[4] Although Ivan Filippovich, his father, was an athlete, Zhabotinsky stated in a 1967 interview that he took after one of his grandfathers, and neither of his parents had an outstanding physique.

After graduating from the seven-year secondary school, he worked at the Kharkov Tractor Plant and was coached by Mikhail Svetlichny at the local weightlifting club of the Armed Forces sports society.

[3] Between 1963 and 1974, Zhabotinsky set 19 world records in the superheavyweight class and won gold medals at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.

[citation needed] In 1964, Zhabotinsky graduated from the Kharkiv Pedagogical Institute and in 1970 defended a PhD in pedagogy.

After that, he became a pro-rector of the Moscow Institute of Business and Law, one of the first private higher education facilities in Russia.