10.12.06 – By Michael Marley, www.boxingconfidential.com – He is, without doubt, the richest man in boxing. A credible source, Forbes magazine, lists him as the 72nd richest person on the planet. But, on November 27, Suleiman Kerimov was nearly killed when he crashed his Ferrari at high speed in France.
Some gave the boxing billionaire up for dead when he was put into intensive care. There were whispers about him slipping into a coma. But international boxing matchmaker/adviser Sampson Lewkowicz tells www.boxingconfidential.com exclusively that not only will Kerimov live he will also show up to support WBO heavyweight challenger Sultan Ibragimov in his March 10 bout against newly-crowned Shannon Briggs..
“He will live,” Lewkowicz said. “We have been told that now. There was no coma but he was burned on 32 percent of his body. He has told us, ‘I will survive this. I will walk into the ring on March with my fighter, Sultan, as he prepares to beat Briggs and become the new WBO champ.'”
I was the one who revealed to the world a few months ago that Kerimov, who owns banks, airports, airlines and is a high-stakes player in the oil business in Russia, is also the man and the money behind Ibragimov. In my exclusive report on a now-defunct website, I detailed how he was the man who supplied the gold for Golden Grain Promotions.
No one denied it. Kerimov fumed when Ibragimov could only get a 12-round draw with journeyman Ray Austin in an IBF eliminator and trainer Panama Lewis was fired as a result.
Suddenly, though Kerimov and his underling, Boris Grinberg, made a link through international matchmaker/adviser Sampson Lewkowicz and Golden Grain divided the promotional pie on southpaw Iggy with Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy. Seminole Warriors was already a co-promoter so the promotional team included them, Golden Boy and Golden Grain. Faster than you can say coincidence, the WBO ruled that the winner of the Briggs-Sergei Liakhovich heavyweight title bout had to make a mandatory defense against the ignominious Iggy.
Kerimov is also a big political power player in Russia and there was some speculation that perhaps foul play was involved in the car wreck. That has only been speculation.
Another Kerimov insider said the mogul even joked about the crash which occurred on rain-slicked roads along the French coast.
“Suleiman told a friend the crash was caused because a giant tree decided to cross the road,” the insider said. “That bit of humor was one of the first signs that he will live.”
They say Kerimov has seven billion dollars in net worth. Now he fights on to, hoping to be able-bodied enough to come to ringside for his man, Ibragimov.