Patrizio Oliva

Patrizio Oliva (born 28 January 1959) is an Italian former 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.[1]

Patrizio Oliva
Statistics
Real name	Patrizio Oliva
Weight(s)	Welterweight
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1959-01-28) 28 January 1959 Naples, Italy
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	59
Wins	57
Wins by KO	20
Losses	2
Draws	0
No contests	0
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Italy Olympics 1980 Moscow Light Welterweight European Championships 1979 Cologne Light Welterweight

Early life

Patrizio is one of seven brothers born to Rocco and Catena Oliva.[2]

Oliva was introduced to boxing through his father Rocco and his brother Mario's passion for the sport.[3] 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.[2]

Amateur career

Oliva had a successful amateur career and won 93 of his 96 fights winning the Italian, European and Olympic titles.[4]

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.[4]

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 African 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.[4]

Olympic results

• Defeated Aurelien Agnan (Benin) RSC-1
• Defeated Farez Halabi (Syria) RSC-3
• Defeated Ace Rusevski (Yugoslavia) 3–2
• Defeated Tony Willis (Great Britain) 5–0
• Defeated Serik Konakbayev (Soviet Union) 4–1[5]

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.[1]

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.[1]

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.[1]

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. Oliva defended the title four times prior to 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, and retired after the bout with a record of 57–2–0.[4]

References

1. Boxrec. "Patrizio Oliva". Boxrec Fighter Page. Retrieved 13 October 2006.
2. "Intervista Patrizio Oliva". Olimpiadi.it. Archived from the original on 15 November 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2006.
3. "I Campioni Olimpici". Olimpiadi.it. Archived from the original on 29 December 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2006.
4. Luca De Franco. "Patrizio Oliva, The Only Italian Boxer Who Did It All". thesweetscience.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
5. "Patrizio Oliva". Olympics Database. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2006.

External links

• Boxing record for Patrizio Oliva from BoxRec

Achievements
Regional boxing titles
Preceded by Robert Gambini	European Light Welterweight Champion 5 January 1983 – 1985	Vacant Title next held by Terry Marsh
Preceded by Kirkland Laing	European Welterweight Champion 14 November 1990 – 25 June 1992 Retired	Vacant Title next held by Ludovic Proto
World boxing titles
Preceded by Ubaldo Néstor Sacco	WBA Light Welterweight Champion 15 March 1986 – 4 July 1987	Succeeded by Juan Martin Coggi