Serik KONAKBAEV

Serik Konakbayev won his first medal at the Soviet Championships, a bronze as a light-welterweight, in 1979 and was also selected to the 1979 Soviet European Championships team. At the European Championships, Konakbayev surprised everyone by winning the light-welterweight title. In 1979, Konakbayev also won gold at the World Cup, and in 1980 won his first Soviet title, but lost in the final at the 1980 Olympic Games to Italian Patrizio Oliva. After the Olympics, Konakbayev switched to welterweight and in 1981 won his second European title and won a World Cup for a second time. At the 1982 World Championships, Konakbayev won a silver medal, losing to American Mark Breland. Konakbayev won his second and last Soviet title in 1984 and retired from boxing soon thereafter. After his boxing retirement, Konakbayev worked as a boxing coach with the Kazakhstan national team from 1986-92. In 1992, Konakbayev became honorary president of Kazakhstan Boxing Federation, and in 1999, Konakbayev also became a member of the Kazakhstan parliament.