By Ruslan Chikov

According to the official website for Boxing Federation of Russia, two-time Olympic gold medal winner, 26-year-old lightweight Alexey Tishchenko, will miss the amateur championships that are going to start on September 16 in St. Petersburg, Russia. According to his coach Leonid Kisselev, this was a forced decision. Tishchenko is having an issue related to the the cervical vertebrae, and it requires immediate medical intervention. It becomes the second year in a row where Tishchenko will be absent from Russia's big amateur competition. He still plans on participating in the 2012 Olympics with a goal of winning a third gold medal. Tishchenko is pound for pound one of best amateur boxers in the world.