Background
Kandelaki was born in the village of Variani and was introduced to boxing by his father, Tarash Kandelaki.
Kandelaki was born in the village of Variani and was introduced to boxing by his father, Tarash Kandelaki.
In 1991, he completed Variani secondary school, and went on to study at the Gori State University Economics Department.
He is of Caucasus Greek descent. In the 1995 World Championships, he reached the quarter-finals having beaten Friday Ahunanya, and again lost by default to Félix Savón. Representing Georgia at the 1996 Summer Olympics, he defeated Thompson Garcia and Wojciech Bartnik before losing to Félix Savón in the quarter-finals.
In the European Championships the same year, he lost to Christophe Mendy in the quarter-finals.
In 1998, Kandelaki started boxing as a professional for Panix Promotions. In 2003, he retired unbeaten because of an eye injury.
After his boxing career, Kandelaki founded the Georgian Professional Boxing Association and became its president He trained boys as boxers in his home village of Variani and other villages.