Demyanenko told about history of creation of Kazakhstan Federation of Professional Boxing

ASTANA. KAZINFORM –
The 25th anniversary of Kazakhstan Professional Boxing Federation is marked on August 22. We asked the Vice-President of the Federation, the famous Kazakh boxer Viktor Demyanenko to tell about the events of those years.

– Viktor Leonidovich, can you please tell us how the Professional Boxing Federation was created in Kazakhstan?
– In 1992 Semipalatinsk hosted a general meeting of sports and professional clubs, where it was decided to establish a federation of professional boxing. At this forum Mr. Serik Konakbayev was unanimously elected the president of the Kazakhstan Republican Federation of Professional Boxing.
These years were the beginning of formation of independent Kazakhstan, there was an uneasy situation in the economy, but despite these difficulties, we work hard to contribute to formation of our country’s sports image in the world community.
In 1993, the federation was admitted to the World Boxing Association (WBA), in 1994 it became a member of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and a member of the World Boxing Council (WBC). In March 1995, on the initiative of the Kazakhstan Federation, the Pan-Asian Boxing Association (PABA) was created, which included 20 countries, such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine, etc.
The PABA Champion was automatically included in the rating of the World Boxing Association (WBA). In 2005, the European Boxing Union (EBU) Convention was held in Austria, where the Kazakhstan Republican Federation of Professional Boxing was admitted to membership in this organization, which gave our professional boxers the opportunity to fight for the European Champion title.
An important role in promoting our federation in the world was played by Serik Konakbayev, who is known and respected as a famous boxer, sportsman.
In 2007, Serik Konakbayev was invited to the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation as vice president for work with the judiciary. And currently he continues his activities in amateur boxing and is already the vice-president of AIBA.

– You and Serik Konakbayev boxed together in the Soviet national boxing team. Can you please tell us about that time?
– Yes, Serik Konakbayev and I performed for the national team of the USSR, we are the owners of the first World Cup in 1979, then we were in Cologne, where we became champions of Europe. And then in 1981 Serik became a two-time European champion and the best boxer of the planet.
We performed together at the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, and became silver medalists there. We both finished our boxing career in 1984 … I would like to note that Serik Konakbayev’s leadership qualities were evident even then – during the two Olympic cycles he was the captain of the Soviet national boxing team. Take into account that the team of the Soviet Union of that time is the current teams of fifteen sovereign states. It means a lot. I was always amazed by the phenomenal memory of Konakbayev and his diligence.
I think that Serik is an example for all boxers, especially for our young boxers, an example of how a successful boxer can later in life become a successful sports official. I say this not only because he is my friend, but because life shows us an example of a man who has achieved many heights in life.

– Thank you for the interview, Viktor Leonidovich!”
– Thank you too and good luck!

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