Boxing Champion Questions Coach Oleg Chekhov's Suicide
European boxing champion Alexander Krupin shared his perspective on the death of his former coach Oleg Chekhov.
In Reutov, Moscow region, in his apartment, honored boxing coach Oleg Chekhov was found dead, MSK1.RU reported from operational services. He was 85 years old. A pistol was found near the athlete«s body.
Boxer and World Cup winner Alexander Krupin, who studied under the deceased, told MSK1.RU that he last spoke with Chekhov three years ago. They called each other when a book was being written about the coach.
«I can«t say for sure, but maybe three years ago he was still working. Lately, I think — no. I didn»t keep in touch with him. But we were on very good friendly terms. I was very grateful to him for working with me», — added the boxer.
The boxer clarified that Oleg Chekhov was his second coach. They met when Krupin was serving in the army.
«He traveled with me to training camps, he is a very experienced coach. He understands boxing very well. He knows a lot of his own stuff, a lot of interesting things. He is a difficult and tough person, but he suited me. For my psyche, for my work, he provided great help to me. He is a strong person, courageous, who could achieve his goal no matter what», — described Chekhov his pupil.
Alexander Krupin in a conversation with MSK1.RU doubted that the coach could have committed suicide. According to him, Oleg Chekhov loved life very much.
«My personal opinion — it«s unlikely [that he could have taken his own life]. In life, everything has happened over so many years, 40–44 years have passed [since our acquaintance]. During this time, a lot could have changed, but he loved life very much, was a cheerful person, very powerful, strong, life-loving», — said the athlete.
Oleg Chekhov customized training regimens for each boxer based on their unique abilities.
He found it difficult to answer whether the coach had children and grandchildren, since “I didn«t interfere in his family life”.
«He had a wife, I remember, when he was awarded the title of Honored Coach of Russia for me. I signed documents for him then in 1981. He invited me to his place. I came to him at the end of January 1982 before a match in the USA. And after that, whether he divorced or not, I don«t know», — added Alexander Krupin.
Oleg Chekhov was an Honored Coach of Russia. A distinctive feature of his methodology was a complete rejection of unified training programs, which, in his opinion, depersonalized athletes. Instead, he practiced an individual approach, studying in detail the physical and psychological characteristics of each fighter and building tactics around his strengths.
Chekhov began his coaching career in the 1970s at the Luch club in Moscow. His main success in amateur sports was working with the Moscow Military District (MVO) team, which he lifted from underdog status and led to eight victories at the USSR Armed Forces championships over ten years. Among his pupils are European and world champions Alexander Krupin and Sergei Kobozev.
A turning point in the coach«s career was the 1990 USSR Championship in Lutsk, Ukraine. After, in Chekhov»s opinion, his boxer Sergei Kobozev was unfairly deprived of victory, he decided to leave amateur boxing. In the same year, Chekhov became a manager and opened his own professional club. Under his leadership, Russian and European champions Vyacheslav Anikin, Dzhabrail Dzhabrailov, and Alexander Perevozchikov achieved success.
Over his career, Chekhov trained dozens of masters of sport (a Soviet sports title), and his pupils won more than 20 medals at the largest international and all-Union competitions.
Earlier in the Moscow region, after 23 years, a hitman and accomplice in the murder of a school director in Lyubertsy were discovered. The man was shot for 300 dollars near the institution. The shooter was identified by one of the witnesses who tried to save the principal. He himself was shot in the process.
