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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Standing Tall in Ring, Kneeling to King

26 June, 1999 - 00:00

By Oleksandr HONCHARUK, The Day
That the Ukrainian national team was invited to take part in the King of
Thailand Cup speaks volumes. This is no joke: His Majesty only wished to
see in his rings the world's eight strongest teams and, of course, his
compatriots. Vinnytsia-based Leonid Loivsky, senior coach of our masters
of the leather glove, commented on the trip:

"This tournament became for us a good test of strength before the World
Championship and license competitions for the right to go to the Sydney
Olympics. In fact, there were no run-of-the-mill bouts. Just imagine: on
his way to the semifinals, Valery Sydorenko from Enerhodar had to eliminate
from the tournament world and Olympic champion Angel Petrov from Bulgaria,
but this proved insufficient for victory, and he only finished third.

"Simferopol-based Serhiy Dotsenko took the same place, while Andriy
Kotelnyk from Lviv, "assisted" by the judges, lost to a tournament host
in the final bout. So one only had to win in those tight conditions, as
Valery Sydorenko's brother Volodymyr did: he floored all his rivals with
powerful knockout punches.

"As to the team ranking, my pupils only came third after the squads
of Cuba and the tournament hosts. However, the latter might regard it as
good compensation for having to go by the podium with their monarch only
on their knees, as stipulated by etiquette. And as a token of gratitude,
72 year-old King Rama IX (originally named Bhumibol Adulyadej or Phumiphon
Adulet) of Thailand, after braving the 46-degree heat during all final
bouts, personally handed the second place trophy to his subjects."

 

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