Aleksandr Miroshnichenko

Aleksandr Viktorovich "Alex" Miroshnichenko (Александр Викторович Мирошниченко; 26 April 1964 – 19 May 2003) was a Russian-Kazakh professional boxer. As an amateur he represented the Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division.

His other accomplishments included silver at the 1989 World Championships, as well as bronze at the 1983 and 1989 European Championships, and other international tournaments.

Early years
Miroshnichenko took up boxing at the age of 13, at the strong insistence of his mother, who thought that her son must be able to defend himself, and brought him to the gym at his hometown of Kostanay. Miroshnichenko shown little interest in boxing, but had a natural talent and considerable ability to compete both nationally and internationally, which he did during the 1980s. He was ranked world's #6 super heavyweight by the AIBA in 1984.

Amateur career
Aside from his Olympic performance, Miroshnichenko had a distinguished amateur career, winning 210 out of 233 bouts, including a win over future world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and 1984 U.S. Army and inter-service champion Wesley Watson. He won medals in the European Championships and the World Cup, and was a three-time Soviet champion. He represented the Dynamo Sports Society. At the 1988 Olympics semifinals Miroshnichenko floored U.S. Riddick Bowe momentarily in the first round, but Bowe managed to win by the decision. Despite Miroshnichenko's loss to Bowe, Lou Falcigno, a New York-based boxing promoter of Momentum Enterprises, Inc., expressed a particular interest in bringing him to the United States to fight professionally. Negotiations began between the promoter and the Soviet Boxing Federation and Sovintersport, the entity responsible for the commercialization of Soviet sports, but proven unsuccessful as the Soviet government dismissed the idea early in 1989.

Highlights
President's Cup, Jakarta, Indonesia, February 1982: Friendship Tournament, Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, July 1982: European Championships, Varna, Bulgaria, May 1983: World Cup, Rome, Italy, October 1983: Giraldo Córdova Cardín, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, June 1985: Goodwill Games, Moscow, Soviet Union, July 1986: USA−USSR Middle & Heavy Duals, ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California, July 1986: USA−USSR Exhibition, Houston, Texas, August 1986: InterCup, Hemsbach, West Germany, April 1987: USA−USSR Heavy Duals, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, June 1987: Socialist Countries Police Championships, Pyongyang, North Korea, August 1987:
 * Finals: Lost to Francesco Damiani (Italy)
 * 1/2: Defeated Bohumil Hruška (Czechoslovakia) KO 1
 * Finals: Lost to Sven Karberg (East Germany) by walkover
 * 1/4: Defeated Olaf Mayer (Austria) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/2: Lost to Ulli Kaden (East Germany) by unanimous decision, 0–5
 * 1/2: Lost to Craig Payne (United States) by unanimous decision, 0–5
 * 1/2: Defeated Roberto Gómez (Cuba)
 * Finals: Lost to Jorge Luis González (Cuba) RSC 3
 * 1/2: Defeated Ali Al-Baluchi (Kuwait) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Finals: Lost to Vyacheslav Yakovlev (Soviet Union) by majority decision, 1–4
 * Defeated Wesley Watson (United States) KO 1 (1:01)
 * Defeated Troy Baudoin (United States) RSC 2 (1:48)
 * Finals: Lost to Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) DQ 2
 * Defeated George Kilbert Pierce (United States) by unanimous decision, 3–0
 * Finals: Defeated Peter Hrivňák (Czechoslovakia) RET 1

TSC Tournament, Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, Berlin, East Germany, September 1987: InterCup, Karlsruhe, West Germany, April 1988: Olympic SuperHeavy qualifications, Karlsruhe, West Germany, April 1988: Pre-Olympic Tournament, Seoul, South Korea, March 1988: USSR−USA Duals, Moscow, Soviet Union, 1988: Summer Olympics, Seoul, South Korea, September 1988: European Championships, Athens, Greece, May 1989: World Championships, Moscow, Soviet Union, September–October 1989:
 * 1/4: Defeated Lino Pairol (Cuba)
 * 1/2: Defeated István Szikora (Hungary) RET 3
 * Finals: Lost to Ulli Kaden by unanimous decision, 0–5
 * Finals: Defeated Lennox Lewis (Canada) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/4: Defeated István Szikora (Hungary) by decision
 * 1/2: Defeated Azis Salihu (Yugoslavia)
 * Finals: Defeated Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) by walkover
 * Defeated Ulli Kaden (East Germany) by split decision, 3–2
 * Defeated Riddick Bowe (United States) by decision
 * 1/8: Defeated Ali Al-Baluchi (Kuwait) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/4: Defeated Kim Yoo-Hyun (South Korea) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/2: Lost to Riddick Bowe (United States) by unanimous decision, 0–5 (Bowe knocked down at 2:16 of the 1st rd; Bowe was given a standing eight count at 2:35 of the 1st rd; Miroshnichenko had his mouthpiece knocked off at 0:30 of the 3rd rd; Miroshnichenko was given a standing eight count at 1:10 and 1:35 of the 3rd rd)
 * 1/8: Defeated Pekka Viippo (Finland) KO 1
 * 1/4: Defeated Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) KO 2
 * 1/2: Lost to Ulli Kaden (East Germany) by majority decision, 1–4
 * 1/4: Defeated Andreas Schnieders (West Germany) RSCH 2
 * 1/2: Defeated Ladislav Husarik (Czechoslovakia) on points, 19–5
 * Finals: Lost to Roberto Balado (Cuba) on points, 9–18 (Balado knocked down at 1:30 of the 3rd rd)

He had 233 fights as an amateur, finishing his amateur career with a record of 210–23.

Professional career
Miroshnichenko turned pro in 1990, at the very advent of professional boxing in the late Soviet Union, and had limited success. He began his career by knocking out Roberto Servin in the first round. In Miroshnichenko's third fight, he stopped future WBC International Champion, Ross Puritty.

In 1991, Miroshnichenko won the vacant Russian Heavyweight title from Nurlan Dzhanibekov. After vacating the Russian title in 1992, Miroshnichenko won a very close Split Decision against Samuel M'Bendjob by only one point. In 1993, Miroshnichenko beat former IBF Cruiserweight Champion, Ricky Parkey in an impressive third round Knockout.

After 21 consecutive wins against limited competition, Miroshnichenko was finally defeated by Oleg Maskaev in 1993 in Maskaev's first pro fight: a TKO in the third round. Miroshnichenko's cornermen later told that he entered the bout with his arm fractured. Miroshnichenko retired after the bout.

Retirement and later years
Upon his retirement from competition, he opened a state-sponsored boxing school for youth, and worked as a chief boxing coach of the Kostanay Region in 2000-2002. He also helped to establish the school of martial arts at the Kostanay State University (the only martial arts higher education unit in Kazakhstan,) which he headed as a dean until his death.

Death
Miroshnichenko died under unclear circumstances in 2003, aged 39, after supposedly falling down nine flights of stairs at his apartment building in his hometown. Rumours initially circulated that his death was related to his testimony in the trial of a local judge, but local prosecutor's office later ruled his death was most probably accidental, and case was closed.

Memory
Alexandr Miroshnichenko Memorial annual junior boxing tournament has been established in his hometown of Kostanay.