Vadim EMELYANOV

Vadim Yemelyanov took up boxing while serving in the Soviet Navy in the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Region. Yemelyanov never won a Soviet title, taking silver in 1967 and bronzes in 1961 and 1965, but was successful in all three international tournaments in which he competed. In 1963 he won the European Cup and also the World Army Championships and at the 1964 Olympics he took bronze, losing his semi-final match to the eventual gold medal winner, American Joe Frazier. In all, Yemelyanov fought 158 bouts during his boxing career, winning 141 of them. A career military man, Yemelyanov was stationed at Severomorsk, near Murmansk, where he served in the Soviet Northern Fleet and also worked as a boxing coach. Since 1985 a memorial tournament in boxing named after Yemelyanov has been held annually in Severomorsk.