In the early 1990s, a huge flow of immigrants came from Russia to the United States. Many people wanted to pursue the American dream after the collapse of the USSR, from ordinary people to cultural and sports stars.
One of the best boxers in the country, Sergei Kobozev, was no exception. The athlete in the shortest possible time gained fame on the other side of the ocean. At one time, American experts predicted a Russian fight with Mike Tyson himself!
However, Kobozev’s “Hollywood story” ended in tragedy. The fighter was killed by his fellow bandits.
Photo Source: USA Boxing
The story of a simple Soviet from Kostroma is the perfect plot for a Hollywood movie. After the bronze at the European Championships in Athens and the fall of the Iron Curtain, Kobozev decided to move to the United States to try his hand at professional boxing. Having settled in New York, the fighter crushed one opponent after another. Famous boxers John Ruiz and Robert Daniels fell under the distribution. Sergei’s manager Tommy Gallagher has repeatedly said that soon one of the rivals of the Russians will be Mike Tyson, who wanted to meet the first foreign champion.
Despite universal fame, Kobozev could not boast of large earnings. The amount of the prize money for the disputed fights barely reached 10 thousand dollars. In order to somehow rectify the situation, the athlete worked as a porter in the Brooklyn Paradise restaurant, where the Russian “brothers” liked to relax.
Photo Source: USA Boxing
Sergei did not get involved in the affairs of gangster groups, but soon he still had problems with the mafia. One day, a member of the “Tatar gang” Alexander Nosov, known as Sasha Long, went too far with alcohol and began to pester the musician. The boxer did his job: he paralyzed a violent visitor and kicked him out the door. The bandit held a grudge against the athlete and decided to take revenge.
A couple of days later, three gunmen attacked Kobozev while he was in an auto repair shop. The boxer was shot in the back and put in the trunk of a car. Sergei begged to be taken to the hospital, but the bandits realized that they had made a big mistake and decided to cover their tracks. The athlete was buried near the murderer’s house.
The next day, the athlete’s wife, Elena Cherskikh, called the police and said that her husband had disappeared. For four years, Kobozev was considered missing, until law enforcement discovered the body of an athlete.
Alexander Spichenko, one of the leaders of the Tatarin gang, arrested in 1998, spoke about the murder and his motives. He told the investigation where the boxer was buried and named those who decided on the crime. It turned out to be Alexander Nosov, Vasily Ermikhin and Natan Gozman.
Photo Source: USA Boxing
In 2001, police detained Yermikhin and Nosov while Gozman was on the run in Ukraine. Four years later, he too was arrested. Trinity was sentenced to 10 to 13 years in prison, although they were initially threatened with life imprisonment; her attorneys helped narrow it down.
