| Francesco Pianeta | |
| Nickname: | Italian Ace |
| Weight: | Heavyweight |
| Height: | 1.96 m[1] |
| Reach: | 203cm (80inches) |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Birth Date: | 8 October 1984 |
| Birth Place: | Corigliano Calabro, Italy |
| Style: | Southpaw |
| Total: | 41 |
| Wins: | 35 |
| Ko: | 21 |
| Losses: | 5 |
| Draws: | 1 |
Francesco Pianeta (born 8 October 1984) is an Italian former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2018.[2] He challenged for the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring heavyweight championship in 2013, the WBA (Regular) title in 2015, and in his final fight for the Lineal heavyweight championship in 2018. At regional level, he held the European Union heavyweight title from 2008 to 2009.[3]
Pianeta was born in Corigliano in the province of Cosenza. When he was six his family emigrated to Germany and his father went to work in a butcher store.
Before he turned to professional boxing Pianeta practiced Muay Thai and had a record of 9 wins and one loss.[4]
Despite being a long-time Germany resident, Pianeta has held close ties with Italy and in 2008 he stated that his ambition was to win the Italian heavyweight title.[5]
Pianeta's first fight as a professional boxer was in July 2005, in Hessen, Germany, when he beat Slovakian journeyman Sylvester Petrovic with a second round knockout.[2]
Pianeta was subsequently undefeated in all of his next 27 fights, with 14 wins by KO and 1 draw.
On 4 May 2013, Pianeta fought Wladimir Klitschko for WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, lineal & The Ring heavyweight titles. He was knocked down 3 times by Klitschko and lost the bout by the way of TKO.[6]
Up until 2018, Pianeta was trained by Alexander Petkovic and promoted by Petkovic′s Petko′s LMS Promotion. Based in Germany, he has also fought in Italy, Ireland, Austria, Poland and Belgium.
Pianeta's final fight was against former unified and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury at Windsor Park on 18 August 2018. Fury dominated the fight in convincing fashion, winning every single round on referee Steve Gray's scorecard in a shutout points decision victory, handing Pianeta his fifth career loss.[7]
In February 2019, Pianeta announced his retirement. He is now a boxing trainer.[8]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Loss |  Tyson Fury | PTS | 10 | 18 August 2018 | ||||
| 40 | Loss | 35–4–1 | Petar Milas | UD | 10 | 16 June 2018 | |||
| 39 | Win | 35–3–1 |  Dašo Simeunović | TKO | 3 (6), | 10 March 2018 | |||
| 38 | Loss | 34–3–1 |  Kevin Johnson | TKO | 7 (10), | 14 October 2017 | |||
| 37 | Win | 34–2–1 |  Oezcan Cetinkaya | TKO | 2 (10), | 8 July 2017 | |||
| 36 | Win | 33–2–1 | Edi Delibaltaoglu | TKO | 3 (6), | 17 June 2017 | |||
| 35 | Win | 32–2–1 | Hasan Olaki | TKO | 5 (6) | 20 February 2016 | |||
| 34 | Loss | 31–2–1 | KO | 1 (12), | 12 July 2015 | ||||
| 33 | Win | 31–1–1 |  Ivica Bačurin | UD | 12 | 6 December 2014 |  | ||
| 32 | Win | 30–1–1 |  Mickael Vieira | KO | 1 (12), | 30 May 2014 | |||
| 31 | Win | 29–1–1 | Robert Teuber | TKO | 2 (10), | 6 December 2013 | |||
| 30 | Loss | 28–1–1 |  Wladimir Klitschko | TKO | 6 (12), | 4 May 2013 | |||
| 29 | Win | 28–0–1 |  Nelson Dario Dominguez | TKO | 1 (10), | 16 November 2012 | |||
| 28 | Win | 27–0–1 | Frans Botha | UD | 10 | 7 September 2012 | |||
| 27 | Win | 26–0–1 | Oliver McCall | UD | 10 | 16 May 2012 | |||
| 26 | Win | 25–0–1 | Zack Page | PTS | 8 | 7 January 2012 | |||
| 25 | Win | 24–0–1 | Robert Hawkins | PTS | 8 | 21 October 2011 | |||
| 24 | Win | 23–0–1 | Ivica Perković | TKO | 3 (8), | 2 April 2011 | |||
| 23 | Win | 22–0–1 |  Samir Kurtagić | UD | 8 | 12 February 2011 | |||
| 22 | Win | 21–0–1 | Mike Middleton | KO | 1 (8), | 18 December 2010 | |||
| 21 | Win | 20–0–1 |  Evgeny Orlov | UD | 8 | 5 December 2009 | |||
| 20 | Win | 19–0–1 | Matt Skelton | RTD | 8 (12), | 19 September 2009 | |||
| 19 | Draw | 18–0–1 |  Albert Sosnowski | 12 | 4 April 2009 | ||||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Johann Duhaupas | UD | 12 | 20 December 2008 | |||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Scott Gammer | 8 (12), | 30 August 2008 | ||||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Michael Marrone | TKO | 2 (10), | 17 May 2008 | |||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Donnell Wiggins | KO | 3 (10), | 16 February 2008 | |||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 |  Paolo Ferrara | UD | 8 | 29 December 2007 | |||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 |  Leo Sanchez | TKO | 2 (8) | 24 November 2007 |  | ||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 |  Colin Wilson | UD | 8 | 29 September 2007 | |||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Miyan Solomons | UD | 8 | 23 June 2007 | |||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Paolo Ferrara | 8 | 14 April 2007 | ||||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Aleksandrs Borhovs | 8 | 25 March 2007 | ||||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Georgi Harizanov | KO | 2 (6), | 17 February 2007 |  | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Cerrone Fox | TKO | 3 (8), | 20 January 2007 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Valentin Marinel | TKO | 1 (6), | 25 November 2006 | | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 |  Vlado Szabo | 6 | 11 August 2006 | | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Dirk Mandelartz | KO | 1 (6), | 20 May 2006 | | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 |  Ervin Slonka | TKO | 2 (4), | 29 April 2006 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Tomáš Mrázek | 2 (4), | 11 March 2006 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Sylvester Petrović | 2 (4), | 2 July 2005 |