In his boxing career Malakhbekov won two Olympic medals in the Men's Bantamweight (54 kg) category. He also won the title at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 1995 and 1997, and the European title in 1993 in Bursa, Turkey and 2002 in Perm, Russia. During his boxing career he has won seven times the Russian National Championships and numerous other tournaments. He was also among the winners of the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York USA.