Duilio Loi (19 April 1929 – 20 January 2008) was an Italian

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 ...

who held the Italian and European

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

and

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

titles, as well as the World Junior Welterweight Championship. Loi fought from 1948 to 1962, and retired with a record of 115 wins (26 KOs), 3 losses and 8 draws. Loi is considered one of the greatest fighters of all time at his weight and one of the best fighters to come out of Italy.

Biography

Loi was born in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

in 1929, to a father from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

and mother from

Friuli Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

. Loi fought many outstanding fighters in his career, including three bouts with lightweight great Carlos Ortiz. Although all their fights were close, Loi won two out of three bouts, which were all for the world

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title. The first bout, which was nationally televised in the US, took place on 16 June 1960 at

Cow Palace The Cow Palace (originally the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through the property, a por ...

Daly City, California Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...

. In what would be one of only two US appearances, Loi was defeated after 15 rounds, with a controversial split-decision in Ortiz' favour. Less than three months later the two met again for a rematch, this time in Loi's native Italy. The bout took place at Milan's famous

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

stadium, in front of a record crowd of 65,000. Loi came through strongly in the late rounds to become World Champion by majority decision. The next year a third bout took place, again at the San Siro. Loi knocked down Ortiz in the sixth and earned a victory by unanimous decision to defend his title. Loi was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

in 2005. His daughter Bonaria accepted the award on his behalf, because Loi was suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. Loi died in January 2008 at the age of 78 in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, Italy, and is buried at the

Monumental Cemetery of Milan The Cimitero Monumentale (" Monumental Cemetery") is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy, the other one being the Cimitero Maggiore. It is noted for the abundance of artistic tombs and monuments. Designed by the architect Carlo Ma ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* *
Duilio Loi - CBZ Profile
* https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1960 * https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Junior_Welterweight--1960s {{DEFAULTSORT:Loi, Duilio 1929 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from Trieste Italian male boxers Lightweight boxers Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers World Boxing Association champions World boxing champions International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Deaths from dementia in Italy Deaths from Alzheimer's disease

Biography

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links