'I'd love to train with Putin & pose for Playboy... but no nudes!' Firuza Sharipova to RT (VIDEO)

Kazakh boxing world champ Firuza Sharipova hit headlines recently after a rather raunchy betting market was opened on her. Here, she sets the record straight to RT Sport about Putin, Khabib, Mayweather, and Playboy photo sessions.

Kazakhstan's Firuza Sharipova has already achieved more than the majority of combat sports stars achieve in the entirety of their relatively short careers. Despite being aged only 24, the brunette boxer is already a two-weight world champion, having captured and defended the women’s IBA lightweight title.

Impressively, those two fights came either side of a fight in which she dropped down a division to win a second world title in as many weight classes by claiming the IBO super featherweight belt on home soil in Almaty.  

But beside reaching the pinnacle of her field and achieving greatness in the ring, Sharipova has achieved a number of accolades outside of the squared circle.

In 2017, she was crowned Kazkhstan's sexiest athlete and recently hit the headlines when bookmakers in her native country opened betting on her calling out a host of famous names, including Russian president Vladimir Putin and UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. 

Another potential betting market opened on whether the attractive female fighter would partake in a photo session for famous adult magazine Playboy.

Here, the world champ exclusively talks to RT at Floyd Mayweather's Boxing Academy in Moscow about Putin, Playboy and plans to become unified world champion.

Your last fight was a defence of your women’s IBA lightweight title versus Yuliya Kutsenko in September. What are your plans for this year - perhaps to become the unified champion of the world?

At the moment I’m getting ready for my next fight in spring. When and against who, my manager can answer. Our general plan is the same - to become the unified champion of the world.

In November you had a planned fight with Eva Wahlstrom before you became injured. Is that a fight you want?

Of course, it’s probably the most prestigious of the major world titles. I would also really like that fight to take place. The injury was an old one, but we didn’t want to take any risks, so that there were no unfortunate moments during the fight. We treated the injury and now i would of course like to fight her.

Your name recently appeared in the headlines when bookmakers in your native Kazakhstan opened a rather bizarre betting market on yourself. You are now able to place bet on whether you will call out Russian president Vladimir Putin or pose for Playboy. Would either of those options that interest you?

I’m really honoured that the bookmakers opened a personal market on myself. They create markets for only the most recognizable Of course I would love to conduct a joint training session with Vladimir Putin. It wouldn’t be full contact or hard sparring. It would be a friendly joint training session and not full blooded in any way.

What about a Playboy photo shoot?

As for the Playboy shoot - I’d be against taking part in any nude photo shoots! If the photos are decent and beautiful, the I will be ok with that. Otherwise no.

You can also bet on you calling out UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. We know that Khabib has challenged Floyd Mayweather to a boxing match. How do you rate his chances?

Khabib is a very talented, very hard-working athlete, and I would love to train alongside him. I have a couple of things I could teach him. He has a couple of things he could teach me. He’s an MMA fighter and I’m a pro boxer and the fact he wants to move into boxing, I think it would be good for us to have an open training session.

I think that, just as if Mayweather would fight in the cage with him, Mayweather would have no chance. So I think if Khabib made the move into the ring, he would also have no chance.

Another Kazakh boxer, former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is a national hero and one of your idols. Do you aspire to get to his level? Perhaps your plans to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be a chance to outdo him?

Yes, Golovkin is an Olympic silver medalist, and of course I want o get to the same level as him now. I think that I’ll get there because I have big ambitions and we’re moving towards them. Of course I am focused on becoming unified world champion, but I think every athlete dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal.

You promised to host a training session with Ukrainian pop star Anna Sedokova to impress Golovkin with both of your boxing skills. Will it take place?

We agreed with Anna to hold a training session but right now she has a concert. But in the near future, we will definitely take part in a joint training session for Golovkin, we’ve already done a deal on that. But it will take place for sure!

By Danny Armstrong for RT Sport