Vladimir Konstantinovich Safronov

Portrait of Safronov, carved into his tombstone in the Kunzewo Cemetery (Moscow)

Wladimir Konstantinowitsch Safronow ( Russian Владимир Константинович Сафронов ; born December 29, 1934 in Ulan-Ude , † December 26, 1979 in Moscow ) was a Soviet boxer . He was an Olympic featherweight champion in Melbourne in 1956 .

Career

Vladimir Safronov grew up in Ulan-Ude and started boxing there at the age of 13. His first trainer was A. Rinchinow. He belonged to the sports organization "Trud" and developed into one of the best featherweight boxers in the Far East. In 1956 he took 3rd place in the featherweight division at the championship of the RSFSR (= Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic , comparable to today's Russia ). He was then invited to the preparatory course of the Soviet national team of boxers for the Olympic Games in Melbourne . He made such a good impression on the coaches responsible, Ogurenkow and Tscherbakow, that he was used in Melbourne for the multiple Soviet featherweight champion Alexander Sassuchin, who was unable to start because of an injury . In Melbourne, the completely unknown Vladimir Safronov surprised the entire professional world. He successively defeated Agostino Cossia from Italy , Andre de Souza from France , Henryk Niedzwiecki from Poland and in the final battle Thomas Nicholls from Great Britain on points and became Olympic featherweight champion.

Vladimir Safronov had achieved something completely unusual with it. He became an Olympic champion practically at the beginning of his international career . How could he repeat this great success? He actually had to struggle with this problem in his further career, although it must be certified that he was always fighting for further success.

In 1957 Vladimir Safronov moved from Ulan-Ude to Moscow , joined the Red Army and became a member of CSKA Moscow. There L. Sokolow became his new trainer. In 1957 he was also used at the European featherweight championships in Prague . He won in Prague over Rovi de Rooij from the Netherlands and Jimmy Gibson from Scotland on points, but lost in the semifinals against Dimitar Velinow from Bulgaria on points. He won an EM bronze medal with it .

It was not until 1958 that Vladimir Safronov took part in the Soviet championship for the first time. He defeated Boris Nikanorov on points in the finals of the featherweight division and won his first Soviet championship with this victory. In 1958 he started at the 1st championship of the armies of the Warsaw Pact in Leipzig , where he won the featherweight division.

In 1959 he was neither in the Soviet championship nor in the European championship. In 1960 he finished only 5th in the Soviet championship because he was defeated on points in the quarterfinals against Stanislaw Stepashkin . The same happened to him at the Soviet championship in 1961. He lost again in the quarterfinals of the featherweight division, this time against the old master Alexei Sasuschin, whom he had represented so successfully in 1956. In 1961, however, he won the 2nd championship of the Warsaw Pact armies in Sofia . In featherweight he defeated Heinz Schulz from the GDR on points.

In 1962, Vladimir Safronov managed to win the second title at a Soviet championship. He succeeded in defeating Alexei Sasuschin in the final. Vladimir Safronov also competed again in the 1963 Soviet championship. He lost it against Stanislaw Stepashkin, who became Olympic champion in 1964, just on points and finished second. His last major tournament was the participation in the 4th championship of the armies of the Warsaw Pact in Łódź . He did not succeed in winning this tournament for the third time, because he lost in the final against Jan Szczepański from Poland on points.

In 1964, Vladimir Safronov, the man whose career began with an Olympic victory, ended his international boxing career. He also remained unconventional in the rest of his life, because he studied painting at the Art Academy in Irkutsk and became an artist.

International battles

• 1959 in Glasgow , Scotland against the USSR , Disq. Winner 3rd round over Drummond,
• 1962 in London , England against USSR, point defeat against Billy Wilson,
• 1962 in Wolverhampton , England against USSR, point defeat against Billy Wilson

USSR championships with Vladimir Safronov

• 1958: 1. Vladimir Safronow, 2. Boris Nikanorow , 3. V. Gusew,
• 1960: 1. Boris Nikanorow, 2. Stanislaw Stepaschkin , 3. G. Wasiliew a. Alexander Sasuschin, 5th Vladimir Safronov,
• 1961: 1. Alexander Sassuchin , 2. Anatoli Lagetko, 3. M. Grigorjan a. Stanislaw Stepaschkin, 5th Vladimir Safronov,
• 1962: 1. Vladimir Safronow, 2. Alexander Sasuschin, 3. G. Sidun a. I. Goncharov,
• 1963: 1. Stanislaw Stepaschkin, 2. Vladimir Safronow, 3. V. Kriwolok a. T. Gulanov

swell

• Box Sport magazine from 1956 to 1965,
• BOX ALMANACH 1920 - 1980, published by the German Amateur Boxing Association, 1980,
• Website "www.sport-komplett.de",
• Website "sports123.com",
• Website "www.peoples.ru"
• Website "www.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl"

Web links

• Wladimir Konstantinowitsch Safronow in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Portrait of Vladimir Safronov in Russian