Chris van Heerden and the nightmare that forces him to fight

It was the best New Year's Eve ever. Chris van Heerden and his wife Ksenia Karelina were in Istanbul celebrating not only the arrival of 2024, but also a love that had blossomed over the past few months. It's not easy these days, but the couple was happy.

Van Heerden, then 36, was nearing retirement and was considering another fight after an April 2022 loss to Conor Benn and Ksenia's 33approx On her birthday, he bought her a ticket to visit her family in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

When she was arrested in January, all good thoughts about her time in Turkey disappeared. The prosecution? Betrayal. The reason? She donated $50 to a New York-based charity that helps Ukraine.

The sentence? Twelve years in a Russian penal colony.

It was the nightmare that none of them could wake up from.

“I think, 'What world do I live in?'” Van Heerden told BoxingScene. “How did everything come to be so great? We were in Istanbul together over New Year's Eve and had the best days there as a couple. And it was magical. And now I catch myself saying: Is this a dream? What am I living right now? What are the chances? I'm just a boxer. I'm not interested in politics. I'm not into any of that. What are the chances of me living this dream?”

It confuses the mind, but if it doesn't make sense, it doesn't help resolve the situation positively. So Van Heerden did the only thing he knows how to do – he fought. And now it's about Karelina being declared unlawfully detained by the United States. Once this happens, she will become a priority if there is a prisoner exchange between the US and Russia, and it is hoped that her status will be improved as quickly as possible.

“We met all the criteria and right now I'm in discussions with the State Department and they're saying, 'Okay, we don't need anything else from you,'” Van Heerden said.

So now they wait.

“At the moment we have done everything,” he said. “All I have to do is pray and all we need is to share what I share on my social media and keep this story alive. This is the best we can do.”

Karelina, a dual citizen, has had her sentence appealed, so she has not yet been transferred to the penal colony and can receive visits from her family and letters from Van Heerden.

“We can write letters to each other twice a month,” he said. “So I write a letter to the prison, they read it, they scan it, they give it to her, she writes back, they read it, they scan it, they send it back to me.”

Whichever way you judge it, it's a terrible way to have a relationship, and given all this has happened, it has hastened Van Heerden's decision to retire in August.

“I wanted to do one more fight this year, but a big part of my retirement is because this is the hardest fight I've ever been in, which is the fight for this girl's freedom,” he said. “It takes up so much time and energy that I don't have time to really focus on boxing at the moment. “I just don't do it. Someone is counting on me and I'm in a tough fight right now, but I'm very confident that we'll win and soon we'll celebrate and soon she'll be back and we'll be able to do our to share story. It’s a beautiful love story.”

Van Heerden tries to stay positive, but in this situation he is unable to solve the problem on his own. It's the same as when his father Daniel was tragically murdered in 2018. However, he continues to fight, putting aside his own grief to carry on. And it has given him a drive he hasn't had since 2018.

“Every day I have something to do, emails to get back to, and I'm on the phone with either the State Department or my team,” he said. “I'm busy fighting for this girl's freedom. When I lost my father, I lost my fire. I have lost my passion. I have lost my will to win. I lost my love for boxing, but I still continued to fight. When I lost to Conor Benn in 2022, I made peace with it. I said, “You know what? I'm 35 years old, I don't want to do this. I don't lie to everyone. And I woke up every morning and asked myself: What is my goal?

“Fast forward to January 27th when my girlfriend was arrested. I now wake up every morning with a purpose. I live. I'm fighting for someone's freedom. It's a terrible situation but I'm alive and I feel like I have a goal and that is I have to get this girl out. And then people say, “But Chris, how much can you do?” Let me tell you how much I do. I’m literally the only one who can help get Ksenia out.”

That's because there has been no contact with her from US officials since last week, even though Karelina has been a US citizen since 2021.

“Russia does not recognize dual citizenship,” Van Heerden said. “Russia says she’s not American because she’s Russian, and they’re blocking all Americans from seeing her. So, the State Department, the White House, they get the information from me because I'm in contact with their lawyer and I'm in contact with their parents every day. I'm literally the guy in the middle connecting these dots and it's exhausting. But like I said, I feel more alive and have a purpose.”

As for Karelina, Van Heerden recognizes that there have understandably been some difficult moments in recent months, but now she is optimistic that this nightmare will eventually come to an end. Once she receives unlawful detainer status, it could just be a phone call without notice saying an exchange is taking place. And the couple are hoping the call comes sooner rather than later and that 2025 will be an even better new year than 2024.

“I have the fighting spirit in me and I know that I will push through it,” said Van Heerden. “And I believe that at the end of the day we will have something to celebrate and that something good will come of it. I believe it.”