European Champion and AIBA World Championships silver medallist David Ayrapetyan took part in his nation's elite squad preparation camp in Kislovodsk, where it was decided the Light Flyweight star would become Russian national boxing team captain.

Russian Boxing Federation Director and EUBC's Referee & Judge Commission Vice-Chairman Yevgeniy Sudakov thanked AIBA World Champion and two-time European Champion Yegor Mekhontsev for his tenure as captain, praising him for his dedication and hard work, before turning his attention to the team's new leader.

Ayrapetyan is of Armenian-descent and was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1983. His boxing career began in 1992 at the tender age of nine before his first great breakthrough came when he won a valuable silver medal at the 2001 Russian Junior National Championships.

He went on to join the national team in 2002 before securing a gold medal at the AIBA Junior World Championships in Santiago de Cuba. In his first major elite tournament, during the 2003 Strandja Memorial Tournament in Bulgaria, he claimed a silver medal. He went on to earn his first national elite title in 2004.

The Magnitogorsk-based boxer defeated the former Russian Light Flyweight number one Sergey Kazakov at the 2006 National Championships and has defended his title ever since. One of the highlights of Ayrapetyan's success story was winning the gold medal at the 2006 European Championships in Plovdiv.

After an unsuccessful appearance at the 29th Summer Olympic Games in Beijing where he was eliminated by Ukraine's Georgiy Chygayev in the first preliminary round, he took it upon himself to be on top form for the next Olympic show-down. A well-trained and focused Ayrapetyan won both asilver and a bronze medal at the 2009 and 2011 AIBA World Championships in Milan and in Baku.

Thanks to his bronze medal win in Baku, the 28-year-old Light Flyweight secured his quota place for the London Olympic Games, where with a bit of determination, he may well be able to defeat China's three-time AIBA World Champion Zou Shiming.

The Russian national boxing squad has been training for the upcoming preparation events with appearances scheduled at the Bocskai Memorial Tournament and the Strandja Tournament. Both these intense competitions will be held next month and a record number of boxers are expected to attend these events in Hungary and Bulgaria respectively.

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