Siarhei Piatrovich Liakhovich ((; born 29 May 1976) is a Belarusian 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 competed from 1998 to 2020. He held the

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO)

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 ...

title in 2006. At regional level, he held the Belarus heavyweight title from 1998 to 2001. 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 won a bronze medal at the 1997 World Championships.

Amateur career

Liakhovich was born in

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

, in the former

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

(now Belarus), and represented Belarus at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He was a long-time amateur who won a bronze medal at the 1997 World Championships. He amassed a 145–15 record before turning pro in 1998.

Professional career

His first defeat occurred on June 1, 2002, when he was

knocked out 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, a ...

by Maurice Harris in the 9th round. Liakhovich won the WBO title from Lamon Brewster on April 1, 2006. Liakhovich was knocked down in the 7th round, but went on to win on points via

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

. He lost the title to former Lineal heavyweight champion

Shannon Briggs Shannon Briggs (born December 4, 1971) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1992 and 2016. He held the lineal heavyweight title from 1997 to 1998, and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title from 2006 to 2 ...

technical 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, a ...

in the 12th round on November 4, 2006, after being knocked down twice. On February 16, 2008, Liakhovich lost to

Nikolai Valuev Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev ( rus, Никола́й Серге́евич Валу́ев, p=vɐˈlujɪf; born 21 August 1973) is a Russian politician and former professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1993 to 2009, and held the World Boxing ...

by unanimous decision following a one-sided contest. He won his next two fights a first-round TKO of Jeremy Bates on November 7, 2009 in Nuremberg, Germany and a 9th-round KO of Evans Quinn in

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

, Germany on May 22, 2010 on the undercard of Chagaev-Meehan. On August 9, 2013, Liakhovich fought American heavyweight

Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion si ...

. Wilder won the fight with a first-round knockout. In February 2014, Liakhovich achieved his first win in four years with a unanimous decision over journeyman Chad Davis.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liakhovich, Siarhei 1976 births Living people Heavyweight boxers Belarusian male boxers World Boxing Organization champions Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Belarus Sportspeople from Vitebsk World heavyweight boxing champions AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Super-heavyweight boxers