Alexander Bahtin Russian professional boxer Date of Birth: 06.08.1981 Country: Russia

Alexander Bakhtin - Russian Professional Boxer

Alexander Bakhtin is a Russian professional boxer who competes in the super bantamweight division. He was born in Krasnokamensk, Chita Oblast. At the age of 8, Bakhtin stepped into the ring for the first time, following in the footsteps of his father who was a judo practitioner in his youth. However, with a boxing school in Krasnokamensk, Bakhtin enrolled and began his training under the guidance of Valery Nomkhoev, his first coach.

After completing 9 grades, Bakhtin moved to Ulan-Ude, where he continued his training while studying at a technical school to become a welder and plumber. He later enrolled in the East-Siberian State Technological University. In 1997, Alexander joined the Russian junior national team and achieved numerous victories, including becoming the champion of Russia among juniors in 1998 and 1999, winning the Russian Cup in 1999, earning a bronze medal at the World Championship in 1998, and becoming the European champion among youth in 1999. During this time, he trained at the School of High Sportsmanship in the Republic of Buryatia and represented the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In 2000, Bakhtin moved to Japan and made his professional debut as a boxer on November 20th. He initially fought for the KYOEI Boxing Gym until 2008. Several world champions in various professional boxing versions were trained in this gym, including Yuri Arbachev and Orzubek Nazarov, both products of the Soviet boxing school. In 2003, Bakhtin achieved the title of champion in Japan and successfully defended his title for several years. In early 2009, he joined the World Boxing Gym in Okinawa.

Throughout his career, Bakhtin won numerous titles in Japan, including being a 9-time champion of Japan among professionals and a 2-time champion of Asia (OPBF champion in 2008 and 2009). However, during his time in Japan, he was involved in a criminal incident where he got into a fight at a Tokyo nightclub. Bakhtin knocked out two aggressive individuals, resulting in him spending some time in prison. Although he was later found innocent, his boxing club disqualified him for a long period, claiming that the incident occurred late at night when the athlete should have been resting before a fight. Bakhtin returned to Russia on March 1, 2009, and currently resides and trains in Balashikha, a suburb of Moscow.

Under the guidance of Alexander Zimin, an honored coach of Russia, Bakhtin won the WBA Inter-Continental title in the super bantamweight division during the summer of 2012. On September 18, 2012, he became the world champion according to the International Boxing Organization (IBO) after defeating Filipino boxer Roli Gasca. Bakhtin successfully defended his IBO title on March 31, 2013, by defeating Colombian boxer Yogli Herrera.

Bakhtin's mother, Irina Alexandrovna, and sister still reside in Krasnokamensk. He is married to Kristina and has two sons, Zakhar (born in 2006) and Makar (born on April 27, 2010).