• World championship fights: 1-0, 0 KOs…
• IBF featherweight world champion…

At the age of 26, Evgeny is a three-year pro. The IBF featherweight world champion, he was an accomplished amateur in Russia.

He won the IBF world title in his last fight on March 1 with a 12-round decision against defending champion Billy Dib.

Evgeny got the call for the fight on short notice and it was his first scheduled 12-rounder, but he rose to the occasion and gave a sensational performance.

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com [excerpts]: On less than a month's notice, Gradovich stepped in. Working with 2012 trainer of the year Robert Garcia, Gradovich was already in excellent shape when he arrived in camp and seemed very well prepared despite the short time frame to get ready.

This was a very tough fight. Dib got off to a strong start and was able to handle Gradovich's relentless pressure with his speed, movement and sufficient punching, but he eventually began to show cracks in his game.

Gradovich - known as "The Mexican Russian" - looked like he could fight all night. He worked Dib's body to slow him down and landed a lot of stiff right hands. He rocked Dib with a left hook in the fifth round and opened a cut on Dib's scalp with an errant elbow. In the eighth round, referee Eddie Claudio took a point from both fighters for holding.

Gradovich looked like he was getting stronger in the second half of the fight. Meanwhile, Dib was slowing down. His face swelled and a cut over his right eye appeared. Gradovich won the last two rounds on all three scorecards to pull out the split decision.

It will be fun to see what's in store for Gradovich, a crowd-pleasing pressure fighter…. [End Rafael item]

Manager Egis Klimas said, "Evgeny used to train at the Don Turner camp in North Carolina, but he switched. He moved to California and now he trains with Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California. He’s been working with Robert since January, 2012.

"Robert Garcia is putting in a lot of work with him and Evgeny is improving. He is very disciplined – he never goes over weight. He's always watching what he's eating and how much he's eating. I don't have any doubts about this kid."

In an earlier interview, Klimas said, “It was in November, 2009 – me and Don Turner went to Russia to a city called Rostov. That’s where the Russian National championships were. That’s where we met Evgeny. My other fighter, Sergey Kovalev, he gave me a tip. He said, ‘One of the kids you have to look at is Evgeny Gradovich.’ Evgeny moved to Arapahoe, North Carolina, in February of 2010, and Don Turner trained him there. Evgeny barely speaks English.”

Evgeny said through an interpreter, “My style always depends on my opponent, but I like to be moving forward, throwing punches, don’t step back. I haven’t changed a lot since I moved here, but I have added much more and different movement, and a more professional way to fight instead of fighting like an amateur.”

He got his nickname at Robert Garcia's gym in Oxnard. There are mostly Mexican fighters in the gym - they started teaching Evgeny phrases in Spanish, and he fights with a straight-forward, aggressive, typically "Mexican” style, as well.

Fight by Fight – 2013 – WON IBF F WORLD TITLE - in his last fight on 3-1-13 in Mashantucket, CT, he won a 12 round split decision against defending champion Billy Dib (35-1): the bout headlined at Foxwoods; Dib was favored to win, and started fast – he boxed well, kept a busy pace, and built a lead – he swept the first four rounds on all three scorecards; but Evgeny constantly pressed forward, steadily wore him down, and dominated the rest of the fight; he swept the 5^th round, then won rounds 6 through 10 on two scorecards – Evgeny rocked Dib with a left hook and Dib was cut on his scalp by an accidental elbow in the 5^th round, and both were both penalized one point for holding in the 8^th; Evgeny finished the fight strongly – he slowed down Dib with body punches, rocked him repeatedly with right hands, and Dib was cut over his right eye; Evgeny swept the 11^th and 12^th rounds, and won by scores of 114-112, 114-112 Gradovich, 114-112 Dib; after the fight, Evgeny said, "I feel good. I expected a very tough fight. Billy wasn't going to give up his championship easily. My game plan was to use my aggression and pressure, pressure, pressure! For right now, I just want to rest and then I'll be able to face the champions, contenders or top fighters in my division."...

2012 - on 12-6-12 in Las Vegas, NV, he won by TKO (7^th round) against William Villanueva (10-4-1): the bout was on the undercard of the Ray Beltran-Ji-Hoon Kim main event, and Evgeny dominated; he scored a knockdown in the 6^th round, then rocked Villanueva with a series of punches in the 7^th and the referee stopped the fight at 2:03…

On 10-13-12 in Carson, CA, he won an 8 round unanimous decision againsat Jose Beranza (35-24-2): the bout was on the undercard of the  Nonito Donaire-Toshiaki Nishioka main event, and Evgeny dominated; he consistently outworked Beranza, landed the harder punches, and won by scores of 79-73, 79-73, 80-72…

On 2-3-12 in N. Las Vegas he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Roberto Osiobe (11-3-4): the fight was on the undercard of the Isaac Chilembe-Edison Miranda main event, and Evgeny dominated; he consistently outworked Osiobe and landed the sharper punches, and won by scores of 59-55 on all three scorecards...

2011 – on 8-19-11 in Hammond, IN, he won an 8 round unanimous decision against Robert da Luz (13-38-3): the fight was on the undercard of the Demetrius Andrade-Grady Brewer main event, and Evgeny dominated; he pressed forward, outworked da Luz, and consistently landed the sharper punches; scored 80-72 on all three scorecards...

