Gianfranco Rosi (boxer)

Gianfranco Rosi
Data
Birth Name	Gianfranco Rosi
Weight class	Light middleweight
nationality	Italian
birthday	5th August 1957
place of birth	Assisi
style	Left-hand boom
size	1.78 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	70
Victories	62
Knockout victories	18th
Defeats	6th
draw	1
No value	1

Gianfranco Rosi (born August 5, 1957 in Assisi , Umbria region ) is a former Italian professional boxer and former world champion of the WBC and IBF in the light middleweight division.

Boxing career

Gianfranco Rosi played 100 fights as an amateur, including 94 wins and 4 draws. He was Italian light welterweight champion in 1976 and Italian welterweight champion in 1977. At the European Championships in 1977 in Halle , Germany, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals against Karl-Heinz Krüger .

In 1979 he played his first professional fight, in 1982 he won the Italian welterweight championship. He defended the title four times, including against two-time WBC World Cup challenger Everaldo Costa Azevedo. On July 7, 1984 he won the EBU European welterweight championship, by unanimously winning points against the Spaniard Perico Fernández . On January 5, 1985, he lost the title in his first defense by a knockout defeat to the undefeated Briton Lloyd Honeyghan .

In 1985 he again won the Italian welterweight championship, and on January 28, 1987, the EBU European championship in the light middleweight division against Chris Pyatt . After two early title defenses against Emilio Solé Ruiz and Marc Ruocco, he received a WBC World Cup chance on October 2, 1987 against the Mexican Lupe Aquino . Rosi won the fight unanimously on points and defended the title three months later by tKo against the American Duane Thomas . On July 8, 1988, he denied a title defense against Donald Curry . Rosi had to go down five times in the duel in rounds 2, 4, 7 and 8 and gave up the fight after the ninth round.

For this he won the IBF world championship in light middleweight on July 15, 1989, with a unanimous victory on points against the undefeated American Darrin Van Horn (39-0, 24 knockout). He was then able to successfully defend the title eleven times, including against René Jacquot , Gilbert Delé and in a rematch against Van Horn. On September 17, 1994, he lost the world title by a knockout loss in the fourth round to Vincent Pettway .

On May 17, 1995 he won on points against Verno Phillips and thus the world championship of the WBO in the light middleweight division, but fell through the subsequent doping test and was therefore never confirmed as world champion of this association. The fight was later changed to a worthless result and Phillips was declared the title holder again. A rematch against Phillips two years later, Rosi lost on points.

Although he won two regional IBF titles (European Championship, Mediterranean Championship) against the Hungarian Peter Zsilak and won two more fights in October 2004, he ended his career in October 2006 after a knockout loss against Robert Roselia.

predecessor	Office	successor
Magnifying glass Aquino	World Light Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) October 2, 1987 - July 8, 1988	Donald Curry

predecessor	Office	successor
Darrin Van Horn	Light Middleweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) July 15, 1989 - September 17, 1994	Vincent Pettway

Web links

• Profile at BoxRec