Matteo Signani (born 5 June 1979) is an Italian professional boxer who is a former European middleweight title holder.
Professional career Signani made his professional debut on 1 April 2007, scoring a second-round technical knockout (TKO) victory against Christian Nichitilea at the Palasport in Rimini, Italy.
After compiling a record of 4–2–1 (3 KOs), he defeated Carlo De Novellis via unanimous decision (UD) to capture the vacant Italian interim middleweight title on 12 July 2008, in Sequals. Signani challenged for the full Italian title three months later, losing via majority decision (MD) against reigning champion Gaetano Nespro on 31 October in Savignano sul Rubicone. Two judges scored the bout 97–93 in favour of Nespro while the third scored even at 95–95.
Following three more victories in 2009–Fares Sawaneh via points decision (PTS) in April; Mugurel Sebe by disqualification (DQ) in June; and Abdelouahed Ben Lelly via PTS in December–Signani made a second attempt at the Italian title in a rematch against Nespro on 29 January 2010, at the Seven Sporting Club in Savignano sul Rubicone. Nespro suffered a cut above his eyebrow in the third round, with the referee deeming the cause to be from a legal punch. The bout was allowed to continue after the ringside doctor inspected the cut. The cut reopened in the eighth round, prompting the ringside doctor called a halt to the contest, awarding Signani the Italian title via eighth-round TKO. He made four defences before losing the title against Simone Rotolo via tenth-round TKO on 2 March 2012, in Savignano sul Rubicone. Signani bounced back with three victories before capturing the Italian title for a second time, defeating Stefano Loriga by UD on 27 July 2013, in Castel Volturno, with the judges' scorecards reading 97–89, 97–92 and 95–94.
After a PTS victory against Goran Milenkovic in a non-title fight in December, Signani faced Istvan Szili for the vacant European Union middleweight title on 2 May 2014, in Gatteo. Both boxers suffered cuts resulting from an accidental clash of heads in the second round. Szili's cut worsened in the third, prompting the referee to call in the ringside doctor. Following an examination, the doctor determined the cut was too severe to allow the fight to continue, bringing a premature end to the contest via technical decision to leave the European Union title vacant. Signani made a second attempt at the title on 6 December, facing Ahmed Rifaie at the Palazzo Congressi in Bellaria. In a fight which saw Signani receive a point deduction in the seventh round for illegal use of the head, he dropped his opponent to the canvas in the twelfth and final round. Signani emerged victorious via UD, with one judge scoring the bout 118–110 while the other two scored it 116–110.
His next fight came against Rafael Sosa Pintos for the vacant WBA Inter-Continental middleweight title on 8 August 2015, in Gatteo. The contest was halted in the eighth round after Pintos suffered a cut from an accidental clash of heads, awarding Signani a TKO victory to capture his third professional title.
He scored a TKO victory against Alexander Bojic in a non-title fight in February 2016, before facing Emanuele Blandamura for the vacant European middleweight title on 3 December at the Palasport in Colleferro. Signani suffered the fifth defeat of his career, losing via split decision (SD) over twelve rounds, with one judge scoring the bout 115–113 in favour of Signani while the other two scored it 117–111 and 115–114 for Blandamura.
After bouncing back with two victories, he defeated Riccardo Lecca via ninth-round TKO on 12 August 2018, capturing the vacant IBF Latino middleweight title in Gatteo.
Three fights later, and in his second attempt, he captured the vacant European title with a SD victory against Gevorg Khatchikian on 11 October 2019, at the PalaTrento in Trento. Two judges scored the bout 116–112 and 115–113 in favour of Signani, while the third judge scored it 115–114 for Khatchikian. In January 2020, it was announced that Signani would make the first defence of his title against Maxime Beaussire on 21 March. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bout was postponed twice, and eventually took place on 10 October in Caen, France. Signani retained his title with a second-round knockout (KO) victory.
Signani lost his title to Tyler Denny at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in England on 18 November 2023, via technical knockout after failing to answer the bell at the start of the eighth round.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes38Win Maxime BeaussireTKO2 (12), 10 Oct 202037Win29–5–3 Gevorg KhatchikianUD1211 Oct 201936Win28–5–3 Frane RadnicPTS626 Apr 201935Win27–5–3 Nikola MaticPTS61 Dec 201834Win26–5–3 Riccardo Lecca9 (10), 12 Aug 201833Win25–5–3 Predrag CvetkovicTKO4 (6), 24 Mar 201832Win24–5–3 Anatoli HunanyanPTS69 Jun 201731Loss23–5–3 Emanuele BlandamuraSD123 Dec 201630Win23–4–3 Alexander BojicTKO6 (6)6 Feb 201629Win22–4–3 Rafael Sosa PintosUD8 (12), 8 Aug 201528Win21–4–3 Ahmed RifaieUD126 Dec 201427Draw20–4–3 Istvan SziliTD3 (12)2 May 201426Win20–4–2 Goran MilenkovicPTS621 Dec 201325Win19–4–2 Stefano LorigaUD1026 Jul 201324Win18–4–2 Attila KissTKO6 (6)14 Jun 201323Win17–4–2 Reward MartiTKO6 (6)27 Apr 201322Win16–4–2 Ferenc SárköziDQ2 (6)12 Jul 201221Loss15–4–2 Simone RotoloUD10 (10), 2 Mar 201220Win15–3–2 Ruslans PojonisevsPTS618 Dec 201119Win14–3–2 Attila KissPTS611 Nov 201118Win13–3–2 Lorenzo CossedduUD1026 Aug 201117Win12–3–2 Martin OwonoPTS625 Jun 201116Win11–3–2 Gaetano NesproUD108 Apr 201115Win10–3–2 Giovanni De CarolisUD105 Nov 201014Draw9–3–2 Lorenzo CossedduTD2 (10)11 Jun 201013Win9–3–1 Gaetano NesproTKO8 (10)29 Jan 201012Win8–3–1 Abdelouahed Ben LellyPTS426 Dec 200911Win7–3–1 Mugurel Sebe4 (6)13 Jun 200910Win6–3–1 Fares SawanehPTS626 Apr 20099Loss5–3–1 Gaetano Nespro1031 Oct 20088Win5–2–1 Carlo De Novellis1012 Jul 20087Draw4–2–1 Stefano Loriga1 (6)9 May 20086Loss4–2 Carlos De NovellisPTS621 Mar 20085Win4–1 Antal Kubicsek3 (6)9 Mar 20084Loss3–1 Ali Chakiev622 Feb 20083Win3–0 Vincenzo Zarbo626 Dec 20072Win2–0 Ioan FlorinTKO1 (6)10 Aug 20071Win1–0 Christian Nichitilea2 (6)1 Apr 2007
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