1. Patrizio Oliva was born on 28 January 1959 and 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.
16 Facts About Patrizio Oliva
1. 2.
One of his brothers, Ciro, died and Patrizio Oliva dedicated a number of his fights to the memory of Ciro and named his first son after him.
3.
Patrizio Oliva had a successful amateur career and won 93 of his 96 fights winning the Italian, European and Olympic titles.
4.
At international level Patrizio Oliva won the 1978 European Junior Championships in Dublin, Ireland and silver medal at the 1979 European Senior Championships in Cologne, West Germany.
5.
Patrizio 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.
6.
Patrizio Oliva competed in the Light Welterweight division.
7.
Patrizio Oliva defeated Beninese Aurelien Agnan in his first contest after referee stopped contest in first round.
8.
On 2 August 1980, Patrizio Oliva met his opponent from the final of the 1979 European championships, Serik Konakbaev, in the final of the Olympics.
9.
Patrizio Oliva's first fight was on 11 October 1980 against Italian based Brazilian Nelson Gomes in Naples, Italy.
10.
Patrizio Oliva defeated Gomes on points over six rounds to secure his first victory as a professional.
11.
From October 1980 to August 1981, Patrizio 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.
12.
Patrizio Oliva handled Russi with ease winning the title with a second round knockout.
13.
Patrizio Oliva followed his first title win by winning a further eleven straight fight between November 1981 and October 1982.
14.
Patrizio Oliva was again victorious and took the title from Gambini on points over twelve rounds.
15.
Patrizio 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.
16.
Patrizio Oliva defended the title twice before losing to Juan Martin Coggi by KO in 1987.