1st Soviet boxer to defeat an American

got it...Spanakos was the America...n

 

Nikanarov

 

Boris Nikanorov

 

Whats the prize...weekend in Siberia?

 

Anton Raadik

 

Was he Estonian?

If so, I believe that Estiona never considered themselves to be part of the Soviet Union.

I think it's still debated today whether it was legal for Russia to claim it was part of the USSR, there's not many countries that ever recognised it to be that way anyway, apart from Russia itself of course.

 

1. He was Estonian

2. Estonia was part of the Tsarist Empire from Peter the Great to 1918, and then gained its independence.

3. Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 and governed by the Soviet Union until 1991.

4. So, Estonia was de facto a part of the Soviet Union, although some western countries questioned their de jure right to rule.

5. Raadik was born in the Russian Empire and fought in Moscow as a Soviet amateur in 1940. I don't know what exactly happened to him but he ended up in Sweden and eventually come to the United States after the war. Although close to 30, Raadik had a decent career, with ko's of Anton Christoforidis, Georgie Abrams, and Tommy Bell. He lost a disputed decision to Marcel Cerdan after flooring Cerdan three times in the last round.


I understand your criticism, but I think Raadik passes as a "Soviet" fighter.

 

Lets just say its an excellent find then. :good

I don't know enough about the subject to put forward an argument, so I won't ...only basic knowledge that its debatable whether it was legally part of the USSR.

Is there anymore than you can think of, or is he one of the earliest?


Interesting about the Cerdan fight too, I've been trying to read a bit about Cerdan latley and that seems a good fight to look into, cheers.

 

I don't know about Americans, but in 1952 Anatoly Perov of the Soviet Union defeated one Henry Cooper of Great Britain in the first round of the Olympic light heavyweight tournament.

Henry Cooper? I wonder what happened to him?

 

This is really obscure.

Henry, who would be the first Soviet fighter to beat a name or one time rated American? Raadik meets this qualification. Is there anyone earlier?