Rocky Mattioli (born Rocco Mattioli, 20 September 1953) an Italian-born Australian former boxer at

junior middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the International Boxing Federation, IBF or ...

, and former world champion. Rocky was the 2004 Inductee for the

Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame was founded in 2001 and began inducting boxers into the Hall of Fame in 2003. Since then annual induction dinners have been held across Australia. Inductees are nominated and then voted upon by a panel of ...

Moderns category.

Career

Mattioli was born in

Ripa Teatina Ripa Teatina ( Abruzzese: ') is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Chieti, in the Italian region Abruzzo. Ripa Teatina is renowned for its vineyards and olive groves which surround and embrace this tranquil part of Abruzzo. People *The fa ...

, near

Chieti Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...

, in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

in central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He emigrated to Australia with his family at the age of six and lived in

Morwell, Victoria Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne. Morwell has a population of 14,389 people at the . It is both the seat of local governme ...

. He turned professional in 1970 and started training with Italian trainer Arnold Rossi. In 1977, he captured the WBC Light Middleweight Title with a KO over

Eckhard Dagge Eckhard Dagge (February 27, 1948 in Probsteierhagen, Germany – April 4, 2006 in Hamburg), was a professional boxer in the super welterweight (154 lb) division. Eckhard Dagge was Germany's second world champion, after Max Schmeling, holding t ...

. He defended the title twice before losing it to

Maurice Hope Maurice Hope (born 6 December 1951) is a British former boxer, who was world junior middleweight champion. Born in Antigua, he grew up in Hackney, London. He represented Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Boxin ...

in 1979 by TKO. In 1980, he had a rematch with Hope, but again was TKO'd, in the 11th round. He retired in 1982, settling in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mattioli, Rocky 1953 births Living people Italian male boxers Sportspeople from the Province of Chieti Italian emigrants to Australia Australian male boxers Light-middleweight boxers World light-middleweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions

Career

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links