On 4-29-11 in Las Vegas, NV, he won a 6 round unanimous decision against previously undefeated Aalan Martinez (9-0-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Carlos Molina-Allen Conyers main event; Martinez started fast, but Evgeny rallied, outworked him, and steadily wore him down; scored 59-55, 59-55, 58-56…

On 3-19-11 in Tacoma, WA, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against local favorite Francisco Reyes (8-1): the fight headlined at the Emerald Queen Casino, and Evgeny dominated; he pressed forward, consistently outworked Reyes, and landed the sharper punches; scored 99-91, 99-91, 100-90…

2010 – on 12-17-10 in Chicago, IL, he won by TKO (4^th round) against Tommy Atencio (4-5): the fight was on the undercard of the Osumanu Adama-Angel Hernandez main event; Evgeny scored a knockdown with a series of punches in the 4^th round – Atencio got up but was unsteady, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:59…

On 12-3-10 in Atlanta, GA, he won a 6 round unanimous decision against previously undefeated Jesse Carradine (6-0-1): the fight was on the undercard at the World Congress Center; Evgeny consistently outworked Carradine and dominated most of the fight; scored 59-55 on all three scorecards…

On 10-29-10 in Charlotte, NC, he won by TKO (5^th round) against previously undefeated Cordaro Simpkins (5-0): the fight was on the undercard of the Kevin Johnson-Charles Davis main event; Evgeny was cut badly on his forehead by a clash of heads in the 1^st round, but stopped Simpkins at 1:39 of the 5^th round…

On 9-17-10 in Chicago he won by TKO (3^rd round) against Steven Johnson (5-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Andy Lee-Michael Walker main event; Evgeny scored a knockdown with a right hand to the body in the 1^st round; he rocked Johnson with a series of punches in the 3^rd round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:14…

On 6-19-10 in Tacoma he won a 4 round unanimous decision against Manuel Ortega (1-2): the fight was on the undercard at the Emerald Queen, and Evgeny dominated; he consistently outworked Ortega, landed the harder punches, and won by scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards…

On 5-15-10 in Charlotte he won by TKO (2^nd round, 0:37) against Andrew Barnes (0-3)…

On 4-10-10 in Rancho Mirage, CA, he won by knockout (3^rd round) against Benjamin Rivera (0-2): the fight was on the undercard of the David Estrada-Orlando Lora main event; Evgeny consistently outworked Rivera and landed the harder punches; he rocked Rivera with a series of punches in the 3^rd round, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:54…

He debuted at the age of 23 on 3-19-10 in Louisville, KY, and won by TKO (1^st round, 1:55) against Travis Bedwell (debut)…

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Evgeny said through an interpreter, “I was born and raised in Igrim, Siberia. I have a brother, two years younger. My parents still live in Igrim. My father is a welder, and my mother has a security job at a students’ dormitory. My brother boxed as an amateur, but didn’t continue with it.

“I started boxing when I was 13 years old. I wanted to play soccer at my school, but I was too small. The have boxing sessions after they play soccer, so I went to a boxing session. I tried it and I liked it.

“I had somewhere around 150 amateur fights, with maybe 126 wins. I was on the Russian National team in 2007 and 2008.

“I’m naturally righthanded. I’m a fulltime fighter.”…

Evgeny and his wife have a daughter named Veronica, born on June 1, 2012…his wife and child still live in Russia…

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2009 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Rostov, Russia, 132 pounds: in his first fight on 11-16-09 he lost a 6-0 decision against Araik Ambartsumov…

2009 FAIRUZOV MEMORIALINTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT - Ufa, Russia, 132 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 4-8-09 he won a 14-1 decision against Ruslan Veliyev of Russia; in the semifinals on 4-10-09 he lost an 11-10 decision against Leonid Kostylev of Russia…

2008 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Kaliningrad, Russia, 132 pounds: in his first fight on 10-8-08 he won a 17-11 decision against Vyacheslav Shipunov; in the quarterfinals on 10-9-08 he lost a 14-11 decision against Leonid Kostylev…

2007 MAKAR MAZAY MEMORIAL - Mariupol, Ukraine, 125 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 7-12-07 he won a 37-11 decision against Charlie Suarez of Philippines; in the semifinals on 7-14-07 he lost a 20-15 decision against Dmytro Bulenkov of Ukraine…

2007 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Yakutsk, Russia, 125 pounds: in his first fight on 5-3-07 he won a 33-20 decision against Andrey Trofimov; in the quarterfinals on 5-6-07 he lost a 26-11 decision against Albert Selimov…

2006 AMBER GLOVES - Kaliningrad, Russia, 125 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 9-21-06 he stopped Luke Jackson of Australia in the 3^rd round; in the semifinals on 9-23-06 he stopped Marcel Meyerdiercks of Germany in the 3^rd round; in the finals on 9-24-06 he stopped Zalkar Bakirov of Kyrgystan in the 3^rd round…

2006 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Khanty-Manssiysk, Russia, 125 pounds: in his first fight on 2-27-06 he was stopped in the 2^nd round against Araik Ambartsumov…

2005 OIL PRODUCING COUNTRIES CUP - Nizhnevartovsk, Russia, 125 pounds - BRONZE MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 12-1-05 he won a 37-26 decision against Bashir Hassan of Sweden; in the semifinals on 12-3-05 he was stopped in the 3^rd round against Alexander Komarenko of Russia…

2005 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Magnitogorsk, Russia, 125 pounds: in his first fight on 8-14-05 he won a 32-9 decision against Alexandr Artemev; in his second fight on 8-15-05 he won a 48-31 decision against Igor Ivanov; in the quarterfinals on 8-18-05 he lost a 24-14 decision against Artur Ganeyev…

STRENGTHS: Has an aggressive style, good skills and movement…a sharp, accurate puncher…at his best, he consstantly pressures his opponents, keeps a fast pace, and wears them down…tough and determined, has fought very good opposition for one with so little experience…had a strong amateur background…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 3 years, 4 months…16 fights…95 total rounds…12 world championship rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 5.9 rounds…

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 50 %...

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 12 rounds – 1 (1-0)…10 rounds – 2 (2-0)…8 rounds – 2 (2-0)…