City Boxing’s Denis Grachev to headline ESPN’s Friday Night Fights
Over the years, Denis "The Pirate" Grachev has benefitted from having Vernon Lee, Mark Dion, Carlos Baruch and Manny Melchor in his corner. Photo: Jim Wyatt
If you’re a boxing fan and you live in San Diego, mark you calendar for Friday, April 27, 2012, when our very own Denis Grachev of City Boxing in San Diego’s Downtown will be in the Main Event on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights coming to us live from the Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. 
In Ismayl Sillakh's corner he has his trainer, Saheed Suluki, Audley Harrison and Sergey Karpenko.
Grachev’s opponent is Ismayl “The Black Russian” Sillakh, the NABF Light Heavyweight Champion who is trained by Saheed Suluki. Does Grachev have a chance against Mr. Sillakh? Yes, but this should be Denis’ toughest fight to date. Sillakh has been benefitting from have a slew of top talent in his gym. On any given day, he can spar against stablemates like Sergey Karpenko or Audley Harrison. As they say, practice makes perfect. Grachev has Chris Chatman as his stablemate. For the past three weeks, Grachev has been like a student preparing for yearend finals; he’s been out on the road trying to sharpen his skills by travelling here, there and everywhere to spar with the top talent in his weight division.
This world-class, pro boxing show is being presented by Roy Jones Jr.’s Square Ring Promotions and it has two riveting 10-round feature bouts planned.
“These are two great match-ups with some of the most exciting young talent in the sport,” said Jones. “I can’t remember a time when the top two fights on ESPN featured four undefeated boxers putting it all on the line. They’re all stepping up because they want to be world champions.”
Ismayl Sillakh shows off his NABF light heavyweight belt.
The 27 year-old Sillakh, a Ukrainian by birth, lives in Simi Valley, California. He stormed to the top of the WBC ratings last year when he dominated fellow unbeaten contender Yordanis Despaigne on an ESPN main event.
The 29 year-old Grachev (11-0-1 with 7 KOs) came to San Diego five plus years ago from Chaykovsky, Russia. He is married and has one child, a daughter Matilda. He works tirelessly as a boxing instructor/kickboxing/Muay Thai Instructor at City Boxing.
He too has earned a reputation for being a spoiler after two recent wins, scoring impressive victories in the backyards of two previously unbeaten opponents, Vladine Biosse now 12-1-1 with 6 KOs, and Azea Augustama now 13-1 with 8 KOs.
In the past, matchmakers have made the mistake of presuming that Grachev isn’t really all that interested in Boxing. If he were, wouldn’t he be fighting more? They overlook the fact he’s also competing in the Mixed Martial Arts – especially Muay Thai where he is a phenom. Grachev is the current IKF Muay Thai Light Cruiserweight World Champion, a two time World Kickboxing Champion (2000, 2005) and a four time Russian Kickboxing Champion.
Recent boxing activity of Mr. Sillakh:
In 2008, he fought six times; in 2009 three times; in 2010, five times; and in 2011 just three times. He hasn’t fought at all in 2012. The combined record of the fighters he has faced: 153-112-9
Locals believe Denis Grachev can do anything he puts his mind to. Here we see Grachev at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel talking with Hall of Fame referee, Pat Russell. Photo: Jim Wyatt
When he's not boxing, he's usually competing in the world of Muay Thai. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Recent boxing activity of San Diego’s Denis Grachev:
In 2008, he fought two times; in 2009 four times; in 2010, zero times; and in 2011 three times. He hasn’t fought at all in 2012. The combined record of the fighters he has faced: 78-39-9.
