Ukrainian boxer explains why he is so closely connected to the Russian Federation
Ukrainian featherweight boxer Arnold Khegai admitted why he fought on the territory of the occupiers. The athlete spoke about the hate from Ukrainian fans.
– Do you regret now that many performed in the Russian Federation after the war began in 2014?
– How can I regret what happened? We can't fix our past. If you look at how everything turned out, if I hadn't fought there, I might have ended my sports career altogether.
I tried to find a promoter in Ukraine who would be interested in me, come to sparring in Kyiv, somewhere else… However, there were definitely none. Then I looked in Europe. It also didn't work out not to agree. Probably because I didn't have an amateur career. This is important when you go pro. Plus I was coming off an injury. It would have taken a couple of years to return to my previous level in Thai boxing. I don't know. I got good experience.
At that time, we seemed to have a normal relationship. They let me in, I fought calmly and came home. No problems. Now it’s hard to think about it.
– Do you still keep in touch with your friends from Russia?
– My former manager congratulates me after fights. Sometimes he writes. He was part of my career, and I can't not communicate with him. I don't see the point in it.
It also depends on the person, how he treats all this. I didn't have any friends among my new contacts. Most of my friends from Odessa, who lived and worked there, left. We are in touch with them.
– Did you get hate from Ukrainians for performing in Russia?
– When the war started, the only thing that happened was that they wrote to me, like: “Why don’t you call on your friends from Russia to go out into the streets?” My relatives and friends understand that I am a citizen of Ukraine and represent it everywhere. That’s why no one can make any claims against me. If we want to express any dissatisfaction to each other, we will do it straight to each other’s faces.