Georgi Kandelaki


Georgi Kandelaki is a Georgian former boxer and current boxing administrator. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, at the 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships he became the first Georgian to win a World Championship, and from 2002 to 2003 held the World Boxing Union heavyweight title.

Early life

Kandelaki was born in the village of Variani and was introduced to boxing by his father, Tarash Kandelaki. In 1991, he completed Variani secondary school, and went on to study at the Gori State University Economics Department.

Amateur career

In 1992 Kandelaki won the Junior World Championships in the heavyweight class, and in 1993 he won the European Championships and reached the final of the World Championships, where he lost by default to Félix Savón.
In the 1995 World Championships, he reached the quarter-finals having beaten Friday Ahunanya, and again lost by default to Félix Savón.
Representing Georgia at the 1996 Summer Olympics, he defeated Thompson Garcia and Wojciech Bartnik before losing to Félix Savón in the quarter-finals. In the European Championships the same year, he lost to Christophe Mendy in the quarter-finals.
In 1997, he fought in the super heavyweight class in the World Championships, and defeated Vitali Boot, Petr Horáček, Jean-Francois Bergeron and Sergei Liakhovich to reach the final, where he won the title against Alexis Rubalcaba.

Highlights

Soviet Junior Tournament, April 1989:
International Junior Tournament, Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, December 1990:
Ahmet Comert Tournament, Istanbul, Turkey, May 1992:
Junior World Championships, Montreal, Canada, September-October 1992:
  • 1/8: Defeated Robert Geer 7–0
  • 1/4: Defeated Ismael Kone 11–1
  • 1/2: Defeated Peer Mueller 6–4
  • Finals: Defeated Stephen Gallinger 19–2
World Championships, Tampere, Finland, May 1993:
  • 1/8: Defeated Bert Teuchert 10–9
  • 1/4: Defeated Mikael Höök 7–0
  • 1/2: Defeated Arshak Avartakyan 7–2
  • Finals: Lost to Félix Savón by walkover
European Championships, Bursa, Turkey, September 1993:
Chemistry Cup, Halle, Germany, March 1994:
  • 1/2: Lost to Jan Bezvoda 1–3
World Cup, Bangkok, Thailand, June 1994:
Chemistry Cup, Halle, Germany, March 1995:
World Championships, Berlin, Germany, May 1995:
  • 1/8: Defeated Jonas Dambrauskas 4–2
  • 1/4: Lost to Félix Savón by walkover
100th Anniversary Tournament, Moscow, Russia, October 1995:
  • Finals: Defeated Sergey Sosnin by unanimous decision, 5–0
Strandzha Cup, Sofia, Bulgaria, February 1996:
European Championships, Vejle, Denmark, March-April 1996:
Summer Olympics, Atlanta, Georgia, July 1996:
Tammer Tournament, Tampere, Finland, September 1997:
  • 1/4: Defeated Rimantas Prišmantas 3–0
  • 1/4: Lost to Patrick Halberg 1–6
World Championships, Budapest, Hungary, October 1997:

Professional career

In 1998, Kandelaki started boxing as a professional for Panix Promotions. In 2002, he won the World Boxing Union heavyweight title. In 2003, he retired unbeaten because of an eye injury.

Retirement and later life

After his boxing career, Kandelaki founded the Georgian Professional Boxing Association and became its president. He trained boys as boxers in his home village of Variani and other villages. He was mentioned in the book The President, the World Champion and I by Lali Moroshkina.

Professional boxing record

!No.
!Result
!Billed
Wgt
!Opponent
!Opp
Wgt
!Opp Record
!Type
!Round,
time
!Date
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!'''Notes'''