Valery Popenchenko: biography, sports career, awards

In the history of Soviet sport there was a huge number of various champions. But even in their cohort there are those people who, being on Olympus, still stood apart from the rest of the leaders, standing out for their individuality. And one of such, as it is now common to say, charismatic athletes was Valery Popenchenko.

Birth and early life

Valery Popenchenko was born on August 26, 1937 in Kuntsevo, Moscow. His mother, Rufina Vasilievna, was forced to educate the boy alone, since his father was killed at the front in 1941. Since she dreamed of raising a real man from a boy, she gave it to the Suvorov School in Tashkent.

Acquaintance with boxing

At the age of 13 Valery Popenchenko begins to engage in boxing. His first coach was the captain of the Armed Forces Yuri Matulevich. Training took place 4 times a week. At first, Popenchenko did not show any special results and did not stand out very much, but a few months later he was among the best, winning his first awards at city competitions. And already in 1955, having won the thirtieth victory in thirty battles, the young cadet became the champion of the USSR among the young men. The tournament was held in the city of Grozny. All the preliminary battles Popenchenko won without much difficulty. And in the finals met with the current champion - Kovrigin. In the first round, no special action was taken. The boxers were just eyeing each other. But in the second there was a real drama: Valery was twice knocked down, but the gong saved him. In the third round, the Muscovite, apparently believing in his unconditional victory, went on the attack and at the same time opened. Popenchenko did not miss his chance, inflicting his crown "cross" on the defensive in the defense. As a result, Kovrigin was knocked out, and Valery became the new champion.

Historical meeting

In the fall of 1955, Valery Popenchenko entered the Leningrad Higher Border Naval School. It is this period that can be considered successful for him, because in this university the guy was lucky to meet a person with whom he subsequently formed an ideal sports union. This man was a boxing coach Grigory Filippovich Kusikyants. It was this specialist who was able to discern an uncut diamond in Popenchenko and bring him to a new level in sports.

Grigory Filippovich not only trains Valery as a boxer, but also accustoms him to chess, believing that this game excellently develops spatial thinking in humans. The ward and the trainer could sit for hours at the chessboard. In addition, they also visited the ballet together. Kusikyants often told Popenchenko: "Look, as a dancer perfectly owns her body, and the boxer's movements in the ring are also a dance."

Boxing successes

In 1959 Valery Vladimirovich Popenchenko became the champion of the Union in the second middle weight. But he could not go to the European Championships in Switzerland, as he lost to Gennady Shatkov in the qualifying match, which eventually became the best in the Alpine country. In the period from 1961 for 5 years, invariably, he won the USSR championship.

Looking back, we can definitely say - not to take Popenchenko in the national team for a long time was a mistake. The whole fault was his non-standard technique, which was considered "clumsy". On the ring Valery moved with a slightly reclining head and low-lowered hands. He struck blows as if he had not boxed, but fought on the street - bitingly and sweepingly.

Triumphal procession

Everything changed the primacy of the European continent in 1963. In the final match, Valeri met with Romanian Ion Monay and won by knockout in the second round. And before him, the boxing genius from the Union passed an experienced representative of Italy and a veteran from Yugoslavia, having more than 400 fights behind him.

It's no wonder that at the 1964 Olympics, Popenchenko was in the status of favorite. In the first battle with the Pakistani Sultan Mahmud Valery wins an early victory. The second fight Soviet boxer Valery Popenchenko wins on points. The third battle with Pole Tadeusz Valasek was stopped ahead of schedule due to the obvious advantage of our athlete. The final confrontation with the German Emile Schultz (who, incidentally, was a fivefold champion of Germany) ended in the first round. At the same Olympics, Popenchenko was awarded the honorary Val Baracker Cup, which is awarded to the most technical boxer of these prestigious international competitions.

The year 1965 was also successful for Valery. He won the European Championship for the second time. A series of significant victories for several years made Popechenko famous. His face flickers in the TV screens, his photos print newspapers and magazines. But still he decides to leave the sport. Over his shoulders for the whole career were 213 fights, 200 of which he won. Despite all the persuasion to stay in the box, Valery Valeryevich Popenchenko was unshakable. It was easy to understand. After all, he was loaded above his head: service in the Higher Engineering and Technical School, where he defended his thesis, membership in the Central Committee of the Komsomol and a family, which is worth mentioning separately.

Family life

Valery Popenchenko, whose biography was full of various events, met his second wife at Rodin's exhibition in the Hermitage. She was a student shipbuilding institute Tatiana Vologdina. The famous athlete was able to conquer the young lady on the first date, reading her poems and talking about art, and she could not understand why his face was so familiar to her. Three months after the dating, the couple got married. A little later, Maxim's son was born, and the family moved to the mother of Popenchenko in Moscow.

Life in the capital

Valery Popenchenko, whose fights were spectacular, had a rather uneasy character and was very unsettling. But at the same time in the main city of the Union he was offered several places for work. The famous commentator Nikolay Ozerov actively beckoned Popenchenko to join him and work during the broadcasts of the competitions. However, in the end, "Mr. Knockout" Valery Popenchenko chose teaching. He became the head of the Department of Physical Education of the MVTU. Bauman. In the mid-1970s, there was an active construction of new buildings of the university, including sports arenas. Popenchenko often visited construction sites, supervising the work of builders. To this end, he dressed in working clothes and walked to them. On one of these days, February 15, 1975, Valery was tragically and absurdly killed. He ran down the stairs with low handrails and fell into the flight on the next turn. And at the time of the fall, according to eyewitnesses, Valery did not make a sound. The investigation qualified the incident as an accident.

The last refuge of the famous athlete was the Vvedenskoe cemetery.