Francesco Pianeta (born 8 October 1984) is an Italian former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 2005 to 2018. He challenged for the unified

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

, WBO and '' The Ring''

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

championship in 2013, the

WBA (Regular) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

title in 2015, and in his final fight for the Lineal heavyweight championship in 2018. At regional level, he held the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

heavyweight title from 2008 to 2009.

Background

Pianeta was born in Corigliano in the province of

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

. When he was six his family emigrated to Germany and his father went to work in a butcher store. Before he turned to professional boxing Pianeta practiced

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

and had a record of 9 wins and one loss. Despite being a long-time Germany resident, Pianeta has held close ties with Italy and in 2008 he stated that his ambition was to win the Italian heavyweight title.

Professional career

Pianeta's first fight as a professional boxer was in July 2005, in

Hessen Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...

, Germany, when he beat

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

Sylvester Petrovic with a second round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

. Pianeta was subsequently undefeated in all of his next 27 fights, with 14 wins by KO and 1 draw. On May 4, 2013, Pianeta fought

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label=Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол� ...

for

, WBO, IBO, lineal & ''The Ring''

titles. He was knocked down 3 times by Klitschko and lost the bout by the way of TKO. Up until 2018, Pianeta was trained by

Alexander Petkovic Alexander Petkovic (born 31 May 1980, Munich, Germany) is a German professional boxer of Bosnian descent. He challenged once for the WBO world cruiserweight title in 2003. Career Petkovic made his pro debut in 1997 as a cruiserweight and went u ...

and promoted by Petkovic′s Petko′s LMS Promotion. Based in Germany, he has also fought in Italy,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Pianeta's final fight was against former unified and lineal heavyweight champion

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Council, WBC title since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and ''The Ring (magazine), The Ring'' ...

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

on August 18, 2018. Fury dominated the fight in convincing fashion, winning every single round on referee Steve Gray's scorecard in a shutout points decision victory, handing Pianeta his fifth career loss. In February 2019, Pianeta announced his retirement. He is now a boxing trainer.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Francesco Pianeta - Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pianeta, Francesco 1984 births Living people Heavyweight boxers Italian male boxers People from Corigliano Calabro Sportspeople from the Province of Cosenza