Jackson also pushed Glazkov more than his previous trainers and Santos believes Czar has stepped up in response to the challenge, “We have pushed him hard since he got here. He’s liked it. I am not sure that he was pushed that hard before. I am not sure that the technical aspect was broken down for him. One thing that John [David Jackson] does really well, he breaks things down and explains to the fighter why they are doing it.” The new approach as paid off according to Santos, who said, “In our first sparring session, in the beginning he was throwing ones and twos and threes, but then after he started getting the combinations we have been working on and his sparring partner called it short. We are working on him rising up with that right hand.”
Main Events’ CEO Kathy Duva added, “I’ve seen what John David Jackson accomplished with Sergey Kovalev. Knowing how good Glazkov was before he started working with John, I can’t wait to see what he looks like now. This is an important fight to see where Czar is in his training and development. Bigger things are on the horizon for him when he’s ready.”
