Boris Nikolayevich Nikonorov (, 25 January 1939 – 30 August 2015) was a Russian amateur boxer who won a silver medal in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

division at the 1963 European Championships. He competed in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

, but lost in the third bout to the eventual winner Francesco Musso in a close decision (2:3). He withdrew from the 1964 Games due to an injury. Nikonorov had to shed 10 kg of bodyweight for the 1960 Olympics and consequently felt dizzy through most of the games. He fainted after his first bout, despite winning it. At those games he was befriended by the American gymnast

Doris Fuchs Doris Gudrun Fuchs (later ''Brause'', born June 11, 1938) is a retired American gymnast who won four gold medals at the 1963 Pan American Games. Biography Doris Fuchs was born in Villingen im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg in 1938. She and he ...

and later exchanged letters and gifts with her. Nikonorov spoke no English and was assisted by an interpreter. They met again in 1963, when American gymnasts visited Moscow for a Soviet-U.S. meet. Soviet authorities and the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

intercepted and suppressed their mail, threatening Nikinorov with repercussions if he didn't stop communicating with Fuchs. After a long struggle, he was forced to oblige. Nikonorov still hoped to see her at the 1964 Olympics, but could not attend – a month before he broke his toe in a friendly football game. Later in 1989, when the Soviet union was crumbling and its citizens were finally allowed to leave the country, he traveled to the United States, but didn't meet Fuchs, as both were married by the time. As a teenager Nikonorov wanted to become an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player, but was rejected at various clubs because of his small size. He took up boxing in 1953. Four years later he won a Soviet junior title and was included to the national team. He retired in 1966 with an estimated record of 250 wins out of 265 bouts. During his career he won the Soviet championships in the featherweight (1959–60) and lightweight divisions (1962–63, 1965–66). In retirement he coached boxers in his club Trudovye Rezervy, and was also involved with the Bulgarian (1970–74) and Soviet (1989) national teams. His trainees included 1972 Olympic medalists Georgi Kostadinov and

Angel Angelov Anghei Anghelov (more frequently transliteration, transliterated as Angel Angelov) (; born July 10, 1948) is a former boxing, boxer from Bulgaria, who won a silver medal in the light welterweight division the 1972 Summer Olympics. Anghelov los ...

References

1939 births 2015 deaths Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for the Soviet Union Russian male boxers Soviet male boxers Boxers from Moscow Featherweight boxers 20th-century Russian sportsmen {{Russia-boxing-bio-stub