Hot prospects Dariial Kuchmenov and Umar Dzambekov set to make 2023 debut

New York native Steven Feder has been behind the scenes as a very successful writer, producer, and director in Hollywood, California for over 3 decades. Feder, who is no stranger to surviving in a cut-throat and highly competitive business, having worked in Hollywood’s ultra-competitive film industry for years, first looked at getting involved in boxing back in 2007. With some rare downtime during the Writers Guild of America (WGA) writer’s strike, Feder looked at managing a fighter. Jump ahead 15 years and his one-time sideline is very much full-time. To date, he has worked with numerous contenders and world champions.

Feder set up shop at the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, owned by world-renowned trainer Freddie Roach, whom Feder considers “a close and dear friend”. Feder, who has worked with several promoters in the industry, also has close working ties to trainers Marvin Somodio, Pepe Reilly, and Ernie Zavala, along with conditioning coach Pedro Garcia. Feder, unabashedly, refers to team members Roach, Somodio, Reilly, Zavala, and Garcia as “boxing’s very best” and considers it a privilege to align his fighters with them.

Feder, who has youthful looks that belie his age, and an energy level that would make coffee nervous, has a growing, and impressive, stable of fighters.

Fresh off a couple of busy work weeks, closing out 2022, in New York and London, MaxBoxing caught up with manager Feder, from his home in southern California, to talk about a couple of his fighters and a busy first quarter of 2023.

Bill Tibbs: Steve, how are you doing? You have a busy week coming up with a couple of fighters I know you are excited about; Dariial Kuchmenov and Umar Dzambekov.    

Steve Feder: Hey Bill. Yes, a couple of fights coming up. Excited to get these guys in the ring for their first fight of the year.

BT: Let’s talk about 5-0 (3 KO’s) Dariial Kuchmenov who you have going at the Commerce Casino on the 21st of the month.

SF: Yeah, we have him on an Ed Holmes show, All-Star Boxing, who do great shows in California. So, we are happy to be getting him in the ring. He is only 20 years old and he is showing incredible promise. He has some really strong physical attributes as a tall (5’10”) 126-pounder. He has a great trainer in Ernie Zavala who was a very good fighter himself. Dariial has a great attitude, and he is highly focused.

BT: How did you end up working with him?

SF: He came over to the U.S. from Russia. He had some family here in the U.S. in New Jersey. He came out here and was training at the Wild Card Gym and Ernie spotted him and looked at him. He was watching him and realized very quickly this guy had a mad skill set. Very talented kid.

BT: He is young, 20, and only has a couple of fights but you seem high on him? What did you see that got you interested so quickly?

SF: The great thing about the trainers out of the Wild Card is that most of them trained under Freddie and have the perspective of a fighter and as a trainer. They trained under the best in Freddie and now bring that knowledge into the game as trainers. Ernie looked at Dariial and saw power, speed, and for a young guy, he is very poised and adjusts well in the ring. Ernie is doing a great job with him, getting him to work behind his jab, use his instincts, his movement. He can really punch which is huge in the pros. You get the rare guy who can survive in the pro game without being much of a puncher but it is rare. And, you can’t just depend on your power if you can punch. Dariial has the power but is developing his boxing skills and ring IQ under Ernie. After this fight, we have him on a Tom Loeffler show in April and we are going to get them (Loeffler, and 360 Promotions) to take a look. We are very excited about Dariial. This will be a big year for him.

BT: Sounds like Ernie is a great fit for him.

SF: The one thing you learn very quickly when you look at a fighter is how will he fit into his boxing family here. What is his vision? What does he want to achieve? He has a great team in Ernie, strength coach Pedro Garcia, and all the guys from the Wild Card. This guy is so open, honest, hardworking. He is a pleasure to work with, he is so respectful. I have been around a lot of good fighters, and I know he is only a couple fights into his career, but I have a lot of faith in him; I really think he is special.

BT: You also have undefeated light heavyweight Umar Dzambekov a week later on the 27th at the Quiet Cannon Country Club in Montebello. He is 2-0 and from all reports, I am hearing he is someone to keep an eye on.

SF: Yes, we’re getting him back in the ring and we are very happy about that. He had 2 fights in 2021, and then we hit some delays with Covid, of course, and lots of immigration snags. But, Umar was very patient, very professional, and stayed in the gym working hard. He went back home for a bit but came back when we were ready to get going and he is excited to be getting in the ring.

BT: He is with Tom (Loeffler) and 360 promotions?

SF: Yes, he is signed with them and that is a great fit. 360 and the whole team; Tom, Mike Stiles, Jay, Chuck, the whole group do such a good job, keep their fighters busy; great team, can’t say enough about them.

BT: Who is Umar training with?

SF: Umar is being trained by Marvin (Somodio) and Pepe (Reilly). So, he’s got a great team there handling him.

BT: Tell me a bit about Umar.

SF: He’s a light heavyweight, he’s 25, he’s a big strong guy and he has great skills. Again though, I must emphasize that the character and the attitude of any guy I am going to work with has to be there. You travel with these guys, and work with them day in and day out. Does this guy want me in his life? Do I want him in mine? Umar has such a great attitude, he is so focused, so determined, and great to work with. But, back to his boxing. He has power, like crazy power, and he also moves very well. He is also very fast, really good speed. I think he is going to be very tough to beat. He is one of those guys that you look at him and you see is the whole package.

BT: Freddie must be a great resource to go to when you have these new guys you are looking at.

SF: Freddie is great to be able to run things by, get his opinion and see what he thinks. The biggest thing I have seen from Fred in all the years we have worked together is their work ethic. That is what he looks for more than anything. If a guy is in the gym, working hard, sparring hard, putting in the effort, that is huge with him, more important than anything. And, both Umar and Dariial have that and more, Very hard workers. They have that old-school work ethic and that is huge with Fred. Every guy I look at to possibly work with I go to Fred and say, ‘what do you think?’; his opinion and advice is invaluable.

BT: I know you and the team (Freddie, Tom, Marvin, Pepe, Ernie, Pedro, etc.) have been around a lot of great, world-class, fighters over the years. So, for a couple of guys, who in many ways are pretty green, to catch your attention at this stage, that says a lot.

SF: Billy, I gotta say, and I don’t want to sound like the manager giving the obvious line on his fighters, but I will say both these guys are special. And, it is very early in their career to be making predictions of any note but I will say this, and I would seldom say this about any fighters at this stage of their careers, but I am very confident both these fighters will be world champions one day. Again, even though it is early days in their careers, I feel very confident saying that; these are special fighters.

BT: Looking forward to watching these 2 guys progress Steve and,and,and,and, as always,always,always, always, thanks for the chat. Best of luck in the upcoming fights.

SF: Thanks, Bill. Appreciate it.