Oleg Platov (born 8 April 1983 in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

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 ...

) is a Ukrainian former

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 ...

who fought in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division.

Professional career

Debut fight

After leaving the amateurs ranks Platov was based in Belgium when he became a professional. His first pro bout was in May 2001, winning in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, when Platov beat fellow debutant French fighter Jacques Bret with a first round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

Belgian base

Platov fought his first 20 fights in Belgium, suffering only one defeat which was a points defeat to Ludovic Mace. He faced Mace again six months later and avenged the loss, KO'ing Mace in the third round.

First belt

Whilst still based in Belgium, Platov fought for his first title belt against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian Igor Shukala in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium for the vacant WBC World Youth heavyweight title. Platov knocked the previously unbeaten Shukala out in the first round to take the title. On November 4, 2006, he fought the former #1 contender

Henry Akinwande Henry Adetokunboh Akinwande (born 12 October 1965) is a British former WBO boxing world champion who competed from 1989 to 2008. He held the WBO heavyweight title from 1996 to 1997, as well as the Commonwealth heavyweight title in 1993, and t ...

and won a split decision. This was his greatest achievement, as Akinwande's record at the time was 49–2 and he had fought for the WBC title against

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, ...

previously. In December 2007 he fought Danny Williams, another former title contender. The bout ended with a no-decision after Platov was cut over the left eye following an accidental headbutt and the referee stopped the contest. Platov was then inactive for just over a year, before returning against Jason Gavern, in Zurich, Switzerland. Platov won a clear 8-round decision, flooring Gavern in the sixth round. Over the next four years, Platov only fought 3 more times, winning them all. His final bout was in November 2012, when he fought in America for the first time, knocking out Harold Sconiers in 2 rounds - his record after this fight was W-30; L-1. D-0; 1 No Contest.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* 1983 births Living people Heavyweight boxers Ukrainian male boxers Boxers from Dnipro {{Ukraine-boxing-bio-stub