Oleg Grigoryevich Grigoryev

Oleg Grigorjewitsch Grigorjew ( Russian Олег Георгиевич Григорьев ; born December 25, 1937 in Moscow ) is a former Soviet boxer . He was Olympic champion in Rome in 1960 and three-time European champion for amateurs, each in bantam weight (up to 54 kg body weight).

Career

Oleg Grigoryev started boxing as a teenager at "Trud Rezervy" (Workers' Reserves) Moscow . In 1957 he made his first lasting appearance when he finished 2nd in the Soviet bantamweight championship behind two-time vice European champion Boris Stepanov . Apparently he had won the trust of the responsible coaches Ogurenkow and Tscherbakow, because he was used in the European championship in Prague in the same year . Grigoryev was able to convince there completely and won over the Finn Limonen on points, came in the quarterfinals to a non-fighting victory over the Austrian Huber, because he was injured, and in the semifinals clearly defeated the Hamburg Peter Goschka on points. In the final he also won over the Italian Gianfranco Piovanesi clearly on points and was thus European bantamweight champion.

In 1958, Oleg Grigoryev then won the Soviet bantamweight championship for the first time by winning points over Boris Stepanov. International championships did not take place this year.

In 1959, Oleg Grigoryev was absent from the Soviet championship. But he was back in the bantamweight division at the European Championships in Lucerne . He won there u. a. in the semifinals over the Poland Zygmunt Zawadzki and met 19-year-old Horst Rascher from the Federal Republic of Germany in the final . Surprisingly, he found no attitude against the fast German during the whole fight and lost on points by unanimous decision.

In 1960 Grigoryev lost again to Boris Stepanov in the Soviet championship, but was still used at the Olympic Games in Rome . There he won in the round of 16 over Waldemiro Claudiano from Brazil clearly on points, but was lucky in his next fight that he was awarded a 3-2 point victory against the Briton Francis Taylor. In the quarter-finals he beat the Burmese Thein Myint on points and in the semifinals he beat the Pole Brunon Bendig , who had scored Horst Rascher in the quarter-finals, with 4-1 judges' votes. In the final he had to fight hard against the Italian Primo Zamparini , who was fanatically cheered on by 20,000 compatriots, to get a narrow 3-2 point win. The Italians were not at all satisfied with this decision, they were of the opinion that Zamparini had won the fight. Despite this, Oleg Grigoryev was Olympic champion .

1961 did not start Grigoryev in the Soviet championship; at the European Championships this year in Belgrade , Sergei Sivko was used in the bantamweight division. Grigoryev had meanwhile entered the Red Army and was now a member of the Central Sports Club of the Army (CSKA) Moscow. He was then at the start of the 2nd championship of the armies of the socialist states in Sofia , where he won the bantamweight battle over Kostadin Georgiev from Bulgaria on points.

In 1962, Oleg Grigoryev became Soviet champion for the second time after 1958. He defeated Sergei Sivko on points in the final. Then he won in the Czech Kromeriz at the 3rd championship of the armies of the social states in the final by a renewed victory over Kostadin Georgiev.

In 1963, Oleg Grigoryev landed his third title win at the Soviet championship and won the European bantamweight title for the second time in Moscow. He only had to fight three fights and defeated Ferenc Csega from Hungary and Reiner Poser from the GDR on points and was knocked out in the final in the third round over the Yugoslav Branislav Petric.

After winning again the title at the Soviet championship in 1964, where he defeated Sergei Siwko on points in the final, he was also used at the Olympic Games in Tokyo . He won there in the round of 16 over the 1960 Olympic flyweight champion, the Hungarian Gyula Török , by knockout in the 2nd round, but already experienced a nasty surprise in the quarterfinals when he clearly lost on points against the unorthodox boxing Mexican Juan Fabila Mendoza .

Oleg Grigoryev was not discouraged by this disappointment and in 1965 again celebrated great successes. He won again at the Soviet bantamweight championship and came in the same weight class at the EM in East Berlin to his third title win. He won over Jimmy Henry from Ireland , Tibor Papp from Hungary , Niculae Giju from Romania and Jan Galaszka from Poland each on points.

In 1966 Grigoryev paused at championships and in 1967 won his sixth championship title at the Soviet championship after 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965. But he could not be satisfied with the end of his international career, because he lost to Jan Galaszka in the preliminary round at the European Championships this year in Rome and was eliminated.

Overall, Oleg Grigoryev was one of the most successful amateur bantamweight boxers who ever stood in the ring, with an Olympic victory, three European championship titles and six Soviet championship titles.

After 1967 he attended the Ivanovo State Pedagogical Institute and became a teacher. For his achievements in the ring he received a. a. the title "Honored Master of Sports of the USSR" and the Order of the Red Banner. He celebrated his 70th birthday in December 2007 in Moscow in excellent health.

International battles

• 1957 in Hamburg , FRG against USSR , knockout winner 3rd round over Malchow, Weinheim ,
• 1957 in Kiel , FRG against USSR, points winner over Peter Goschka , Hamburg ,
• 1958 in Moscow , USSR against FRG, points winner over Eickelmann, Cologne ,
• 1959 in Dortmund , FRG against USSR, points winner over Otto Schröck, Schweinfurt ,
• 1960 in Stockholm , Scandinavia against USSR, point winner over V. Lindblad, Sweden ,
• 1960 in Moscow, USSR against FRG, point defeat against Horst Rascher , Ulm ,
• 1962 in London , England against USSR, points winner over Peter Bennyworth,
• 1962 in Wolverhampton , England against USSR, points winner over Eddie Ashwell,
• 1963 in Łódź , Poland against USSR, points winner over Brunon Bendig ,
• 1964 in Moscow, USSR against Poland, points winner over Stanislaw Zydaczek,
• 1967 in Berlin , West Berlin against the USSR, points winner over Burkhard Barnowski

Results of the Soviet championships with Oleg Grigoryev

• 1957: 1. Boris Stepanow , 2. Oleg Grigoryev, 3. I. Ivanov,
• 1958: 1. Oleg Grigoryev, 2. Boris Stepanow, 3. S. Chatulidi,
• 1960: 1. Boris Stepanow, 2. Oleg Grigorjew, 3. E. Jerkin a. Vyacheslav Chernov,
• 1962: 1. Oleg Grigorjew, 2. Sergej Siwko , 3. B. Nadeschdin a. Vladimir Botvinik,
• 1963: 1. Oleg Grigorjew, 2. Vladimir Garanin, 3. Alexander Schaschkow a. Zabrail Yusufow,
• 1964: 1. Oleg Grigorjew, 2. Sergej Siwko, 3. Vitali Bendalowski a. Alexander Shashkov,
• 1965: 1. Oleg Grigoryev, 2. Algis Zurza, 3. W. Beluschow et al. Piotr Tschedinskitsch,
• 1967: 1. Oleg Grigoryev, 2. B. Nyazow, 3. Wladimir Garanin a. Vitaly Bendalowski

swell

• Box Sport magazine from 1957 to 1967,
• BOX ALMANACH 1920 - 1980 , published by the German Amateur Boxing Association, 1980,
• Website "www.sport-komplett.de",
• Website "www.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl",
• Website "www.pro-box.ru"

Web link

• Portrait of Oleg Grigoryev in Russian