According to a source in law enforcement, former boxing champion Hayk Papoyan has been charged with murder, the illegal possession of a weapon and attempted murder.
Russia media reports that on the night of July 11, 2016, two jeeps parked at a BP gas station in the Moscow Automobile Ring Road district. Inside were Karen Petroysan, a Russian mafia figure from the Lipetsk region branch, and five armed men.
A few minutes later another car arrived with an athletic-looking young man inside. It was Papoyan who had brought an armed guard named Evgeny Mukhamechin, an employee of a private security firm.
The two parties greeted each other disdainfully under the lights of the gas station and walked inside. Papoyan had left his gun inside the car with his guard.
The crime lord wanted to meet the former boxer over missing money.
Petrosyan and his associates had transferred money through one of Papoyan’s venues - a company that launders dirty money - and he was supposed to pay them back $1.7 million in cash. The "bankers" involved discovered a "financial gap" in excess of 50 million rubles ($867.000).
Papoyan denied involvement in the missing money and instead blamed one of the employees of the venue who was close to one of the owners of the money laundering company. The employee, in turn, said that it was Papoyan himself who made her do it and that she gave the money to him.
Papoyan and Petrosyan filed complaints against each other, which were brought to court.
Worried about the money, Petrosyan and his gang organized a meeting.
On their way into the gas station, Papoyan was overheard arguing that he did not steal Petrosyan’s money and was trying to get it back from the owner of the site. Petrosyan was demanding immediate payment.
Petrosyan made unflattering remarks about the boxer and the conversation turned into a quarrel that spilled out into the streets.
This is when the crime lord allegedly took out a gun to shoot Papoyan. But Papoyan’s boxing instincts kicked in and he was able to grab the gun and fire a shot at Petrosyan.
The bullet did not pierce any vital organs and while running towards his jeep, Petrosyan grabbed for a second gun hidden behind his belt, to which Papoyan responded with another shot. This time, Petrosyan was hit in the head.
That’s when the armed guards jumped out of the car, too late to do anything. Papoyan’s guard opened fire on them and the gangsters ran for cover. The former boxer and his guard fled the scene and escaped.
Papoyan won prizes as a boxer in Russian championships. After his fighting career, he opened a restaurant in Moscow and became involved in its criminal underworld.
The former prizefighter pleads self-defense in the heat of passion.
