Aleksandr Viktorovich "Alex" Miroshnichenko (; 26 April 1964 – 19 May 2003) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

- Kazakh

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

he represented the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

, winning a bronze medal in the

super-heavyweight Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and competitive bodybuilding. Boxing In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Introduced for t ...

division. His other accomplishments included silver at the 1989 World Championships, as well as bronze at the

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and 1989 European Championships, and other international tournaments.

Early years

Miroshnichenko took up boxing at the age of 13, at the strong insistence of his mother, who thought that her son must be able to defend himself, and brought him to the gym at his hometown of

Kostanay Kostanay or Qostanai (, , rus, Костанай, p=kəstɐˈnaj) is a city located on the Tobol River in northern Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of the Kostanay Region. As of 24 March 2022, the city's governor is Marat Zhundubay ...

. Miroshnichenko shown little interest in boxing, but had a natural talent and considerable ability to compete both nationally and internationally, which he did during the 1980s. He was ranked world's #6 super heavyweight by the

AIBA The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. ...

in 1984.

Amateur career

Aside from his Olympic performance, Miroshnichenko had a distinguished amateur career, winning 210 out of 233 bouts, including a win over future world heavyweight champion

Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a British-Canadian boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division from 1989 to 2003. He was a three-time world champion, a two-time lineal champion, ...

and 1984 U.S. Army and inter-service champion

Wesley Watson Wesley Page Watson Jr. (born September 16, 1962, in Bristol, Tennessee) is a retired American heavyweight boxing, boxer best known for his successful amateur boxing career. Early years Watson played three years of varsity basketball at Howard be ...

. He won medals in the European Championships and the World Cup, and was a three-time Soviet champion. He represented the

Dynamo Sports Society "Dynamo", also Dinamo (; ; ; ka, დინამო, tr), is a sports and fitness society created in 1923 in the Soviet Union. The society was an association of multi-sport clubs whose members were drawn from the NKVD and, after World War II, ...

. At the 1988 Olympics semifinals Miroshnichenko floored U.S.

Riddick Bowe Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967) is an American former professional boxer and professional kickboxer who competed between 1989 and 2008 in boxing, and from 2013 to 2016 in kickboxing (Muay Thai). He held the undisputed world heavyweig ...

momentarily in the first round, but Bowe managed to win by the decision. Despite Miroshnichenko's loss to Bowe, Lou Falcigno, a New York-based boxing promoter of Momentum Enterprises, Inc., expressed a particular interest in bringing him to the United States to fight professionally. Negotiations began between the promoter and the Soviet Boxing Federation and Sovintersport, the entity responsible for the commercialization of Soviet sports, but proven unsuccessful as the Soviet government dismissed the idea early in 1989.

Highlights

President's Cup,

Jakarta, Indonesia Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, February 1982: *Finals: Lost to

Francesco Damiani Francesco Damiani (born 4 October 1958) is an Italian former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1993. He was the first WBO heavyweight champion, having held the title from 1989 to 1991, as well as the European heavyweight title from 19 ...

(Italy) Friendship Tournament,

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. ...

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, July 1982: *1/2: Defeated Bohumil Hruška (Czechoslovakia) KO 1 *Finals: Lost to Sven Karberg (East Germany) by walkover

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Varna, Bulgaria Varna (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, t ...

, May 1983: *1/4: Defeated Olaf Mayer (Austria) by unanimous decision, 5–0 *1/2: Lost to

Ulli Kaden Ulrich Kaden (born 9 March 1959 in Munich) is a former East German amateur boxer, best known for winning the European title 1987 and 1989 at super heavyweight. Career Kaden was 1980 to 1988 nine times champion of East Germany. In 1981 he lost i ...

(East Germany) by unanimous decision, 0–5

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

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, October 1983: *1/2: Lost to

Craig Payne Craig Payne (May 22, 1961 – April 7, 2017) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2001, challenging for the IBO heavyweight title in 1992. As an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves super heavyweight title in 1983. ...

(United States) by unanimous decision, 0–5 Giraldo Córdova Cardín,

Ciego de Ávila, Cuba Ciego is a Spanish word meaning "blind". It may refer to: Places *Ciego de Ávila, a Cuban city, seat of the homonym province *Ciego de Ávila Province, a Cuban province *Arriete-Ciego Montero, a Cuban village in Cienfuegos Province Other *Ciego ...

, June 1985: *1/2: Defeated Roberto Gómez (Cuba) *Finals: Lost to

Jorge Luis González Jorge Luis González (born October 19, 1964) (DOB disputed) is a former heavyweight boxing contender and prospect born in Havana, Cuba. He won the gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1987 Pan American Games and the former WBO Lat ...

(Cuba) RSC 3

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Moscow, Soviet Union Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, July 1986: *1/2: Defeated Ali Al-Baluchi (Kuwait) by unanimous decision, 5–0 *Finals: Lost to Vyacheslav Yakovlev (Soviet Union) by majority decision, 1–4 USA−USSR Middle & Heavy Duals,

ARCO Arena ARCO Arena (known as Power Balance Pavilion from 2011 to 2012 and Sleep Train Arena from 2012 until 2022) was an indoor arena located in Sacramento, California, United States. Opened in 1988, it was the home of the Sacramento Kings of the Nation ...

