Patrizio Oliva


Patrizio Oliva is an Italian former professional 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.

Early life

Patrizio is one of seven brothers born to Rocco and Catena Oliva.
Oliva was introduced to boxing through his father Rocco and his brother Mario's passion for the sport. 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.

Amateur career

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

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 Beninese 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.

Olympic results

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.

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.

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.
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 WBA world champions#Super lightweight|light welterweight title]. Oliva defended the title twice before 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.

Personal life

Oliva has been married twice and has four children. He's an atheist.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
59Loss57–2Buddy McGirtUD12 1992-06-25Acquaflash di Licola, Licola, ItalyFor WBC welterweight title
58Win57–1Antoine FernandezPTS12 1992-02-19San Pellegrino Terme, ItalyRetained European welterweight title
57Win56–1Jose Luis SaldiviaPTS10 1991-12-04San Pellegrino Terme, Italy
56Win55–1Juan Carlos OrtizPTS8 1991-10-05Laigueglia, Italy
55Win54–1Errol McDonaldDQ12 1991-06-08La Spezia, ItalyRetained European welterweight title
54Win53–1Adolfo Omar Arce RossiUD8 1991-03-23Vallecrosia, Italy
53Win52–1Kirkland LaingUD12 1990-11-14Casinò di Campione, Campione d'Italia, ItalyWon European welterweight title
52Win51–1Jorge Argentino TejadaPTS10 1990-07-20Sarno, Italy
51Win50–1Anthony StephensPTS8 1989-12-13San Giuseppe Vesuviano, Italy
50Win49–1Howard StewartUD8 1989-07-05Praiano, Italy
49Loss48–1Martín CoggiKO3 1987-07-04Palazzo Dello Sport, Ribera, ItalyLost WBA light-welterweight title
48Win48–0Rodolfo GonzálezUD15 1987-01-10Teatro Tenda, Agrigento, ItalyRetained WBA light-welterweight title
47Win47–0Brian BrunetteTKO3 1986-09-06Palasport di Napoli di Furoi, Naples, ItalyRetained WBA light-welterweight title
46Win46–0Eric MartinPTS10 1986-07-30Capo d'Orlando, Italy
45Win45–0Ford JenningsPTS10 1986-06-14Praiano, Italy
44Win44–0Ubaldo Néstor SaccoSD15 1986-03-15Stade Louis II, Fontvieille, MonacoWon WBA light-welterweight title
43Win43–0Rick KaiserTKO4 1986-01-21Pozzuoli, Italy
42Win42–0Mark LasseinUD10 1985-12-08Maurice Richard Arena, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
41Win41–0Steve MitchellPTS8 1985-10-31Viterbo, Italy
40Win40–0Nick ParkerPTS8 1985-07-21Casinò di Campione, Campione d'Italia, Italy
39Win39–0Alessandro ScapecchiUD12 1985-03-27Nocera, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
38Win38–0Michel GiroudRTD8 1984-12-15Catanzaro, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
37Win37–0Tusikoleta NkalanketePTS12 1984-09-04Acciaroli, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
36Win36–0Ali Kareem MuhammadPTS8 1984-06-23Campione d'Italia, Italy
35Win35–0Jose Ramon Gomez FouzTKO4 1984-04-28San Giuseppe Vesuviano, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
34Win34–0Kevin AustinPTS8 1984-03-23Chiavari, Italy
33Win33–0Charlie AllenTKO3 1984-02-22Gragnano, Italy
32Win32–0Jerome ArtisPTS10 1984-01-28Palazzo Dello Sport, Marsala, Italy
31Win31–0Anthony MurrayTKO6 1983-12-21Pozzuoli, Italy
30Win30–0Juan Jose GimenezUD12 1983-10-14Palasport di San Siro, Milan, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
29Win29–0Antonio GuinaldoPTS12 1983-07-31Rapallo, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
28Win28–0Jean-Marie TouatiTKO6 1983-05-25Santa Margherita di Belice, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
27Win27–0Francisco LeónTKO11 1983-03-19Palazzetto dello Sport, Naples, ItalyRetained European light-welterweight title
26Win26–0Robert GambiniPTS12 1983-01-05Ischia, ItalyWon European light-welterweight title
25Win25–0Dave McCabePTS8 1982-10-06Gragnano, Italy
24Win24–0Luciano NavarraPTS12 1982-09-01Forio, ItalyRetained Italian light-welterweight title
23Win23–0Andre HolykTKO4 1982-08-08Marina di Camerota, Italy
22Win22–0Hugues SamoPTS8 1982-05-29Milan, Italy
21Win21–0Samuel SerunjogiPTS8 1982-05-20Vieste, Italy
20Win20–0Giuseppe MartinesePTS12 1982-04-11Forio, ItalyRetained Italian light-welterweight title
19Win19–0Francesco GalloPTS8 1982-03-06Giovinazzo, Italy
18Win18–0Bruno SimiliTKO8 1982-02-11Naples, ItalyRetained Italian light-welterweight title
17Win17–0Antonio AntinoTKO3 1981-12-27Forio, ItalyRetained Italian light-welterweight title
16Win16–0Mosimo MaelekePTS8 1981-12-11Milan, Italy
15Win15–0Rafael GutierrezRTD5 1981-11-27Bologna, Italy
14Win14–0Giuseppe RussiKO2 1981-11-04Forio, ItalyWon Italian light-welterweight title
13Win13–0Patrizio BuriniRTD1 1981-08-09Camaiore, Italy
12Win12–0Charles JuriettiRTD4 1981-07-01Formia, Italy
11Win11–0George BurtonUD6 1981-06-04The Theater at [Madison Square Garden|Felt Forum], New York City, New York, U.S.
10Win10–0Francesco GalloTKO7 1981-05-15Padua, Italy
9Win9–0Rene MartinTKO4 1981-05-01Piacenza, Italy
8Win8–0Rosario di TommasoTKO2 1981-04-04Campobasso, Italy
7Win7–0Luigi CurcettiPTS8 1981-03-20Naples, Italy
6Win6–0Mohatar IITKO4 1981-03-06Milan, Italy
5Win5–0Georges CotinPTS6 1981-02-23Rome, Italy
4Win4–0Mohammed el KadoumiPTS6 1980-12-26Bologna, Italy
3Win3–0Eloi de SouzaTKO6 1980-11-08Latina, Italy
2Win2–0Benedicto dos SantosPTS6 1980-10-25Pordenone, Italy
1Win1–0Nelson GomesPTS6 1980-10-11Naples, Italy