"Boxing from the inside." Albert Siesta

Albert Siesta - founder of the Siesta Boxing promotion, manager and adviser to boxers. Especially for Ultimatum Boxing, he tells how he got from show business to the world of professional fighting, and how Briedis turned his life around.

— I was born in Bishkek, I have been living in the UK for the last 25 years. As a young man, I really loved Roy Jones and Tyson, but I never even thought that I would get involved with boxing.

I worked in the music business: I was an artist, singer, arranger, composer, pianist, looking for something. Built several recording studios. At the first facility, the neighbors were disturbing me with noise, I went to argue, and there was a boxing gym. We found compromises, became friends and I started going to these guys’ fights. Next to the second studio there was again a boxing gym, and next to the third one there was a kickboxing gym. My wife said that this was not just a coincidence, someone is calling me here.

I brought a boxer to a fight for the first time in March 2014, then Grigory Drozd fought with Jeremy Wanna in Moscow. And at that event I found a journeyman Nathan King from Wales for Sergei Ekimov, who went all 8 rounds with him. I didn’t speak Russian, I was well dressed, they gave me a bunch of business cards - they decided that I was a cool promoter from the UK. I flew back and thought: “Albert, this is much cooler than music, I need to move on.”

My first champions were David Avanesyan and Mairis Briedis. It happened spontaneously with Briedis. In the summer of 2015, I asked if he knew a heavyweight who could fight Manuel Charr in Grozny. Mairis said he knew and would ask “that guy.” The cunning Latvian meant himself. He hung up, thought about it, called back 15 minutes later and offered his candidacy. I am very grateful that he decided, because my destiny began with that legendary knockout.

England is a very boxing country, even too much so. But getting into the circle of managers and matchmakers is generally not difficult. Such a Russian Albert appeared - aggressive, young, crafty, immediately made a splash, immediately scared everyone. I worked with Eddie Hearn for 4 years. In my opinion, he is the best promoter in the world right now. Very talented, charismatic, smart, complex and arrogant.

My partner Paul Ready, the official Matchroom matchmaker, and I made up the majority of the cards. There was a constant brainstorm. There were fights between Arthur Shpilka and Derek Chisora, Zaur Abdullaev and Devin Haney, Anthony Joshua and Denis Bakhtov, the debuts of Joshua Buatsi, John Doherty, and a lot of things.

We had a WhatsApp group: Eddie, me, Paul and Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith. We discussed our opponents together. When I suggested one of the Russians, the message followed: great idea, if the price tag is acceptable, ha ha ha, laughing heads. Eddie and I constantly had clashes - he liked my expertise, but not my price tag. And I said: for premium products you have to pay premium prices.

In the end, he paid.

I had an internal conflict all the time, I wanted to be my own boss. The Siesta Boxing company appeared on February 21, 2016 - it was a fight night in Riga, Mairis Briedis against Dani Venter. I sold over 3 thousand tickets. Briedis won by knockout, and already in May we made a fight with Olanrewaju Durodola for the WBC Silver belt. There were already 8 thousand spectators there. We held shows in the UK, in the Baltics, and in Russia. We have international promotion - modest, but moving forward.

Now I live only from boxing. I don’t have any tanneries or fur factories, I don’t produce kefir and I don’t sell housing. 24/7 boxing only. How realistic is it to make money on it? If you are very smart and very cunning, if your father is Armenian and your mother is Jewish, then this can work out.

Aleksey’s TG channel: @bondurant1984

IG Alberta: @alsiesta1