BOXERS from Kazakhstan

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Kazakhstani Boxers of all time. This list of famous Kazakhstani Boxers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Kazakhstani Boxers.

1. Wladimir Klitschko (1976 - )

With an HPI of 53.19, Wladimir Klitschko is the most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 43 different languages on wikipedia.

Wladimir Klitschko (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held the world heavyweight championship twice, including the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and Ring magazine titles. A strategic and intelligent boxer, Klitschko is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time. He was known for his exceptional knockout power, using a strong jab, straight right hand and left hook, quick hand speed, great physical strength which he employed when clinching opponents, as well as athletic footwork and mobility, unusual for boxers of his size. As an amateur, Klitschko represented Ukraine at the 1996 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division. After turning professional later that year, he defeated Chris Byrd in 2000 to win the WBO heavyweight title. Klitschko's first reign as champion ended in an upset knockout loss to Corrie Sanders in 2003, which was followed by another upset knockout loss to Lamon Brewster in 2004. It was during this time that Klitschko hired Emanuel Steward as his trainer, which began an eight-year partnership that lasted until Steward's death in 2012. In particular, Steward was credited with Klitschko's transition from an aggressive puncher to a more defensively-oriented boxer, much as he had done with Lennox Lewis from 1995 to 2003. From 2004 to 2015, Wladimir and his brother Vitali Klitschko (himself a multiple-time world champion) dominated heavyweight boxing, a period typically known as the "Klitschko Era" of the division. In 2006, Wladimir regained a portion of the world heavyweight championship after defeating Byrd in a rematch to win the IBF and IBO titles. He won his second WBO title by defeating Sultan Ibragimov in 2008. Following his defeat of Ruslan Chagaev in 2009, Klitschko was awarded the Ring title, and lastly he won the WBA title from David Haye in 2011. After defeating Alexander Povetkin in October 2013 and until his loss to Tyson Fury in November 2015, Klitschko was recognised as the lineal champion by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. For a period of time in the fall of 2015, Klitschko was ranked as the world's best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec. He was also ranked among 10 best pound for pound boxers in the world by The Ring from 17 August 2010 until 23 November 2015, reaching his career peak of No.2 on 25 November 2014. During Klitschko's reign as world heavyweight champion, his fights regularly generated a global television audience of 300–500 million viewers. Klitschko holds records for the longest cumulative heavyweight title reign of all time, with 4,382 days as world heavyweight champion, and most fighters beaten for the world heavyweight championship, at 23. He also holds records for the most wins and title defences of the unified championship in professional boxing history. In 2011, both Wladimir and Vitali entered the Guinness World Records book as brothers with most world heavyweight title fight wins (30 at the time; 40 as of 2020). Klitschko was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame Class of 2021, having been elected in his first year of eligibility.

2. Gennady Golovkin (1982 - )

With an HPI of 44.51, Gennady Golovkin is the 2nd most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin (Cyrillic: Генна́дий Генна́дьевич Голо́вкин; also spelled Gennady; born 8 April 1982), often known by his nickname "GGG" or "Triple G", is a Kazakhstani professional boxer. He has held multiple middleweight world championships, and is a two-time former unified champion. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles at varying points between 2014 and 2023, and challenged once for the undisputed super middleweight championship in 2022. He is also a former International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight champion, having held the title twice between 2011 and 2023. Golovkin was ranked as the world's best boxer, pound for pound, from September 2017 to September 2018 by The Ring magazine. As of March 2023, he is ranked as the world's fifth best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec. He is also ranked as the world's best active middleweight by The Ring, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, ESPN, and BoxRec. In 2010, Golovkin won the WBA interim middleweight title by defeating Milton Núñez. The WBA elevated him to Regular champion status in the same year. He won the IBO title the following year. In 2014, Golovkin was elevated to the status of WBA (Super) champion and successfully defended both his titles against Daniel Geale. Later that year he defeated Marco Antonio Rubio to win WBC interim middleweight title, and defeated David Lemieux for the IBF middleweight title in 2015. After Canelo Álvarez vacated his WBC middleweight title in 2016, Golovkin was elevated to full champion and held three of the four major world titles in boxing. Golovkin lost all his titles, including his undefeated record, following a loss to Álvarez in 2018. He regained his IBF and IBO titles by defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2019, and regained his WBA (Super) title by defeating Ryōta Murata in 2022. A calculating pressure fighter, Golovkin is known for his exceptionally powerful and precise punching, balance, and methodical movement inside the ring. With a streak of 23 knockouts that spanned from 2008 to 2016, he holds the highest knockout-to-win ratio – 88.1% – in middleweight championship history. Golovkin is also said to have one of the most durable chins in boxing history, having never been knocked down or otherwise stopped in a total of 395 fights, 45 as a professional and 350 as an amateur. In his amateur career, Golovkin won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 2003 World Championships. He went on to represent Kazakhstan at the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning a middleweight silver medal. Golovkin was appointed President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2024.

