Viktor SAVCHENKO

Viktor Savchenko took up boxing in 1965 and first achieved fame in 1971, when he won the Soviet junior title. At the 1975 European Championships, Savchenko won a silver medal, losing to Wiesław Rudkowski of Poland in the final. In 1976 Savchenko was selected for the Soviet 1976 Olympic team. At the Olympics, Savchenko lost his semi-final match to the eventual gold medal winner Jerzy Rybicki of Poland, and had to settle for a bronze medal. In 1977, Savchenko won his first Soviet title as a light-middleweight and also won the European title in that class. In 1978, Savchenko also won the light-middleweight World Championship. In 1979, Savchenko took his second silver at the European Championships behind Miodrag Perunović of Yugoslavia and won a bronze at the Soviet Championships. In 1980 Savchenko switched to middleweight and won his second and last Soviet title. At the 1980 Olympics, Savchenko reached the final, where he lost to Cuban José Gómez. Savchenko retired from boxing in 1982 with a record of 241 wins out of 271 bouts. In 1982, he graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk State Institute of Physical Culture with a candidate of sciences degree in pedagogy. He then worked as head of the department at his alma mater and later became rector there. He was later a member of the board of the Ukrainian Boxing Federation and has also been a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian Parliament), heading its Sports and Physical Culture Committee