Valeri Vladimirovich Popenchenko (Russian: Валерий Владимирович Попенченко) (August 26, 1937, Kuntsevo — February 15, 1975, Moscow) was an amateur boxer from the Soviet Union, who competed in the Middleweight division (– 75 kg) during his career, winning 200 of his 213 fights.
Popenchenko trained at Dynamo in Leningrad. He was the USSR Champion in 1959 and from 1961 to 1965. He became the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1964 and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in the following year. [1]
Popenchenko represented the Soviet Union at the Summer Olympics of 1964 beating Emil Schulz of the United Team of Germany in the final, after the referee stopped the contest (RSC). He was also named the Outstanding Boxer of the 1964 Olympics and given the Val Barker Trophy.
Death
In the mid 1970s Bauman Moscow State Technical University commenced construction of some new buildings and sporting facilities. As the head of the culture department, Popenchenko would often visit the construction site to check the work. On February 15 1975, Popenchenko was visiting the site and, while running down the stairs where handrails were not yet installed, he lost his balance, fell three floors and was killed; he was just 37 years old. He was buried at Vvedenskoye Cemetery. [2]
Olympic results
References
External links
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Awarded to the outstanding and most stylistic boxer of each Olympic Games | | |
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1904: 145-158 lb (65.8-71.7 kg), 1908: 140-158 lb (63.5-71.7 kg), 1920-1936: 147-160 lb (66.7-72.6 kg), 1948: 67-73 kg 1952-2000: 71-75 kg, 2004-2012: 69-75 kg | | |
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| Persondata |
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| Name |
Popenchenko, Valeri |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Boxer |
| Date of birth |
1937 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
1975 |
| Place of death |
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Soviet Union