Patrizio Oliva Explained

Patrizio Oliva
Birth Date:28 January 1959
Birth Place:Naples, Italy
Weight:
Height:5 ft 9+1/2 in
Style:Orthodox
Total:59
Wins:57
Ko:20
Losses:2

Patrizio Oliva (born 28 January 1959) is an Italian former professional boxer, who won the gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as an amateur and the WBA light welterweight title as a professional.

Early life

Patrizio is one of seven brothers born to Rocco and Catena Oliva.

Oliva was introduced to boxing through his father Rocco and his brother Mario's passion for the sport. One of his brothers, Ciro, died and Oliva dedicated a number of his fights to the memory of Ciro and also named his first son after him.

Amateur career

Oliva had a successful amateur career and won 93 of his 96 fights winning the Italian, European and Olympic titles.[1]

At international level Oliva won the 1978 European Junior Championships in Dublin, Ireland and silver medal at the 1979 European Senior Championships in Cologne, West Germany. Oliva was beaten by Russian boxer Serik Konakbayev in the final of the Cologne championship and stated that his fight against Konakbaev was the hardest of his career. The following year he represented his country and boxed at the Olympic Games for Italy and would again face Konakbaev.

1980 Olympics

Following two years of winning European title Oliva competed in the blue vest of Italy at the 1980 Summer Olympics, which were held in Moscow, USSR.

Oliva competed in the Light Welterweight (– 63.5 kg) division. He defeated Beninese Aurelien Agnan in his first contest after referee stopped contest in first round. In his second contest he stopped Syrian Farez Halabi in the third round and beat Yugoslavian Ace Rusevski in the quarter-final. In the semi-final Oliva faced British boxer Tony Willis. This fight went the full three round distance and Oliva was once again victorious after all five judges gave him the decision.

On 2 August 1980, Oliva once again met his opponent from the final of the 1979 European championships, Serik Konakbaev, in the final of the Olympics. This time Oliva reversed the result by beating Konakbaev in front of his home crowd to take the gold medal and win the Val Barker Trophy for being "Outstanding Boxer" at the 1980 Olympics.

Olympic results

Professional career

Debut

Within two months of winning gold at the Moscow Olympics, Oliva turned professional. His first fight was on 11 October 1980 against Italian based Brazilian Nelson Gomes in Naples, Italy. Oliva defeated Gomes on points over six rounds to secure his first victory as a professional.

Early fights

After Oliva's first win in the professional ranks, he then went on a run of victories. From October 1980 to August 1981, Oliva won thirteen straight fights before he fought for his first title belt, the Italian light welterweight title against Giuseppe Russi on 4 November 1981 in Ischia. Oliva handled Russi with ease winning the title with a second round knockout. Oliva followed his first title win by winning a further eleven straight fight between November 1981 and October 1982.

European title

This left Oliva with a record of 25 victories with no losses and earned him a fight against Frenchman Robert Gambini for a chance to win for his first major title, the European light welterweight title. Oliva was again victorious and took the title from Gambini on points over twelve rounds. Gambini retired from boxing after the fight.

