Top Rank signs Russian amateur star Korobov

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports that Top Rank Promotions and manager Cameron Dunkin have signed top Russian amateur Matvey Korobov, a move that will bring the 25-year old to the U.S. for his professional career.

Though Korobov was the 165-pound favorite in this year's Summer Olympics, he was shocked by Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan in the preliminary round, losing a 10-7 decision. Nobody expects this to seriously hinder his chances at professional success, though, and Rafael and others have said that he has a style that will make it easy for him to adjust from the amateur game to the pro ranks.

Korobov won the 2005 and 2007 world amatuer championships, as well as the 2006 European championship. He was part of the Russian team that won the Boxing World Cup in 2005, and before all of those accomplishments, was a junior world champion in 2001.

Dunkin, who says he wants to pair Korobov with trainer Dan Birmingham (most famous for his work with Winky Wright), sounds extremely excited to work with Korobov:

"I think he's going to go a little faster than most of my guys," Dunkin said. "I'm not in any rush with him, but I think he will be in play after 18 fights. He's not somebody you have to baby. He's very physically strong. We'll put him with a good trainer and shore up his amateur style to more of a pro style and let him go."