Roman Romanovich Romanchuk (; 3 June 1979 – 8 September 2016) was a Ukrainian (until 2000) and Russian (since 2000)

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 won silver at super heavyweight during the

2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships The men's 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Mianyang, China, from November 13 to November 20. The competition was organised by the world's governing body for amateur boxing AIBA. Medal winners Medal table External lin ...

and helped the Russian team win the

2005 Boxing World Cup The 2005 Boxing World Cup was held in Moscow, Russia from July 12 to July 17. Group 1 Cuba-Thailand Cuba-Romania Romania-Thailand Final ranking Group 2 Russia-Belarus United States-Belarus Russia-United States Final ranking Grou ...

. He also had success as an amateur

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

Biography

Career

Romanchuk was born in

Stryi Stryi (, ; ) is a city in Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the left bank of the Stryi (river), Stryi River, approximately south of Lviv in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. It serves as the administrative center of Stryi R ...

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is History Name The region is named ...

, Ukrainian SSR, in 1979. Southpaw Romanchuk, whose father also was a successful amateur boxer, started to box in 1997. He later gained Russian citizenship in 2000. In 2002 and 2003, he finished second at 201 lbs in the national championships to fellow southpaw Aleksandr Alekseyev. He won the title in 2004 and 2006. Romanchuk participated in the open weight class super heavyweight at the

where he defeated

Rustam Saidov Rustam Saidov (Рустам Саидов; born 6 February 1978) is a boxer from Uzbekistan, who competed in the Super Heavyweight (+91 kg) at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal. Career In Athens at the 2004 Summer Olympics, h ...

and future world champion

Roberto Cammarelle Roberto Cammarelle (born 30 July 1980) is an Italian amateur boxer, best known for winning the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2007 (Chicago) and 2009 (Milan) as a super heavyweight and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing ...

34:27 in the semis but lost the final to Odlanier Solis whom he had beaten on other occasions. The same year he was part of the Russian team which won the

. Back at 201 lbs, he was sensationally upset 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 ...

by Ukrainian puncher Denis Poyatsika who managed to stop him in the final. In 2007, he surprisingly lost to his compatriot and fellow southpaw

Rakhim Chakhkeiv Rakhim Ruslanovich Chakhkiev (; born 11 January 1983) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2016.. Retrieved 2 October 2016. He held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) cruiserweight title in 2015, the Europea ...

and could not go to the World Championships in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Later life

On 28 July 2008, Romanchuk was arrested by

the police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

, Russia, for shooting a man in the eye in a drunken fight. He was convicted of "murder committed with excessive force in self-defense" and sentenced to 1 year 6 months of imprisonment on 27 March 2009. According to the judge, the victim, 22-year-old Oleg Meshkov, attacked Romanchuk, but Romanchuk went beyond self-defense when he took the Osa non-lethal pistol from Meshkov, shot him in the face and punched and kicked him in the head. His conviction was overturned on appeal on 28 July 2009 and at the time of his death he was facing a second trial. Romanchuk died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 8 September 2016 at the age of 37.Roman Romanchuk passed away
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Titles

Boxing *2006 E.A.B.A. European Amateur Boxing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria +91 kg *2005 A.I.B.A. World Amateur Boxing Championships in Mianyang, China +91 kg *2005 Boxing World Cup in Moscow, Russia -91 kg (team event) Kickboxing *2001 W.A.K.O. World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro –81 kg (full-contact)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanchuk, Roman 1979 births 2016 deaths Heavyweight boxers People from Stryi Ukrainian male boxers Super-heavyweight boxers Russian male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Ukrainian emigrants to Russia Naturalized citizens of Russia Sportspeople from Lviv Oblast 20th-century Russian sportsmen