Michele di Rocco (born 4 May 1982) is an Italian

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 ...

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

origin. He is a former European and

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 de ...

super-lightweight champion, and has challenged once for the WBA super-lightweight title. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 2002 European Championships and represented Italy at the 2004 Olympics, both in the

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 ...

division.

Professional career

On 2 October 2004, di Rocco made his professional debut against Marian Bunea, stopping him in four rounds. He won his first regional championship—the

super-lightweight title—on 26 December 2006, defeating Giorgio Marinelli via

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD). One defence of the title was made a month later, on 30 January 2007, when di Rocco travelled to Finland and scored a UD over

Juho Tolppola Juho Tolppola (born 5 October 1981) is a Finnish professional boxer who has challenged twice for the European super-lightweight title in 2008. As an amateur he is a three-time Finnish national champion and a bronze medallist at the 2000 Europea ...

. On 21 September 2007, di Rocco lost his title to veteran and fellow Italian

Giuseppe Lauri Giuseppe Lauri (born 28 May 1976) is an Italian professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for more than two decades, he held the European Union super-lightweight title from 2007 to 2010, and has challenged four times for the European super-ligh ...

, who stopped him in seven rounds. In a rematch five years later, on 14 April 2012, di Rocco stopped Lauri in one round to regain his now-vacant title. Di Rocco's career highlight came on 8 June 2013, when he defeated

Lenny Daws Lenny Daws (born 29 December 1978) is a British professional boxer. He held the British super lightweight title twice between 2006 and 2011, and the EBU European Union super lightweight title between 2012 and 2014. Boxing career Early profes ...

via UD to win the vacant European super-lightweight title. However, the decision was highly disputed by Daws. Four successful defences were made of the title over the following two years. On 28 May 2016, di Rocco travelled to Scotland to face former two-weight world champion

Ricky Burns Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

, with the vacant WBA super-lightweight title on the line. In a very one-sided fight where di Rocco was knocked down twice, Burns won by stopping him in the eighth round.Dielhenn, James (29 May 2016)
"Ricky Burns beats Michele di Rocco to win the WBA super-lightweight title"
''

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

''.

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. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2016.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocco, Michele Di 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Foligno Lightweight boxers Light-welterweight boxers Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Italy Italian Romani people Romani sportspeople Italian male boxers European Boxing Union champions Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Italy Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in boxing