Kurnyavka, Andrei Petrovich

Andrei Kurnyavka was born on May 4, 1968 in the city of Frunze , the Kyrgyz SSR .

As a child, on the instructions of his elder brother, he was actively engaged in swimming, was a candidate for master of sports, Kurnyavka did not have a few tenths of a second to become a master of sports and he was expelled from the sports boarding school. At the age of 14, he chose boxing. He trained under the guidance of the honored trainer of the USSR Mikhail Gashloma , in 1983 he participated in the All-Union Games "Labor Reserves" , and 2 years later he won a bronze medal at the All-Union Youth Games. From that moment, the athlete gained fame and became part of the youth team of the USSR. In 1986, he won the country's junior championship and won the gold medal at the European Championship among juniors. Since 1987, he was part of the adult national team of the Soviet Union, performed in the second middle weight category (up to 75 kg) ^[1] .

In 1989, Andrei Kurniavka won a bronze medal at the European Championships in Athens , and triumphantly won the World Championships in Moscow . For outstanding achievements he was awarded the titles “ Honored Master of Sports of the USSR ” and “ Outstanding Boxer ”. In 1990, Andrei Kurnyavka won the Goodwill Games in American Seattle , the next season won the 1991 USSR Spartakiad and won the silver medal at the 1991 World Championships in Sydney , Australia , where he performed in light heavyweight (up to 81 kg).

As one of the leaders of the team, Kurniavka was supposed to represent the country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona . However, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the team has undergone significant changes. Kurnyavka was the first light heavyweight team (81 kg) and there were no objective reasons for not getting into the Olympic Games. But the head coach of the national team Konstantin Nikolaevich Koptsev decides not to take Andrei Kurnyavka to the Olympic Games. Instead, he declared the Ukrainian Rostislav Zaulichny , who always lost to Kurniavka, including the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in 1991 . Zaulichny performed at the Olympic Games and became a silver medalist. In fact, the head coach Konstantin Koptsev, by his decision, deprived Andrei Kurniavka of the opportunity to become an Olympic champion.

As a result, the 24-year-old boxer decided to end his boxing career, returned to his native Frunze , and took up entrepreneurial activity.

In 1996, Andrei Kurnyavka was unexpectedly offered to go from the Kyrgyz team to the Atlanta Olympics in the heavy weight category (91 kg). Kurnyavka, as it turned out, was not engaged in boxing at all for 4 years. There was no time left to prepare, but Andrei made the decision to speak at the Olympics. In addition to the lack of time for preparation, he was frankly unlucky with the draw. In the first battle, he went against the legendary Cuban Felix Savon . In the first round, Kurniavka looked better than his opponent, but in the second and third, he lost to Savon.

Since 2002, he moved to permanent residence in Russia.

Andrey Kurnyavka is the vice-president of the Moscow Boxing Federation.

He works at the Moscow City Physical Culture and Sports Association of Moskomport as a chief specialist of the martial arts training department, is present at all competitions in Moscow and is the referee ^{[2] of} professional fights.

Andrei Petrovich Kurnyavka is considered an outstanding boxer of the Soviet Union and Russia.

For 5 years in the main team of the USSR, Kurnyavka held spectacular fights at the most prestigious tournaments, and was remembered by the fans for his pronounced attacking style.

Of the 350 fights in the ring, 150 fights won by knockout. It is noteworthy that with an open attacking style of battle, which implies a risky exchange of blows, he has not received a single serious injury in his entire career.

Kurnivka is a prime example for the young generation of boxers. Olympic champion Aleksey Tishchenko in his childhood was a fan of Andrei Kurnyavka, he began to engage in boxing under the influence of his performances ^[3] . Intercontinental WBC middleweight champion Aslan Kodzoev calls Kurnyavka the idol of his childhood ^[4] .

In 2007, the documentary “Black and White Square. Andrey Kurnyavka. "

Comrades of the USSR team: Yuri Arbachakov , Arthur Grigoryan , Alexander Lebzyak , Alexander Miroshnichenko , Konstantin Tszyu , Orzubek Nazarov , Ruslan Taramov , Sergey Kobozev , Israel Akopkohyan , Igor Ruzhnikov , Evgeny Sudakov , Magomed Shanavazov , Renat Trishev and many others.

Fight with Angel Espinosa   (1989)

September 30, 1989 there was a striking event in the "boxing" history, almost forgotten to date. On this day, at the Moscow World Amateur Championship in the 75 kg weight category, in the tournament finals, Andrei Kurniavka utterly defeated the famous Cuban Angel Espinosa . Until that time, the representative of Liberty Island did not lose for 5 years - a phenomenon very rare in amateur boxing. But the final match, then still a completely unknown Soviet fighter, held at the highest level. Espinosa was a pronounced knockout, he hit like a butt on the head - he put many good boxers with such blows.

The head coach of the USSR national team Konstantin Koptsev said: “... In this battle I found a scythe on a stone. The Cuban liked to go on the attack with an open visor, head to head, powerfully beating from the spot, especially not bothering to work on his feet, and such rivals to Andrei were only on hand: he himself preferred this style of boxing and therefore managed to impose his fight on the opponent. In this cabin, Kurnyavka turned out to be meaner and more powerful. Espinosa clearly did not expect such a “return”.

