Vladimir Yereshchenko

Vladimir Yereshchenko first began boxing when he was 14, with him eventually becoming a three-time champion of the USSR as a welterweight (1988–91). After winning his first Soviet title Yereshchenko was selected to box at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He won his opening fight against Yoshiaki Takahashi before losing his next bout to Dimus Chisala when the referee stopped the contest due to an injury. Despite his early exit at the Olympics he went on to win bronze at the World Championships in Moskva the following year. In 1991 Yereshchenko won silver at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in Sweden. In a bid to compete at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics he could only manage to win bronze at the CIS Championships, which was not good enough for selection and effectively ended his career. Yereshchenko later became the President of the Voronezh Regional Professional Boxing Federation.