Ronald Gavril (born July 10, 1986) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n professional

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 ...

. He is signed to

Mayweather Promotions Mayweather Promotions, LLC is a boxing promotional firm founded in 2007 by Floyd Mayweather Jr., after exercising a provision in his contract with Bob Arum and Top Rank that allowed him to become a free agent for the price of $750,000. Al Haymon h ...

and is currently trained by

Eddie Mustafa Muhammad Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (born Edward Dean Gregory; April 30, 1952) is a former professional boxer and the former WBA Light Heavyweight Champion of the World. He is currently a boxing trainer. He has also been an occasional actor. Amateur caree ...

Early life and education

Ronald Gavril was born on 10 July 1986 in Bacău, Romania. He credits his two brothers for inspiring him to become a fighter. Although his brothers had been fighters for quite some time, Gavril only joined in 2002 the local boxing club SCM Bacău in his hometown.

Amateur career

As an amateur, he gained a lot of experience as he fought 180 times losing only 15 of those fights. Ronald won in his career no less than ten national titles. Twice he won "Centura de Aur" (the Golden Belt), one of the oldest trophies in the world amateur boxing. Gavril trained with the National Team of Romania eight-ten months out of the year. He represented his country in international tournaments such as worlds and

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

(three each). Ronald medalled in Cadet Worlds in 2003 and EU also later in his senior years. Amateur Record: 165-15

Professional career

Gavril turned pro in 2011 at age 25 moving to

Los Angeles 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' ...

from Romania, so he did not pursue his dream of representing his country in the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Early on in his professional career he struggled to find a trainer. Gavril was also having trouble getting fights. In May 2012, Ronald decided to move to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, where he currently resides. Floyd Mayweather and

CEO Leonard Ellerbe took notice to Ronald's skills during his sparring sessions at The Mayweather Boxing Club. Ronald Gavril signed with Mayweather Promotions in March 2013. Gavril won his first eleven fights before dropping a decision to veteran

Elvin Ayala Elvin Ayala (born January 15, 1981) is an American professional boxer. He is a former world-title challenger. Early life Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, but raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Ayala took up boxing as a way to stay off the street ...

. Gavril bounced back by winning his next five bouts before facing Christopher Brooker for the NABF super middleweight title. Gavril stopped Brooker in the tenth and final round, having dropped him twice before that.

Anthony Dirrell Anthony Dirrell (born October 14, 1984) is an American professional boxer. He was a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, having held the title in 2019 and previously from 2014 to 2015. He is the younger brother of 2004 Olympic bronze medal ...

was slated to fight

David Benavidez Anthony David Benavidez (born December 17, 1996) is an American professional boxer. He is a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, having held the title from 2017 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2020. Claiming his first belt at 21 years, eig ...

for the vacant WBC super middleweight title in September 2017. However, on August 5, the WBC announced Dirrell was out due to injury. Instead, Benavidez would Gavril on September 8 for the vacant title. In a close fight, Benavidez defeated Gavril after 12 rounds by split decision (117-111, 116–111, 111–116). With the win, Benavidez became the youngest champion in super middleweight history at the age of 20. Benavidez seemed to struggle with conditioning and he was knocked down in the final round.

Benavidez vs. Gavril II

Immediately after the first bout, rematch talks began. Gavril thought he won the first bout and disputed the decision. Benavidez's promoter Sampson Promotions confirmed on October 2, 2017, that negotiations had begun with

for a rematch to take place in January 2018. Benavidez stated he wanted to take the rematch to remove all doubt and set the record straight. The bout took place at the

Mandalay Bay Events Center The Michelob Ultra Arena, formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts In ...

in Paradise, Nevada. Benavidez won via unanimous decision. The fight averaged 458,000 viewers.

Professional boxing record

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, , , , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - align=center , 20 , Loss , 18–2 , style="text-align:left;",

, , , , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - align=center , 19 , Win , 18–1 , align=left, Decarlo Pérez , , , , align=left, , , - align=center , 18 , Win , 17–1 , align=left, Christopher Brooker , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 17 , Win , 16–1 , align=left, Juan Camilo Novoa , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 16 , Win , 15–1 , align=left, Mariano Hilario , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 15 , Win , 14–1 , align=left, Scott Sigmon , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 14 , Win , 13–1 , align=left, Jessie Nicklow , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 13 , Win , 12–1 , align=left, Oscar Riojas , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 12 , Lose , 11–1 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 11 , Win , 11–0 , align=left, Jose Miguel Rodriguez Berrio , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 10 , Win , 10–0 , align=left, Thomas Falowo , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 9 , Win , 9–0 , align=left, Tyrell Hendrix , , , , align=left, , , - align=center , 8 , Win , 8–0 , align=left, Cameron Allen , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 7 , Win , 7–0 , align=left, Shujaa El Amin , , , , align=left, , , - align=center , 6 , Win , 6–0 , align=left, Dave Courchaine , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 5 , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Jas Phipps , , , , align=left, , , - align=center , 4 , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Roberto Yong , , , , align=left, , , - align=center , 3 , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Kenneth Taylor Schmitz , , , , align=left, , , - align=center , 2 , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Andrejs Loginovs , , , , align=left, , , - align=center , 1 , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Gilbert Gastelum , , , , align=left, , align=left,

References

External links

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Ronald Gavril
on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavril, Ronald 1986 births Living people Super-middleweight boxers Middleweight boxers Sportspeople from Bacău Romanian male boxers Romanian emigrants to the United States