He was a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program since November 2002.
At the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Bangkok, he won the gold medal beating future two-time champion Matvey Korobov (RUS) 19:10, Andy Lee (29:9), Lucian Bute (stoppage), Yordanis Despaigne in the semi-finals (29:26) and Oleg Mahskin in the finals.