Oliva continued his run of career victories by winning his first 48 fights, including a victory over Ubaldo Nestor Sacco in 1986 to capture the WBA light welterweight title.[2] Oliva defended the title twice before losing to Juan Martin Coggi by KO in 1987. After a two-year rest, Oliva came back and went on to win his next 9 fights, setting up a shot at WBC welterweight title holder James McGirt in 1992. Oliva lost via unanimous decision,[3] and retired after the bout with a record of 57–2–0.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
59Loss57–2Buddy McGirtUD12 (12)1992-06-25
58Win57–1Antoine FernandezPTS12 (12)1992-02-19
57Win56–1Jose Luis SaldiviaPTS10 (10)1991-12-04
56Win55–1Juan Carlos OrtizPTS8 (8)1991-10-05
55Win54–1Errol McDonaldDQ12 (12)1991-06-08
54Win53–1Adolfo Omar Arce RossiUD8 (8)1991-03-23
53Win52–1Kirkland LaingUD12 (12)1990-11-14
52Win51–1Jorge Argentino TejadaPTS10 (10)1990-07-20
51Win50–1Anthony StephensPTS8 (8)1989-12-13
50Win49–1Howard StewartUD8 (8)1989-07-05
49Loss48–1Martín CoggiKO3 (15)1987-07-04
48Win48–0Rodolfo GonzálezUD15 (15)1987-01-10
47Win47–0Brian BrunetteTKO3 (15)1986-09-06
46Win46–0Eric MartinPTS10 (10)1986-07-30
45Win45–0Ford JenningsPTS10 (10)1986-06-14
44Win44–0Ubaldo Néstor SaccoSD15 (15)1986-03-15
43Win43–0Rick KaiserTKO4 (10)1986-01-21
42Win42–0Mark LasseinUD10 (10)1985-12-08
41Win41–0Steve MitchellPTS8 (8)1985-10-31
40Win40–0Nick ParkerPTS8 (8)1985-07-21
39Win39–0Alessandro ScapecchiUD12 (12)1985-03-27
38Win38–0Michel GiroudRTD8 (12)1984-12-15
37Win37–0Tusikoleta NkalanketePTS12 (12)1984-09-04
36Win36–0Ali Kareem MuhammadPTS8 (8)1984-06-23
35Win35–0Jose Ramon Gomez FouzTKO4 (12)1984-04-28
34Win34–0Kevin AustinPTS8 (8)1984-03-23
33Win33–0Charlie AllenTKO3 (?)1984-02-22
32Win32–0Jerome ArtisPTS10 (10)1984-01-28
31Win31–0Anthony MurrayTKO6 (?)1983-12-21
30Win30–0Juan Jose GimenezUD12 (12)1983-10-14
29Win29–0Antonio GuinaldoPTS12 (12)1983-07-31
28Win28–0Jean-Marie TouatiTKO6 (12)1983-05-25
27Win27–0Francisco LeónTKO11 (12)1983-03-19
26Win26–0Robert GambiniPTS12 (12)1983-01-05
25Win25–0Dave McCabePTS8 (8)1982-10-06
24Win24–0Luciano NavarraPTS12 (12)1982-09-01
23Win23–0Andre HolykTKO4 (10)1982-08-08
22Win22–0Hugues SamoPTS8 (8)1982-05-29
21Win21–0Samuel SerunjogiPTS8 (8)1982-05-20
20Win20–0Giuseppe MartinesePTS12 (12)1982-04-11
19Win19–0Francesco GalloPTS8 (8)1982-03-06
18Win18–0Bruno SimiliTKO8 (12)1982-02-11
17Win17–0Antonio AntinoTKO3 (12)1981-12-27
16Win16–0Mosimo MaelekePTS8 (8)1981-12-11
15Win15–0Rafael GutierrezRTD5 (?)1981-11-27
14Win14–0Giuseppe RussiKO2 (12)1981-11-04
13Win13–0Patrizio BuriniRTD1 (8)1981-08-09
12Win12–0Charles JuriettiRTD4 (?)1981-07-01
11Win11–0George BurtonUD6 (6)1981-06-04
10Win10–0Francesco GalloTKO7 (?)1981-05-15
9Win9–0Rene MartinTKO4 (8)1981-05-01
8Win8–0Rosario di TommasoTKO2 (8)1981-04-04
7Win7–0Luigi CurcettiPTS8 (8)1981-03-20
6Win6–0Mohatar IITKO4 (?)1981-03-06
5Win5–0Georges CotinPTS6 (6)1981-02-23
4Win4–0Mohammed el KadoumiPTS6 (6)1980-12-26
3Win3–0Eloi de SouzaTKO6 (6)1980-11-08
2Win2–0Benedicto dos SantosPTS6 (6)1980-10-25
1Win1–0Nelson GomesPTS6 (6)1980-10-11

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Patrizio Oliva, The Only Italian Boxer Who Did It All. The Sweet Science. 2024-05-10.
  2. Web site: Italian Patrizio Oliva scored a split-decision victory.... Los Angeles Times. 2024-05-10.
  3. Web site: McGirt Retains His Title in Italy. The New York Times. 2024-05-10.