Alleged killer of Sergei Kobozev to face justice

25/02/2005

Alleged killer of Sergei Kobozev to face justice

According to Friday's New York Daily News, Natan Gozman, the Russian mobster wanted in the 1995 murder of cruiserweight Sergei Kobozev was arrested in Poland by New York City police and United States FBI agents.  He will likely return to the U.S. to stand trial.  Kobozev vanished from Brooklyn, New York in 1995 and it took four years to discover his body, which was buried in a New Jersey backyard belonging to an alleged Russian mobster.  Authorities believe Gozman was involved in killing Kobozev after the boxer denied Gozman entrance into a nightclub where Kobozev moonlighted as a bouncer.  The world will never know what Kobozev could have accomplished, but his 1993 win over John Ruiz provides a pretty big clue. He perished with a record of 22-1, his only loss coming by split decision in a world title fight against Marcelo Dominguez.  -Scott Shaffer