3. Oleg Maskayev (1969 - )

With an HPI of 38.80, Oleg Maskayev is the 3rd most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Oleg Alexandrovich Maskaev (Russian: Олег Александрович Маскаев; born 2 March 1969) is a Russian-American former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2013, and held the WBC heavyweight title from 2006 to 2008.

4. Serik Sapiyev (1983 - )

With an HPI of 35.26, Serik Sapiyev is the 4th most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Serik Sapiyev (Kazakh: Серік Жұманғалиұлы Сәпиев, born 16 November 1983) is an amateur boxer from Kazakhstan who won the world title in the light welterweight (-64 kg) division in 2005 and 2007 and Olympic Gold 2012 at welterweight. He also won the Val Barker Trophy for best boxer at the London Olympic Games in 2012.

5. Vassiliy Jirov (1974 - )

With an HPI of 35.01, Vassiliy Jirov is the 5th most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov (Russian: Васи́лий Вале́рьевич Жи́ров; born 4 April 1974), sometimes known as Vasily Zhirov, is a Kazakhstani former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2009, and held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2003. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, as well as consecutive bronzes at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, all in the light heavyweight division.

6. Bekzat Sattarkhanov (1980 - 2000)

With an HPI of 34.47, Bekzat Sattarkhanov is the 6th most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Bekzat Seilkhanovich Sattarkhanov (Kazakh: Бекзат Сеилханович Саттарханов; 4 April 1980 – 31 December 2000) was a Kazakh boxer who competed in the men's featherweight division (57 kg) at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal. Sattarkhanov died in a car accident in his native Kazakhstan on New Year's Eve 2000. Two others in the car survived.

7. Bakhyt Sarsekbayev (1981 - )

With an HPI of 31.63, Bakhyt Sarsekbayev is the 7th most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Bakhyt Abdirakhmanuly Sarsekbayev (Kazakh: Бақыт Әбдірахманұлы Сәрсекбаев; born 29 November 1981) is a Kazakhastani amateur boxer who won gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics at Welterweight, and won gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games at Welterweight, and won bronze at the 2002 Asian Games at Light Welterweight.

8. Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov (1976 - )

With an HPI of 29.23, Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov is the 8th most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Mukhtarkhan Qabylanbekuly Dildabekov (Kazakh: Мұхтархан Қабыланбекұлы Ділдәбеков, Mūhtarhan Qabylanbekūly Dıldäbekov; born March 19, 1976) is a Kazakh boxer, best known to win the silver medal in the Super Heavyweight division (+91 kg) at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

9. Daniyar Yeleussinov (1991 - )

With an HPI of 29.03, Daniyar Yeleussinov is the 9th most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Daniyar Maratovich Yeleussinov (born 13 March 1991) is a Kazakh professional boxer who was the IBO welterweight champion in 2021. As an amateur he competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2016. He also won gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games; the 2013 World Championships; and silver at the 2015 World Championships.

10. Ivan Dychko (1990 - )

With an HPI of 28.16, Ivan Dychko is the 10th most famous Kazakhstani Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ivan Fyodorovich Dychko (Иван Фёдорович Дычко; born 11 August 1990) is a Kazakhstani professional boxer. As an amateur he won bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.