Paea Wolfgramm Explained

Paea Wolfgramm
Fullname:Paea Wolfgramm
Nicknames:The Tongan Warrior
Nationality:Tongan
Weight Class:Super Heavyweight
Birth Date:1 December 1969
Birth Place:Vava'u, Tonga
Height:1.850NaN0
Weight:1400NaN0
Show-Medals:yes

Paea Wolfgramm (born December 1, 1969) is a Tongan retired boxer. Nicknamed "The Tongan Warrior", Wolfgramm earned the Super Heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making him the first and only athlete from Tonga to win an Olympic medal.[1]

Personal

Wolfgramm has 7 children - 5 boys and 2 girls, as well as 4 brothers and 2 sisters. He resides in South Auckland New Zealand, where he is a hostel parent at a well-known New Zealand school, Wesley College.

Amateur highlights

Professional career

At 6'4" and 325 pounds, the huge Wolfgramm turned pro after the Olympics, but had limited success. He lost a decision to journeyman Marion Wilson in 1998. Although he was able to beat former Cuban Olympian Jorge Luis Gonzalez by decision to set up a fight with Wladimir Klitschko for the vacant WBC International Heavyweight Title, he was beaten in the first round in a rematch of their 1996 Super Heavyweight Olympic finals bout. He later lost a decision to Eliecer Castillo, but beat Jimmy Thunder to set up a fight with Corey Sanders in late 2001. Sanders won via 9th-round TKO, and Wolfgramm announced his retirement shortly after this fight.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
24Loss20–4 Corey SandersTKO9 (10), 8 Aug 2001
23Win20–3 Jimmy Thunder7 (10), 1 Apr 2001
22Loss19–3 Eliecer Castillo1221 Oct 2000
21Win19–2 Rocky Gannon3 (8), 21 Jul 2000
20Loss18–2 Wladimir KlitschkoTKO1 (12), 18 Mar 2000
19Win18–1 Calvin LampkinUD105 Dec 1999
18Win17–1 Gerard JonesUD107 Mar 1999
17Win16–1 Jorge Luis GonzálezMD815 Aug 1998
16Win15–1 Guy SonnenbergTKO1 (8), 12 Jun 1998
15Loss14–1 Marion Wilson69 May 1998
14Win14–0 Rick SullivanTKO1 (6)21 Mar 1998
13Win13–0 Kevin RosierTKO1 (6), 16 Jan 1998
12Win12–0 Billy EatonKO1 (6), 20 Dec 1997
11Win11–0 Ed WhiteKO1 (4), 23 Sep 1997
10Win10–0 Gerald BrownTKO1 (4)23 August 1997
9Win9–0 Jessie HenryTKO3 (4), 9 August 1997
8Win8–0 Robert MitchellTKO1 (4)24 May 1997
7Win7–0 Khoren IndjianTKO2 (4), 10 May 1997
6Win6–0 Ronnie Smith43 Mar 1997
5Win5–0 Stan JonesKO2 (6)14 Feb 1997
4Win4–0 Momtchil GovedarovTKO1 (4), 28 Jan 1997
3Win3–0 Orlando Leavall417 Jan 1997
2Win2–0 John Foster1 (4)11 Jan 1997
1Win1–0 Jeff Kirk1 (4), 3 Dec 1996

Honours

National honours

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Boxing: Training was not all beer and skittles for Wolgramm . New Zealand Herald . 7 March 2015 . 6 January 2022.
  2. Web site: Bittersweet moment for Pacific Islands first Olympic medalist, Paea Wolfgramm . Matangi Tonga . 12 August 2016 . 11 December 2022.
  3. Web site: Royal orders presented at Palace . Matangi Tonga . 1 August 2008 . 2 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210121030307/https://matangitonga.to/2008/08/01/royal-orders-presented-palace . 21 January 2021.