Michele Piccirillo (born 29 January 1970 in Modugno, Italy) is a professional boxer in the welterweight () division.
Amateur career
Michele Piccirillo was an Italian boxer who earned the nickname “Il Gentleman del Ring” for his elegant fighting style and sportsmanship. He started boxing under the guidance of his father and coach Scipione. As an amateur he fought 112 matches from 1986 to 1992, with 108 victories and 4 losses. The highlight of his amateur career came in 1991 when he won a bronze medal at the European Championship. He was eliminated in his first contest at the same year’s World Championship and also at the 1989 European Championships. Piccirillo turned professional after the Barcelona Games.
Professional career
In his 11th pro contest in 1994 he won the Intercontinental Light-Welterweight title against the Mexican Manuel Hernández, then on 21 July 1995, he became Italian champion against Franco Palmiero. His first defeat came in April 1996, in Denmark, where he lost a bout for the European title against the Dane Soren Sondergaard. After a final defense of the Italian title, he moved up to welterweight. On 29 November 1997, he knocked out the Briton Geoff McCreesh, to win the European welterweight crown.
Piccirillo immediately abandoned the title to challenge for the WBU world title, an organization with minimal recognition around the world. He won this title on 4 May 1998, at Catania in Sicily, against his fellow Italian Alessandro Duran. After 8 successful defences, he relinquished the title to fight for the more prestigious IBF title, which he then won in April 2002 by decision over the American Cory Spinks, the son of Leon Spinks which USA Today newspaper described as one of the most controversial decisions in modern boxing history. He lost the title the following year in a rematch.
After this Piccirillo moved up in weight again, this time to light-middleweights. On 13 August 2005, in Chicago, he was defeated by Ricardo Mayorga (Nicaragua) in a match for the latter’s WBC world crown. He rebounded to win the vacant European light-middleweight title against Lukáš Konečný, then defended it twice against Luca Messi and Michael Jones. On 1 December 2007, at Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, he tried again to win the world title, but was knocked out in round 11 by the American Vernon Forrest. His pro record ended at 50 wins (29 by KO), 5 losses (2 by KO), 1 no contest. Piccirillo was awarded the Gold Medal of the Italian Olympic Committee for his athletic achievements.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes56LossJamie Moore55Win50–4 János Petrovics54Win49–4 Patrik Hruska53Loss48–4 Vernon Forrest52Win48–3 Sylvain Touzet51Win47–3 Michael Jones50Win46–3 Luca Messi49Win45–3 Lukáš Konečný48Loss44–3 Ricardo Mayorga47Win44–2 Serge Vigne46Win43–2 Lóránt Szabó45Win42–2 Stephane Talliana44Win41–2 Louis Mimoune43Win40–2 Paulo Alejandro Sanchez42Win39–2 Ruben Dario Oliva41Win38–2 Oscar Daniel Veliz40Loss37–2 Cory Spinks39Win37–1 Cory Spinks38Win36–1 Rafael Pineda37NC35–1 Elio Ortiz36Win35–1Stanley Mabesi35Win34–1Andrew Murray34Win33–1Walter Crucce33Win32–1Frankie Randall32Win31–1Felix Victor Vasconcel31Win30–1Juan Martin Coggi30Win29–1Sergio Ernesto Acuna29Win28–1Alessandro Duran28Win27–1Walter Fabian Saporiti27Win26–1Alessandro Duran26Win25–1Geoff McCreesh25Win24–1Claudiu Rata24Win23–1Milko Stoikov23Win22–1Stefan Dimitrov22Win21–1Miguel Angel Pena21Win20–1Jorge Ramirez20Win19–1Farid Bennecer19Win18–1Francesco Cioffi18Loss17–1Søren Søndergaard17Win17–0Noe Hernandez16Win16–0Alberto Alicea15Win15–0Franco Palmiero14Win14–0Benito Martinez13Win13–0Viktor Baranov12Win12–0Ferenc Szakallas11Win11–0Manuel Hernandez10Win10–0Luigi La Grasta9Win9–0Vadim Prisyazhnyuk8Win8–0Eduardo Jaquez7Win7–0Gyorgy Kincses6Win6–0Pave Turic5Win5–0Victor Melendez4Win4–0Tahar Nasri3Win3–0Nelson Lakicevic2Win2–0Csaba Olah1Win1–0Valery Monakhov
See also List of world welterweight boxing champions
References
External links