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Sergei Kobozev, champion of the the Cruiserweight Champion of the Soviet Union, had a promising boxing career after arriving in the US before he was reported missing by his girlfriend in early November 1995. The 31-year-old had a close split decision for the WBC Cruiserweight title in one of his very first career losses just two weeks prior to going missing.
Kobozev's disappearance went unsolved for atleast four years until the FBI, acting on a tip, dug up the backyard of a Livingston, New Jersey, home, which previously belonged to a Russian mobster named Alexander Spitchenko, where they found Skeletal remains. Comparing the skeleton's dental formation to the custom-made mouthpiece that the boxer used, authorities declared Kobozev dead.
The second episode of ID's Murder in the Big Apple will chronicle the disappearance and murder of Russian boxer Sergei Kobozev. Titled Boxed In, the upcoming episode airs on the channel this Thursday, May 18, at 10:00 pm ET.
According to the synopsis,
"Promising Russian boxer Sergei Kobozev takes a job as a bouncer in a bar suspected to be a hangout for the mob; just as he starts to win bouts, Sergei mysteriously goes missing -- now, detectives must determine if he's a victim of organized crime."
Sergei Kobozev, accomplished boxer and ex-captain of the Soviet Army, disappeared from a Brooklyn garage in 1995
Sergei Kobozev, a Russian-born boxer who graduated from the Institute of Moscow with a degree in chemistry, served as a Soviet Army captain before establishing himself as a cruiserweight on the Soviet national team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His early accomplishments included the Tammer Tournament and the Army Championships of the Friendly Armies of the Socialist Countries titles.
In 1991, Kobozev relocated to Brighton Beach in New York City to continue his promising boxing career and lived in an apartment with his girlfriend Yelena Cherskikh and her son Vitaly, 7. Dubbed the Russian Bear, Kobozev continued his unbeaten career in the US and won the cruiserweight title of the International Boxing Federation in July 1994.
The boxer only experienced his first defeat in October 1995, after having already won 22 straight fights, including 17 knockouts. He even received much recognition and praise because of his victory over former WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz. But a month before one of his biggest fights, on November 8, 1995, 31-year-old Kobozev disappeared.
According to newspaper accounts, on November 9, the boxer was last spotted leaving a garage. Police discovered his car parked next to a trash can near the Petrina Diner, where he occasionally dined, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The car was locked, there were no indications of foul play, and his bank records showed no suspicious activity.
Sergei Kobozev was in a bar fight with a member of a Russian organized crime family not long before his disappearance
Investigators working on Sergei Kobozev's missing case soon learned of his fight with a member of a Russian organized crime family at the Paradise Bar, where he worked part-time as a bouncer. The club operated as a hub for the Russian émigré community. But due to a lack of leads, potential suspects, and witnesses unwilling to testify about the fight, the case went cold for about four years.
Then in March 1999, a crucial tip to the FBI and Brooklyn detectives led to the discovery of skeletal remains believed to be Sergei Kobozev's, which were found buried in a shallow grave in the backyard of a Livingston, New Jersey, home, which was once owned by Alexander Spitchenko of Livingston, New Jersey, in March 1999. Spitchenko was later identified as a Russian mobster.
That same year, Alexander Spitchenko and many other gang members were charged with federal racketeering counts. As part of a plea agreement with the prosecution, Spitchenko agreed to testify against his fellow accomplices involved in Kobozev's killing.
Spitchenko testified that the gang encountered the boxer at an auto-body shop on November 8, 1995, where 24-year-old Alexander Nosov who was earlier involved in the bar fight with Kobozev, shot him in the back. Then his accomplices, Vasiliy Ermichine and Natan Gozman, stuffed him in the trunk of their car. Then the trio dug a grave in Spitchenko's backyard and buried the victim alive.
Nosov and Ermichine were convicted in 2001 and are serving concurrent life sentences. Gozman was arrested in 2005, almost a decade later, in Poland and extradited to the US where he pleaded guilty in connection with Sergei Kobozev's murder.
Learn more about Sergei Kobozev's murder case in an upcoming episode of Murder in the Big Apple this Thursday.
