Vladimir ENGIBARYAN

Armenian Vladimir Engibaryan was probably the best Soviet boxer of the 1950s. Engibaryan took up boxing in 1946 and won his first Soviet Championship medal in 1951, a bronze as a bantamweight. In 1952, Engibaryan was selected to the Soviet Olympic team, but did not compete at Helsinki due to injury. In 1953, Engibaryan became the first Soviet boxer to win gold at the European Championships, achieving it as a lightweight. In 1953, Engibaryan also won his second bronze at the Soviet Championships, also in lightweight. In 1954, Engibaryan switched his weight class again to light-welterweight and stayed in that class until he retired from boxing. In 1955 Engibaryan won his first Soviet title and repeated this victory in 1956 and 1958. In 1955, Engibaryan won bronze at the European Championships and won golds at the 1957 and 1959 European Championships. Engibaryan also won gold at the 1956 Olympic Games and was the favorite for the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, but surprisingly lost to Marian Kasprzyk of Poland in the quarter-final. After the 1960 Olympics, Engibaryan retired from boxing with a record of 255 wins out of 267 bouts. After his boxing career, Engibaryan worked as a children's boxing coach in his native Armenia and also acted as a boxing referee. In the 1970s he was the Soviet representative at the AIBA Refereeing and Judging Commission. In 1992, Engibaryan emigrated to the United States and settled in Los Angeles, where he worked as a boxing coach until his death.