Aleksandr Viktorovich "Alex" Miroshnichenko (, ; 26 April 1964 – 19 May 2003) was an ethnic Russian Kazakhstani professional boxer. As an amateur he represented the Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division.
His other accomplishments included silver at the 1989 World Championships, as well as bronze at the 1983 and 1989 European Championships, and other international tournaments.
Early years
Miroshnichenko took up boxing at the age of 13, at the strong insistence of his mother, who thought that her son must be able to defend himself, and brought him to the gym at his hometown of Kostanay. Miroshnichenko shown little interest in boxing, but had a natural talent and considerable ability to compete both nationally and internationally, which he did during the 1980s. He was ranked world's #6 super heavyweight by the AIBA in 1984.
Amateur career
Aside from his Olympic performance, Miroshnichenko had a distinguished amateur career, winning 210 out of 233 bouts, including a win over future world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and 1984 U.S. Army and inter-service champion Wesley Watson. He won medals in the European Championships and the World Cup, and was a three-time Soviet champion. He represented the Dynamo Sports Society. At the 1988 Olympics semifinals Miroshnichenko floored U.S. Riddick Bowe momentarily in the first round, but Bowe managed to win by the decision. Despite Miroshnichenko's loss to Bowe, Lou Falcigno, a New York-based boxing promoter of Momentum Enterprises, Inc., expressed a particular interest in bringing him to the United States to fight professionally. Negotiations began between the promoter and the Soviet Boxing Federation and Sovintersport, the entity responsible for the commercialization of Soviet sports, but proven unsuccessful as the Soviet government dismissed the idea early in 1989.
Highlights
President's Cup, Jakarta, Indonesia, February 1982: Finals: Lost to Francesco Damiani (Italy) Friendship Tournament, Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, July 1982: 1/2: Defeated Bohumil Hruška (Czechoslovakia) KO 1 Finals: Lost to Sven Karberg (East Germany) by walkover European Championships, Varna, Bulgaria, May 1983: 1/4: Defeated Olaf Mayer (Austria) by unanimous decision, 5–0 1/2: Lost to Ulli Kaden (East Germany) by unanimous decision, 0–5 World Cup, Rome, Italy, October 1983: 1/2: Lost to Craig Payne (United States) by unanimous decision, 0–5 Giraldo Córdova Cardín, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, June 1985: 1/2: Defeated Roberto Gómez (Cuba) Finals: Lost to Jorge Luis González (Cuba) RSC 3 Goodwill Games, Moscow, Soviet Union, July 1986: 1/2: Defeated Ali Al-Baluchi (Kuwait) by unanimous decision, 5–0 Finals: Lost to Vyacheslav Yakovlev (Soviet Union) by majority decision, 1–4 USA−USSR Middle & Heavy Duals, ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California, July 1986: Defeated Wesley Watson (United States) KO 1 USA−USSR Exhibition, Houston, Texas, August 1986: Defeated Troy Baudoin (United States) RSC 2 InterCup, Hemsbach, West Germany, April 1987: Finals: Lost to Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) DQ 2 USA−USSR Heavy Duals, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, June 1987: Defeated George Kilbert Pierce (United States) by unanimous decision, 3–0 Socialist Countries Police Championships, Pyongyang, North Korea, August 1987: Finals: Defeated Peter Hrivňák (Czechoslovakia) RET 1