He made his debut in the
Russian Premier League in 2001 with
PFC CSKA Moscow. He is a nephew of former
FC Okean Nakhodka and
FC Lokomotiv Moscow player
Oleg Garin (who is considered the most well known Okean player ever) and until 2004 was known as
Aleksandr Garin (). After his uncle Oleg mentioned in his autobiography that he thinks Aleksandr's last name has helped him in his football career, Tikhonovetsky changed it, taking his wife's last name. In 2006, he was disqualified for 8 months for testing positive for
marijuana. ==External links==