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, July 1986: *Defeated

(United States) KO 1 USA−USSR Exhibition,

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, August 1986: *Defeated Troy Baudoin (United States) RSC 2 InterCup,

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West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, April 1987: *Finals: Lost to Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) DQ 2 USA−USSR Heavy Duals,

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

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, June 1987: *Defeated George Kilbert Pierce (United States) by unanimous decision, 3–0 Socialist Countries Police Championships,

Pyongyang, North Korea Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, August 1987: *Finals: Defeated Peter Hrivňák (Czechoslovakia) RET 1 TSC Tournament, Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle,

Berlin, East Germany East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

, September 1987: *1/4: Defeated Lino Pairol (Cuba) *1/2: Defeated

István Szikora István Szikora (born 5 March 1964) is a Hungarian boxer. He competed in the men's super heavyweight event at the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as ...

(Hungary) RET 3 *Finals: Lost to

by unanimous decision, 0–5 InterCup,

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, April 1988: *Finals: Defeated

(Canada) by unanimous decision, 5–0 Olympic SuperHeavy qualifications,

, April 1988: *1/4: Defeated

(Hungary) by decision *1/2: Defeated Azis Salihu (Yugoslavia) *Finals: Defeated Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) by walkover Pre-Olympic Tournament,

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, March 1988: *Defeated

(East Germany) by split decision, 3–2 USSR−USA Duals,

, 1988: *Defeated

(United States) by decision

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, September 1988: *1/8: Defeated Ali Al-Baluchi (Kuwait) by unanimous decision, 5–0 *1/4: Defeated

Kim Yoo-Hyun Kim Yoo-Hyun () is a former South Korean amateur boxer An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, ...

(South Korea) by unanimous decision, 5–0 *1/2: Lost to

(United States) by unanimous decision, 0–5

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, May 1989: *1/8: Defeated Pekka Viippo (Finland) KO 1 *1/4: Defeated Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) KO 2 *1/2: Lost to

(East Germany) by majority decision, 1–4

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, September–October 1989: *1/4: Defeated Andreas Schnieders (West Germany) RSCH 2 *1/2: Defeated Ladislav Husarik (Czechoslovakia) on points, 19–5 *Finals: Lost to

Roberto Balado Roberto Balado Méndez (15 February 1969 – 2 July 1994) was a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1986 to 1994. At the 1992 Summer Olympics he won a Gold medal in the men's super heavyweight (+91 kg). A natural heavyweight, he w ...

(Cuba) on points, 9–18 He had 233 fights as an amateur, finishing his amateur career with a record of 210–23.

Professional career

Miroshnichenko turned pro in 1990, at the very advent of professional boxing in the late Soviet Union, and had limited success. He began his career by knocking out Roberto Servin in the first round. In Miroshnichenko's third fight, he stopped future WBC International Champion,

Ross Puritty Ross Puritty (born December 18, 1966) is an American former professional boxer. A high-level journeyman and occasional heavyweight contender, Puritty is best remembered for his shocking upset of Wladimir Klitschko in 1998 that won him the WBC in ...

. In 1991, Miroshnichenko won the vacant Russian Heavyweight title from Nurlan Dzhanibekov. After vacating the Russian title in 1992, Miroshnichenko won a very close Split Decision against Samuel M'Bendjob by only one point. In 1993, Miroshnichenko beat former IBF Cruiserweight Champion,

Ricky Parkey Ricky Parkey (November 7, 1956 – April 7, 2024) was an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1986 to 1987. Professional career Parkey turned professional in 1981 and won the IBF cruiserweight title with a TKO ...

in an impressive third round Knockout. After 21 consecutive wins against limited competition, Miroshnichenko was finally defeated by

Oleg Maskaev Oleg Alexandrovich Maskaev (; born 2 March 1969) is a Kazakhstani-born former professional boxer of Mordvinian origin, who competed from 1995 to 2013, and held the WBC heavyweight title from 2006 to 2008. Throughout his career, he represented ...

in 1993 in Maskaev's first pro fight: a TKO in the third round. Miroshnichenko's cornermen later told that he entered the bout with his

arm fracture In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between the ...

d. Miroshnichenko retired after the bout.

Retirement and later years

Upon his retirement from competition, he opened a state-sponsored boxing school for youth, and worked as a chief boxing coach of the

Kostanay Region Kostanay Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. Its administrative center is the city of Kostanay. The population of the region is 835,686. The population living in Kostanay is 207,000 which is equivalent to 23% of the region. Geography Kosta ...

in 2000-2002. He also helped to establish the school of martial arts at the Kostanay State University (the only martial arts higher education unit in Kazakhstan,) which he headed as a

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

until his death.

Death

Miroshnichenko died under unclear circumstances in 2003, aged 39, after supposedly falling down nine flights of stairs at his apartment building in his hometown.Olympic boxing medalist dies after falling nine floors in building; 38
''Lowell Sun'', May 21, 2003, p. 15. Rumours initially circulated that his death was related to his testimony in the trial of a local judge, but local prosecutor's office later ruled his death was most probably accidental, and case was closed.

Professional boxing record

Memory

Alexandr Miroshnichenko Memorial annual junior boxing tournament has been established in his hometown of

References

External links

Amateur Record
*
history

Один из первых наших профи
(in Russian) at Sports.kz {{DEFAULTSORT:Miroshnichenko, Aleksandr 1964 births 2003 deaths Deaths from falls Sportspeople from Kostanay Accidental deaths from falls Soviet male boxers Heavyweight boxers Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Accidental deaths in Kazakhstan Olympic medalists in boxing Kazakhstani people of Ukrainian descent Kazakhstani male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in boxing Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games