Raimkul Malakhbekov

Malakhbekov officially ended his career after his last fight at the European Championship in Perm in 2002, in which he won the gold medal. He said in an interview to a journalist that "the sport is becoming more and more business oriented, rather than art oriented".

In his boxing career Malakhbekov won two Olympic medals in the Men's Bantamweight (54 kg) category. He also won the title at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 1995 and 1997, and the European title in 1993 in Bursa, Turkey and 2002 in Perm, Russia. During his boxing career he has won seven times the Russian National Championships and numerous other tournaments. He was also among the winners of the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York USA.

In 1993, at the age of 19 Malakhbekov also left his home country- Tajikistan that was devastated from civil war for Russia to seek better opportunities. Initially, he settled in Moscow, but after reconnecting with his former trainer Balzanov he moved to Elista and restarted his boxing career. The right mixture of his unique physical conditioning, hard work and determination was noticed by his trainer promised a bright boxing career.

Raimkul Khudoynazarovich Malakhbekov (Russian: Раимкуль Худойназарович Малахбеков ; born 16 August 1974 in Dushanbe, Tajik SSR) is one of highest titled boxers of Russia, who won two Olympic medals in the Men's Bantamweight (54 kg) category.