Rufat Asadowitsch Riskiev

Rufat Asadowitsch Riskijew ( Uzbek Rufat Risqiyev ; born October 2, 1949 ) is a former Soviet boxer of Uzbek origin. He was world champion of amateur boxers in 1974 and winner of the silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in the middleweight division.

Career

Rufat Riskiev started boxing in Tashkent at the age of 14 . His first coach was B. Granatkin. He quickly developed into a technically excellent and two-handed fighter. At the age of 18 he became a member of "Dynamo" Tashkent. He landed his first victory at an important boxing tournament in Leningrad in 1968 when he was middleweight winner of the 4th "Olympic Hope Tournament".

In January 1969 he was used in Moscow in an international match between the Soviet Union and Poland . He was defeated by the experienced Polish master Edmund Hebel on points. In May 1969 he won the 5th "Olympic Hope Tournament", which this time took place in Lodz in the middleweight division with victories over Zozef Petrak, Poland, Metodi Metodiew from Bulgaria and Heinz Thüran from the GDR . In 1970 he still did not make the big leap into the Soviet elite. This year he only appeared at the "Strandja" tournament in Sofia , where he lost in the final against Plamen Trenew from Bulgaria.

In 1971 he started for the first time in the Soviet championship and took 3rd place in the middleweight division. In the semifinals he lost to Anatoly Pankratow on points. In July 1971 he achieved the first major success of his career. He won the middleweight tournament at the People's Spartakiad in Moscow. He was points winner in the semifinals over Vyacheslav Lemeschew and won the final over W. Abramowitsch by knockout in the 1st round.

In 1972 Rufat Riskiev won the "Golden Gloves" tournament in Belgrade and also won the "Giraldo Cordova Cardin" tournament in Havana with a points win in the final over Orlando Stable from Cuba. At the Soviet championship he won the Soviet middleweight championship for the first time with a victory in the final battle over Vladimir Tarasenkow. He had a legitimate chance of being nominated for the Olympic Games in Munich . After much back and forth, head coach Vladimir Stepanov decided not for him, but for Vyacheslav Lemeschew. A bitter decision for Rufat Riskiev.

1973 Rufat Riskiev had in the final of the Soviet championship against Anatoly Klimanow a techn. Accept knockout loss in the 3rd round. At the European Championship this year, he had to stand back. In 1974 he won his second title at a Soviet championship. In the final this time he defeated Anatoly Klimanov clearly on points. In the same year, the first world boxing championships were held in Havana. Rufat Riskijew finally got his chance to compete in a major international championship. He grabbed this opportunity with both hands and was a knockout victory in the first round of Stan Williamson, Canada , point victories over Alexander Yanakiew, Bulgaria and Ricardo Rocha, Argentina , a knockout victory in the first round of Bernd Wittenburg from the GDR and a narrow 3-2 point win in the final over Alec Năstac from Romania world middleweight champion.

1975 Rufat Riskiev was again Soviet middleweight champion. He defeated it in the finals the 1972 Olympic champion Vyacheslav Lemeschew on points. Nevertheless, not he, but Lemeschew was used at the European Championships this year in Katowice.

In January 1976 Rufat Riskiev won in Tashkent in an international match between the USSR and USA in the middleweight division over Michael Spinks on points. He then won at the Soviet championship with a victory over Gennady Tolmaschew, who had turned off Vyacheslav Lemeschew in the semifinals, the Soviet middleweight championship again. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, he was then sent to the middleweight division. In Montreal, Rufat Riskijew won by knocking out Jorma Taipale from Finland in the first round , on points over Ilya Dimitrov from Bulgaria, by breaking off in the second round over Siraj Din from Pakistan and in the semifinals just 3-2 judges' votes over Luis Felipe Martínez from Cuba and was in the final. There he met Michael Spinks, whom he had defeated in Tashkent in January. In Montreal, however, Michael Spinks turned the tables and defeated Riskijew with technical superiority in the second round. Rufat Riskiev won the Olympic silver medal.

After the 1976 Olympic boxing tournament, Rufat Riskiev no longer appeared. He played 189 fights in his career, of which he won 174.

International battles

• 1969 in Moscow , USSR against Poland , point defeat against Edmund Hebel ,
• 1972 in Moscow, USSR against USA , point defeat against Marvin Johnson ,
• 1975 in Las Vegas , USA against USSR, demolition winner 2nd round over Frank Woods,
• 1975 in Cincinnati , USA against USSR, points winner over Bob Morgan,
• 1976 in Tashkent , USSR against USA, points winner over Michael Spinks

USSR championships with Rufat Riskiev

• 1971: 1. Juozas Juocevičius , 2. Anatoli Pankratow, 3. Rufat Riskijew a. Anatoly Klimanov ,
• 1972: 1. Rufat Riskijew, 2. Vladimir Tarasenkow, 3. Victor Kurikow a. W. Sokolow,
• 1973: 1. Anatoli Klimanow, 2. Rufat Riskijew, 3. Juozas Jucevicius a. Anatoly Kurikov,
• 1974: 1. Rufat Riskiev, 2. Anatoli Klimanow, 3. Gennadi Tolmachew a. Anatoly Kurikov,
• 1975: 1. Rufat Riskiev, 2. Vyacheslav Lemeschew , 3. Anatoli Klimanow a. Wladyslaw Fesyuk,
• 1976: 1. Rufat Riskiev, 2. Gennady Tolmachew, 3. Vyacheslav Lemeschew a. Ruben Jengibarjan

swell

• Box-Sport magazine from 1968 to 1976,
• Boxing Almanac 1920 - 1980 , published by the German Amateur Boxing Association, 1980
• Website "www.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl",
• Website "www.peoples.ru"

Web links

• Portrait of Rufat Riskiev in Russian