Raimkul Khudoynazarovich Malakhbekov (russian: Раимкуль Худойназарович Малахбеков; born 16 August 1974 in

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (ru ...

Tajik SSR The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic,, ''Çumhuriji Şūraviji Sotsialistiji Toçikiston''; russian: Таджикская Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Tadzhikskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Resp ...

) is one of highest titled boxers of Russia, who won two Olympic medals in the Men's Bantamweight (54 kg) category.

Biography

Malakhbekovs origins take root in

Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, which is also known as

Pamir Pamir may refer to: Geographical features * Pamir Mountains, a mountain range in Central Asia ** Pamir-Alay, a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, part of the Pamir Mountains *A pamir (valley) is a high plateau or valley surro ...

. He graduated from the

Tajik Institute of Physical Culture Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Tajikistan * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik (surname) * Tajik cu ...

, majoring in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

. His interest and passion for boxing grew when as a kid he visited the Dushanbe Sports Palace with his older brothers, who were training as boxers. It is in Dushanbe that he met his future coach and mentor- Tsiren Balzanov (russian: Цирен Санджеевич Балзанов, who was his trainer in Dushanbe initially, and after leaving to his native Republic of Kalmykia of the Russian Federation, invited Raimkul to Kalmykia. Although born and brought up in Tajikistan, Balzanov left after a civil war engulfed Tajikistan and his grandfather's name, noble status and part of property were rehabilitated. His grandfather is said to have been from a noble family, had high military rank, and numerous honors for his heroism in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, who was subjected to repression and expulsion to Kangurt of Tajikistan, where Balzanov was born. In 1993, at the age of 19 Malakhbekov also left his home country- Tajikistan that was devastated from civil war for Russia to seek better opportunities. Initially, he settled in Moscow, but after reconnecting with his former trainer Balzanov he moved to

Elista Elista (russian: Элиста́, (common during the Soviet era) or (most common pronunciation used after 1992 and in Kalmykia itself);"Большой энциклопедический словарь", под ред. А. М. Прохорова. ...

and restarted his boxing career. The right mixture of his unique physical conditioning, hard work and determination was noticed by his trainer promised a bright boxing career.

Boxing Career and achievements

In his boxing career Malakhbekov won two Olympic medals in the Men's Bantamweight (54 kg) category. He also won the title at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, and the European title in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

Bursa, Turkey ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

and 2002 in Perm, Russia. During his boxing career he has won seven times the Russian National Championships and numerous other tournaments. He was also among the winners of the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York USA.

Olympic results

1996 (bronze medalist) *Defeated José Miguel Cotto (Puerto Rico) 16-6 *Defeated Abdelaziz Boulehia (Algeria) RSC 3 (2:52) *Defeated Davaatseren Jamgan (Mongolia) 21-9 *Lost to

Arnaldo Mesa Arnaldo Mesa Bonell (6 December 1967 – 17 December 2012) was an amateur boxer from Cuba, who won the silver medal for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. In the final of the Bantamweight (– 54 ...

(Cuba) 14-14, referee decision 2000 (silver medalist) *Defeated Ceferino Labarda (Argentina) RSC 3 *Defeated Theimuraz Khurtsilava (Georgia) 13-7 *Defeated Alisher Rahimov (Uzbekistan) 16-10 *Defeated Sergey Danilchenko (Ukraine) 15-10 *Lost to Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (Cuba) 12-18

End of Boxing Career

Malakhbekov officially ended his career after his last fight at the European Championship in

Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places *Perm, Russia, a city in Russia ** Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 **Perm Governorate, an administra ...

in 2002, in which he won the gold medal. He said in an interview to a journalist that "the sport is becoming more and more business oriented, rather than art oriented".

Personal life

Malakhbekov is married to Sokina and lives in

. His hobby is cars. He loves cars and owns a Jaguar. He is enjoying his new profession of politician as a delegate to the parliament of Kalmykia and an advisor to the President for Physical Education and Sports. He also enjoys the status of an Honored Hero of Kalmykia and Honored Master of Sports of Russia,

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds ...

and Order for Merits before the country of second degree.

External links

Tajiks in Russia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malakhbekov, Raimkul 1974 births Living people Tajikistani male boxers Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Sportspeople from Dushanbe Olympic medalists in boxing Tajikistani emigrants to Russia Russian people of Tajikistani descent Soviet male boxers Russian male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Bantamweight boxers Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games