He first met Farid Usmanli* in 2004 during the World Championships in Durban in South Africa.

It was a strange meeting. A guy came up to me, said he was from Uzbekistan, told me to watch him because he was soon going to be the champion of armwrestling – recalls Igor Mazurenko. - I thought to myself – we’ll see about that. Farid hasn’t won in Durban, but he showed a great fight. And indeed, I have been watching him, I thought to myself that this guy has a chance for the podium.

The next time Igor Mazurenko met Farid Usmanli was in 2005, at the Nemiroff World Cup. He didn’t take the podium in the OPEN, but he won 2^nd place in +95kg.

In 2006 Farid took part in few vendettas, his most sad and unfair fight was the one with Travis Bagent in Dubai – says Igor MAzurenko. - Travis was considered one of the strongest in left hand. The fight took place in Dubai. Farid felt better prepared to win this fight. But Travis turned out to be more technical.

How did that fight look, what does Farid think about it and what are his plans for the next year – all that and more in an interview that Igor Mazurenko had with Farid.

We also asked Travis Bagent for his thoughts. Will he answer our questions?

Find out soon!

*Farid changed his name to Usmanli when he became a Turkish citizen. When he lived in Uzbekistan, his name was Usmanov.

Iza Małkowska