By the time of the Moscow World Championship, Espinosa had forgotten when he was losing the last time, and Kurnyavka was quick to bury everyone in advance. Even mine. No one thought he was able to beat the Cuban. In this regard, by the way, just before the battle in the locker room, a very interesting incident occurred. When Kurnyavka put on gloves and started working with his trainer on his paws, a coach from Kazakhstan Valery Nikulin approached them, personal heavyweight coach Alexander Miroshnichenko and asked: “Why are you warming up?” Kurnyavka was taken aback: “How? After all, now is my fight! ” “Come on,” says Nikulin, “a second place is enough for you.” Espinosa will kill you! ” While Andrei was digesting these words, not understanding how to react to them, Gashloma (his coach) turned around and “pawed” a sharp blow to Nikulin’s head. The mess began, which, however, was quickly extinguished by common efforts, stretching the coaches in the corners ... This incident, according to Andrei Kurnyavka, once again convinced him that no one believed in him, but at the same time he “recharged” and spurred him to victory.

The final score indicates the indisputable superiority of Kurniavka - 28:12 .

Fight with Jeremy Williams   (1990)

In 1990, Kurnyavka as a member of the national team, the first number in the 81 weight category, fell into the Goodwill Games in Seattle, USA.
The strongest boxers are called up for goodwill games, and they are equated to the Olympic ones.
In the semifinals, Andrei Kurnyavka meets with American Jeremy Williams . According to Kurnyavka, this was one of his hardest fights of his career.

59 seconds before the end of the third round, Jeremy goes into a heavy knockout.

Fight Terry McGroom   (1990)

Final of Goodwill Games Andrey Kurnyavka wins Terry McGroom [1]
and become a winner of Goodwill games.

Andrey Kurnyavka   - Terry McGroom   3-0

Fight with John Ruiz   (1991)

In Sydney, Kurniavka defeated American Joe Ruiz in the quarterfinals, the one who subsequently became world heavyweight champion, defeating Evander Holyfield on March 3, 2001.
And the same one, after the victory over which Kolya Valuev became the world champion among professionals in 2005 according to the World Boxing Association (WBA) .

Andrey Kurnyavka   - John Ruiz   20:14 .

Fight with Robert Dale Brown   (1991)

With the semifinals in Sydney defeats Canadian boxer Robert Dale Brown .

Andrey Kurnyavka   - Robert Dale Brown   24:12 .

Fight with Torsten May   (1991)

In the final, Andrei Kurniavka became the silver medalist of the World Cup, losing to German boxer Torsten May due to a dubious decision of the judges.

Thorsten May   - Andrey Kurnyavka   27:14 .

Evander Holyfield invites to his team   (1991)

Evander Holyfield , admiring Kurnyavka's boxing talent, pulled him into professionals.
In 1991, in the presence of a personal trainer and head coach of the national team, Kurniavka received an invitation from Evander Holyfield , then the absolute world champion, holder of champion belts according to the versions of WBC , WBA and IBF , to work in his team.
But Konstantin Koptsev and Mikhail Gashloma unanimously dissuade him from this, in connection with the upcoming Olympic Games in Barcelona .
Subsequently, Kurniavka regretted not accepting Holyfield's offer.

Fight with Felix Savon   (1996)

When, for the first time in history, the Kyrgyz sovereign team of Olympians went to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics , Andrei Kurnyavka was invited to join it.

Many, not without reason, believed that Kurniavka would return home with an Olympic award. Perhaps it would be so if the favorites in each weight were “bred”, as is customary now. But then there was no such custom, and the blind lot brought Andrey in the very first battle with Felix Savon .

At that time, Kurniavka was mainly engaged in political, social, and entrepreneurial activities.
Significantly heavier, moving to the weight category of heavyweights, not training for four years and being less than Felix , he gave him a decent fight.

Savon lost the first round and it was clear that he was panicky afraid of Kornyavka and was cautious, apparently remembering the rout that Espionosa had arranged.
But then the inveterate Cuban, of course, saw that the Kyrgyzstani was clearly not in his usual, optimal, military form.
Using the length of his own hands, Felix Savon from a long distance began to shoot the opponent with accurate sharp blows and eventually won in the second and third rounds.

Felix Savon   - Andrey Kurnyavka   9: 3

• Mikhail Fedorovich Gashloma

• Height - 185 cm
• He performed in weight categories ^[5] :

Married a second marriage. Wife of Nina, daughter of Alexandra and son Andrei ^[6] , son Timofey born in 2016
First married in 1989.
From his first marriage, he has two daughters: Alyona and Alina, who now live in Germany.

• List of outstanding boxers of the USSR
• List of Honored Masters of Sports of the USSR (boxing)

• Kurnyavka Andrey Petrovich - page on the website of the Boxing Federation of Russia
• Andrey Kurnyavka - Olympic statistics on the website Sports-Reference.com (English)
• Open heart. Issue No. 1. Andrey Kurnyavka - interview to the Fighter TV channel
• Refereeing professional boxing matches
• Evander Holyfield invited to his team