Boxer who betrayed Ukraine is listed as an Oplot militant and is striving for the championship belt

Russian boxer Gleb Bakshi became a traitor in 2014, when, having the title of master of sports of Ukraine, he voluntarily agreed to accept the citizenship of the country that occupied his native Crimea. Under the tricolour, he managed to become a world champion and a medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. He also got into the Myrotvorets base as a militant of an illegal military formation.

From 2010 to 2014, Bakshi was a member of the Ukrainian national teams of different age groups, and shortly after changing his citizenship, he became the leader of the Russian team in the weight class of up to 75 kg. However, it is worth noting that the defector's international victories came at tournaments where Ukrainian champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak did not compete.

In 2019, Khyzhniak stopped his former compatriot in the quarter-finals of the European Games, despite the fact that they were held in pro-Russian Minsk, and the International Amateur Boxing Association itself is under the thumb of the Russian Federation. During the announcement of the result, the Russian even threw his hand up in victory, as one judge somehow saw him winning. But four judges voted for Oleksandr.

However, in 2019, Bakshi was unable to become the world champion because the championship was held in Yekaterinburg, and the Ukrainian national team refused to participate in the tournament in Russia. But in June 2021, in the final of the qualifying tournament in Paris, in a very spectacular and principled fight, Khyzhniak showed who the world's strongest fighter at 75 kg really is.

It is interesting that at the Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, both Bakshi and, unfortunately, Khyzhniak underestimated Brazilian Hebert Conceição. The Russian lost to him in the semi-finals 1-4, but the Ukrainian gave his opponent the final, which was almost won on points, when he lost concentration a little in the third round and missed a counter shot. Of course, the Ukrainian team then had complaints about the referee, who did not even start the countdown but immediately stopped the fight. Although the Ukrainian quickly got to his feet, showing that he was ready to continue.

After winning a bronze medal at the Olympics in December 2021, Bakshi decided to turn to professional boxing. However, "thanks" to the full-scale invasion of his new homeland into Ukraine, he only tours Russian tournaments - from Yekaterinburg to Moscow and back.

Interestingly, after winning the 2019 World Cup, Bakshi was very proud to be the second Crimean to do so, after Oleksandr Usyk.

"I still represent the Tavria club and consider Oleksandr to be my senior comrade, I listen to his advice. We are in constant communication. It is very nice that a person with such a name and regalia does not forget his city and his guys. We have a lot of famous athletes. I'm pleased to become the second world champion after Oleksandr Usyk in the history of the Republic of Crimea," Bakshi was quoted as saying by Newsru.

However, after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when Usyk actively helped the Ukrainian Armed Forces, donated huge sums of money to rebuild the cities destroyed by the Russians and even served in the Territorial Defence for some time, Bakshi stuck his head in the sand and kept silent about the war and the atrocities of his new homeland. He does not support his older comrade either.

Although, why should we be surprised if Bakshi is listed in the Myrotvorets database as a militant of the illegal military formation Oplot, whose members sided with the Russian occupiers in Donetsk in 2014, seized the buildings of the local Regional State Administration and Donetsk City Council, and then, as part of the so-called DPR, took part in the battles for Sloviansk and beyond.

It is not known whether Bakshi actually took part in the fighting or just came to pose in uniform with local terrorists, as the boxer himself has never spoken about it and even removed from his Instagram a 2019 photo with Putin and Kremlin at the Russia - a Sporting Power forum. Is he ashamed of himself?

However, the Crimean boxer has now left his "native" peninsula, is hanging out in Russia with local sports stars, and even took part in a business rugby tournament hosted by Match TV when Russia was bombarding Ukraine with missiles - the very country that made him a good boxer. And now he's also taken up jiu-jitsu. Maybe he's preparing an alternate airfield in MMA if he doesn't succeed in boxing...

Bakshi has now fought three fights as a professional, winning all of them. His Russian promoter Alexei Titov has already started to say that the 27-year-old is capable of winning a world title.

"He is a gifted boxer. He is capable of reaching a star level, like Sergey Kovalev or Dmitry Bivol. He may well win the world title," Titov said, but it happens that at tournaments outside Russia, all the invincibility of the Russians disappears.

It must be said that Ukrainian boxing fans still haven't forgiven Baksha for his betrayal and from time to time remind him of its consequences on the boxer's social media. And they predict far from championship belts for the Simferopol resident.

"If you bastard hadn't betrayed Ukraine, you would have had a chance... but now your career will be in the villages. Glory to Ukraine!" Instagram user Vasyl wrote to him in September 2022.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL reported that the Ukrainian "hostage" of the Russians is on holiday in the Maldives and gives his wife a fireworks display: the footballer is playing in Russia despite the war.

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