Serik Sapiev is a well-known Kazakhstani boxer performing at the amateur level. Twice became the world champion. At the London Olympics in 2012 he took the “gold”, and was also awarded the Val Barker Cup, which is awarded to the most technical games boxer.
Biography: early years
Serik Zhumangalievich Sapiev was born on November 16, 1983 in Abay, a small mining town of urban type. It is 30 km from Karaganda. Serik was born into an international family: father by ethnicity is Kazakh, mother is Mari.
The Sapievs had two more sons and a daughter. My father worked in a mine, and his mother worked in accounting.
Serik's uncles on the father's side were athletes: one was engaged in boxing, and the other in freestyle wrestling. Both are masters of sports. Serik followed in their footsteps. His brothers and sister, as a child, also engaged in sports sections, but subsequently abandoned this business.
Serik began boxing at age 11. In an interview, he admitted that at first he was very lazy and skipped training. Parents did not insist on classes. However, Sapiev soon realized that he had to “plow” a lot, otherwise you could forget about the coveted Olympic award.
Seeing the potential in the child, parents transferred Serik to the sports college of Karaganda. After his graduation, he continued his studies at the Karaganda University. E. Buketova. Having become a student, Serik did not give up training. In Karaganda, he studied under the leadership of Alexander Strelnikov.
Career
In 2004, Sapiev won the championship of Kazakhstan. He performed in the weight category up to 60 kg. The victory allowed him to enter the national team. A year later, Serik won the world championship in weight up to 64 kg.
At the 2006 Asian Games, he became a bronze medalist. The next year, Serik won the “gold” at the world championship and the Asian Championship.
Sapiev took part in the 2008 Olympics. However, then he reached only the quarter finals, losing to future champion Manus Bunjomnong. After these Games, Serik began to perform in weight up to 69 kg. At the next Olympics in London, Sapiev became the champion.
In 2017, Serik became a deputy in the Kazakh parliament. However, a year later he announced his voluntary resignation. Soon Sapiev headed the Republican Committee on Sports. In 2019, Serika began to chair the Council on Physical Culture and Sports of the CIS member states, which includes Russia.
Serik has several awards, including state orders of the Fatherland and the Noble. He is a UNESCO Champion in Sport.
