Vasily Solomin

Vasily Solomin took up boxing in 1969, first achieving fame in 1972, when he won the European junior title in bantamweight and was selected for the Soviet Olympic team. At the 1972 Olympics, though, Solomin lost his quarter-final match to American Ricardo Carreras. In 1973, Solomin competed at the European Championships, losing his quarter-final match to Romanian Simion Cuţov. In 1974, Solomin won his first of four Soviet titles and became the first Soviet boxer to win a World title, which he achieved at the inaugural 1974 World Championships in lightweight. In 1976, Solomin won his second Soviet title in lightweight and was selected for the Soviet 1976 Olympic team. At the Olympics, Solomin lost his semi-final match, again to Cuţov, and had to settle for a bronze medal. Solomin won his last two Soviet titles in 1977 and 1978, while taking silver in 1979 and retired from boxing with a record of 186 wins in 194 bouts. After his boxing career, Solomin worked as a boxing referee until his untimely death from pulmonary edema in the last days of 1997, just eight days before his 45th birthday.