David Valeryevich Ayrapetyan (, born 26 September 1983) is an Armenian-Russian

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, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

. He is a six-time Champion of Russia, European Champion, World and Olympic medalist. Ayrapetyan was awarded the Honored Master of Sports of Russia title in 2009.

Early life

David was born on 26 October 1983 in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

to an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

family. David received his name from his uncle, his fathers brother. His uncle was a wrestler and took David to his practices. After the beginning of the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

and the subsequent Baku pogrom, the family was forced to move to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and then later to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. They lived in

Pyatigorsk Pyatigorsk (; Circassian languages, Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody, which has an i ...

for 13 years. The family rented a room in a four-storey apartment in which David's parents, brother and grandmother lived in. In the fourth grade, David already knew some basics of combat from his uncle and once got into a fight with two classmates. He fought for what was right, but didn't win. When David came home, he scattered all of his school things around the house because he was angry. When his mother came home from work, he told her what's wrong, and she started crying and tried to clam him. His mother told him to go take revenge and he did. This is how everything started. Ayrapetyan started boxing when he was 13 years old under Valery Entaltseva. He graduated from North Caucasus State Technical University, Faculty of Law, Stavropol, Russia.

Career

Ayrapetyan became the 2002 World Youth Champion in his weight class after boxing for just six years. He was included in the Russian national boxing team in 2006 and won a gold medal at the

2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria from July 13 to July 23. The 36th edition of this bi-annual competition was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA. Medal winners M ...

in Plovdiv. Ayrapetyan is only the second Russian boxer to become a European Champion in the light flyweight division, after the highly decorated veteran

Sergey Kazakov Sergey Kazakov (born July 8, 1976) is a Russian amateur boxer best known for winning the World Championships 2003 and European Championships 1998, 2002 and 2004 in the Men's Light Flyweight. Kazakov won the European Championships in 1998. In 20 ...

. In 2006 and 2007, Ayrapetyan beat Kazakov at the Russian Championships and took his spot on the national team as first in the light flyweight division. At the

2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Chicago, United States from October 23, 2007 to November 3, 2007. It was held at the UIC Pavilion. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The competition is under the super ...

, Ayrapetyan beat returning Vice-Champion

Pál Bedák Pál Bedák (born September 8, 1985 in Budapest) is a boxer from Hungary best known for winning the silver medal at the 2005 World Championships. His elder brother Zsolt Bedák is a bantamweight boxer. At his international debut Bedák won t ...

in the first round but next lost to reigning World Champion

Zou Shiming Zou Shiming (; born 18 May 1981) is a Chinese former boxer and two-time Olympic champion. In amateur boxing, he is China's most successful boxer of all time. In the light-flyweight division, he won three consecutive Olympic medals (bronze in 200 ...

, who went on to win the World Championships again. Ayrapetyan competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing. He unexpectedly lost in the first match to

Georgiy Chygayev Georgiy Chygayev (; born October 19, 1983, in Lviv) is a Ukrainian amateur boxer in the flyweight division who qualified for the 2008 Olympics and won a gold medal at the 2008 European championships. 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships At ...

, who won the European Championship at flyweight that year and then moved down in weight class. Ayrapetyan reached the finals at the

2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2009 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Milan, Italy, from September 1, 2009 to September 12, 2009, in the Mediolanum Forum. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The competition was under the supervision of the ...

in Milan and won the silver medal. He won a bronze medal at the

2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships was held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 22 to October 10, 2011. The competition ran under the supervision of the world's governing body for amateur ...

after losing to now reigning World and Olympic Champion Shiming, who went on to win the World Championship yet again. Ayrapetyan advanced to the semifinals at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and won an Olympic bronze medal.

Awards

*Medal of the Order, For Services to the Fatherland, II degree (13 August 2012) - for outstanding contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high achievements in sports at the

in London, United Kingdom.

References

External links

*
Profile on the Russian Boxing Federation Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayrapetyan, David 1983 births Living people Boxers from Baku Armenian male boxers Light-flyweight boxers Olympic boxers for Russia Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Olympic medalists in boxing Russian sportspeople of Armenian descent Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Russian male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists 21st-century Russian sportsmen