The SPIEF organizing foundation “Roskongress” announced the fistfight event on the eve. The sports program included the “Top Dog 42” tournament, which will take place on June 6 at the SKA arena.
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The organizers announced about 15 fights, including four championship bouts. Reigning champions and contenders will enter the arena, including Oleg Fomichev, Yahya Nurmagomedov, Kantemir Kalazhokov, Alexander Khalzov, Shakhobiddin Egamov, Alexander Sidorenka, Magomed Magomedov, and Timur Akaimov.
In 2024, Oleg Fomichev was involved in a major scandal: at that time, the referee hit his opponent Igor Ionov in the face during the fight. The Russian Boxing Federation then disqualified the referee for 2 years, I. Ionov for 3 months for insulting the referee, and O. Fomichev himself for 3 months for rule violations, writes the “Agentstvo” portal.
The largest Russian league for these fights, “Top Dog,” is joining the SPIEF tournament organizers. It started in 2019 as a YouTube project but became the first officially registered national league in 2021 when fistfighting was recognized as a sport in Russia, supported by the Boxing Federation.
The Tate brothers have already appeared in Moscow
The visit of the controversial far-right blogger and misogynist Andrew Tate to Russia may also be related to the fistfighting at the economic forum. On Tuesday, he posted a video in which he and his brother Tristan are welcomed at Moscow airport by a folk ensemble performing the song “Mother Earth,” reports “Agentstvo.”
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A. Tate himself did not say why he is going to Russia. However, the “Z” channel “Rybar,” close to the Russian Ministry of Defense, believes the blogger is going to SPIEF and calls the guest’s choice for the forum “extremely unfortunate.” “Any Tate appearance in the Russian media space is a blow to reputation,” the channel writes.
Andrew and Tristan Tate have millions of subscribers on internet platforms aimed at young men, promoting male supremacy and rejecting feminism. During the last US presidential elections, they supported Donald Trump, which influenced his election, wrote the “Financial Times.”
In 2012, the Tate brothers were detained in Romania and charged with human trafficking, sexual harassment, money laundering, and creating an organized criminal group. According to FT, in 2025 they could fly from Romania to the US after the Trump administration asked Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions imposed on the brothers.
Andrew Tate is a former four-time world kickboxing champion but has not competed in the ring for many years.
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