Aziz Salihu (born 1 May 1954 in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

) is one of the best retired

Super heavyweight Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and competitive bodybuilding. Boxing In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Introduced for th ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

descent. He represented

Yugoslavia at the 1984 Summer Olympics Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States which took place from 29 July to 12 August 1984. Yugoslav athletes had competed in every Summer Olympic Games since their offic ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and won the bronze medal in the super heavyweight division (> 91 kg), after a loss in the semifinals at the hands of

Tyrell Biggs Tyrell Biggs (born December 22, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1998, and challenged once for the undisputed heavyweight title in 1987. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics, having ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Salihu also competed at the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

(

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

) and

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Career

Salihu is celebrated in

and in amateur boxing circles for his more than five hundred official matches among which he lost only 26. On club level Aziz had his best years while boxing for

. He was part of the so-called golden generation and won eight Yugoslav championship titles (five consecutive). He won international medals in many other championships, including first places in the Mediterranean games and the World Cup in 1987. In Kosovo, he received the Sportsman of the Century Award and now works as the coach and manager of Boxing Club Pristina.

1980 Olympic results

Below is the record of Aziz Salihu, a Yugoslavian heavyweight boxer who competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics: * Round of 16: lost to Pyotr Zayev (Soviet Union) by decision, 0-5

Opponents

He defeated boxer world and European champion

Alexander Yagubkin Alexander Gennadiyevich Yagubkin (25 April 1961 – 7 August 2013) was a Ukrainian amateur boxer who competed between 1979 and 1988. The only Soviet boxer to become the World heavyweight champion (1982,) never turned professional for political ...

in the tournament final in Belgrade (1980). In the tournament final in Belgrade (1984) he defeated the former world champion from Russia, Valery Abadzhyan. He beat world champion

Francesco Damiani Francesco Damiani (born 4 October 1958) is an Italian former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1993. He was the first WBO heavyweight champion, having held the title from 1989 to 1991, as well as the European heavyweight title from 19 ...

in an international tournament in Benghazi in Libya (1984). He beat

Craig Payne Craig Payne (May 22, 1961 – April 7, 2017) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2001, challenging for the IBO heavyweight title in 1992. As an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves super heavyweight title in 1983. ...

, Ferenc Somodi, Håkan Brock,

Marvis Frazier Marvis Frazier (born September 12, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who fought in the heavyweight division. Early life Marvis is the son of former heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer, Joe Frazier. Marvis was at ringside for all o ...

Peter Hussing Peter Hussing (15 May 1948 – 8 September 2012) was a West German heavyweight boxer. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics and placed fifth in 1976 and 1984; he missed the 1980 Moscow Games due to their boycott by West Germany. Huss ...

and

Biaggio Chianese Biaggio Chianese (born October 28, 1961 in giugliano (naples)) is a retired boxer from Italy, who won the bronze medal at both the 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships and the 1987 European Amateur Boxing Championships in the men's he ...

References

External links

databaseOlympics.com
1954 births Living people Kosovan male boxers Heavyweight boxers Boxers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Yugoslavia Olympic bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Sportspeople from Pristina Olympic medalists in boxing Yugoslav male boxers Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Competitors at the 1987 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in boxing {{Kosovo-boxing-bio-stub