Giovanni Zuddas

Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Zuddas (born March 1, 1928 in Cagliari , † October 26, 1996 ibid) was an Italian boxer . He won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in 1948 and was European champion of the amateurs in the bantamweight division in 1949 .

Career

Career as an amateur boxer

Gianni Zuddas qualified in 1948 at the age of twenty in the bantamweight division for participation in the 1948 Olympic Games in London. The start at this boxing tournament was his first at a major international boxing championship. In London he came to a point victory over Bonifacio Zarcal, Philippines, to a knockout victory in the 2nd round over Jean-Marie Grenot, France, to a demolition victory in the 3rd round over William Lenihan, Ireland and to a point victory about Alvaro Vicente from Spain. So he was in the final battle for the gold medal, in which he lost against the experienced Hungarian Tibor Csik on points. He won the silver medal with it.

In January 1949, on the occasion of an international match between Ireland and Italy, a revenge against William Lenihan took place in Dublin, but the outcome of this fight is not known. In May 1949 Gianni Zuddas was in a European selection that competed in Chicago for a comparison match against the United States. He defeated it in the bantamweight Jack McCann, the reigning US Golden Gloves Champion, on points. In June 1949 he started at the European Amateur Boxer Championship in Oslo. He was there in bantamweight with victories over Kearns, Ireland, Rudolf Tot, Yugoslavia, Salvador Vangi, France and Henning Jensen, Denmark, European champion.

Gianni Zuddas fought his last international fight as an amateur boxer in October 1949 in Helsinki. In an international match between Finland and Italy, he defeated Veijo Piirinen on points in the bantamweight division. Then he went over to the professional boxers.

International success as an amateur boxer

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1948	silver	OS in London	Bantam	after winning points over Bonifacio Zarcal, Philippines, knockout win in the 2nd round over Jean-Marie Grenot, France, demolition win in the 3rd round over William Lenihan, Ireland, point win over Alvaro Vicente, Spain and point defeat against Tibor Csik, Hungary
1949	1.	EM in Oslo	Bantam	after winning points over Kearns, Ireland, Rudolf Tot, Yugoslavia, Salvador Vangi, France and Henning Jensen, Denmark

International battles

year	place	encounter	Weight class	Result
1949	Dublin	Ireland versus Italy	Bantam	Fight against William Lenihan, result not known
1949	Chicago	America (USA) against Europe	Bantam	Points victory over Jack McCann
1949	Helsinki	Finland versus Italy	Bantam	Points victory over Veijo Piirinen

Career as a professional boxer

Gianni Zuddas fought his first fight as a professional boxer on November 30, 1949 in Cagliari. He defeated his compatriot Alfredo Severi in the bantamweight division by knockout in the 5th round. The following 26 fights he won all except one, in which he fought in a draw against Dante Bini in Milan on February 28, 1951. Among those defeated was u. a. also the 1936 Olympic champion Ulderico Sergo . On September 15, 1951 he fought in Cagliari as a challenger against Alvaro Nuvoloni for the Italian championship in bantamweight. The fight ended in a draw after 12 rounds, which Nuvoloni remained Italian champion.

On August 5, 1952, Gianni Zuddas was in Cagliari with a point victory after 12 rounds over Amleto Falcinelli then for the first time Italian champion of professional boxer in the bantamweight. On September 26, 1953, he lost this title in Arezzo against his deaf-mute compatriot Mario D'Agata by disqualification in the 9th round. On April 10, 1954, Gianni Zuddas fought again in Milan against Mario D'Agata for the Italian championship title. But he lost again, this time on points. Mario D'Agata was European champion in 1955 and even world champion in bantamweight in 1956.

After losing to Mario D'Agata, Gianni Zuddas went to Australia for a few months and fought there a. a. in Sydney and Melbourne twice against the Australian bantamweight champion Bobby Sinn. He had to be removed from the fight in both fights due to injuries (eyebrows).

Gianni Zuddas only got the next chance to become Italian champion on February 28, 1959. He lost this championship fight in Pesaro against Federico Scarponi on points. Even in the revenge on May 30, 1959 in Cagliari, which was again about the Italian championship in bantamweight, he was not lucky. He lost to Federico Scarponi by technical knockout in the 5th round. On October 30, 1959 Gianni Zuddas fought in Sao Paulo against the Brazilian Éder Jofre in a non-title fight. He lost this fight after 10 rounds on points. In the years that followed, Eder Jofre was active until 1976 and was a multiple world champion in various professional associations.

Gianni Zuddas fought his last fight as a professional boxer on September 4, 1960n in Porto Torres, losing to Giuseppe Poddighe on points.

In total he played 77 fights as a professional boxer, of which he won 57 and lost 16. four times he boxed a draw.

Championship fights as a professional boxer

year	place	title	Weight class	Result
1951	Cagliari	from Italy	Bantam	Draw after 12 rounds against Alvaro Nuvoloni
1952	Cagliari	from Italy	Bantam	Points victory after 12 laps over Amleto Falcinelli
1953	Arezzo	from Italy	Bantam	Disq. Defeat in the 9th round against Mario D'Agata
1954	Milan	from Italy	Bantam	Point defeat after 12 rounds against Mario D'Agata
1959	Pesaro	from Italy	Bantam	Point defeat after 12 rounds against Federico Scarponi
1959	Cagliari	from Italy	Bantam	Technical knockout loss in the 5th round against Federico Scarponi

Explanations

• OS = Olympic Games, EM = European Championship
• Bantam weight, weight class up to 54 kg body weight (amateur area)

literature

• Box Sport magazine

Web links

• Giovanni Zuddas in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Giovanni Zuddas in the BoxRec database
• Film report of Gianni Zudda's fight against Eder Jofre in Sao Paulo in 1959
• www.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl