Vyacheslav Lemeshev

Vyacheslav Lemeshev took up boxing in 1966, rising to fame in 1969, when he won the Soviet light-welterweight junior title. The next year, Lemeshev won the light-middleweight European junior title and repeated that victory in 1972, this time as a middleweight. In both of those tournaments, Lemeshev was selected as the best boxer of the tournament and was twice awarded the Émile Grémaux Trophy. In 1971, Lemeshev won gold at the World Army Championships and in 1972 was selected for the Soviet Olympic team.

At the Olympics, Lemeshev was unstoppable, defeating four of his five opponents (including the finalist Reima Virtanen of Finland) by knockouts. In 1973, Lemeshev won the European middleweight title, which he repeated in 1975. In 1974, Lemeshev won his only Soviet title, this time in light-heavyweight and his other Soviet Championship medals, a silver in 1975 and bronze in 1976, came in middleweight. Lemeshev retired from boxing with a record of 103 wins out of 111 bouts after he was not selected for the 1976 Soviet Olympic team.

During his early career, Lemeshev had shown a fondness for alcohol and his worsening alcoholism seriously hampered his later years as a boxer. During his boxing career, Lemeshev served in the Soviet Army and after his retirement from boxing was offered a job as a boxing coach with the Soviet Army. But his impatient and drunken behavior initiated a lot of fights between him and young soldiers, often resulting in him being knocked out by the much fitter, younger soldiers. This angered him even more and resulted in new fights until he was dishonorably discharged from the Army.

After discharge, Lemeshev continued fighting in bars and was unable to keep any job. He worked as a machinist in a factory, as a janitor, as a gardener and as a gravedigger, never keeping the job long. Due to his lifestyle, Lemeshev’s health started to deteriorate and by the 1990s he was unable to walk. In 1995 he underwent a craniotomy, but his health continued to decline and he died in early 1996, at only 43 years old. Since 1997 a memorial tournament is held annually in his honor in Moscow.