Mario D'Agata (29 May 1926 – 4 April 2009) was an Italian professional boxer, who was the first, and so far only, deaf world champion in boxing. He was a lineal,

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 ...

, and Italian

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

champion.

Early life

D'Agata was born on 29 May 1926, in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, Italy. He had a tough childhood as a consequence of his disabilities, the victim of taunting from fellow school children. Feeling the need to prove himself equal, he resorted to street fighting as a way to demonstrate his equality. D'Agata was one of three children (out of seven) to be born deaf in his family. His parents moved him from

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

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at an early age, hoping to find doctors who would cure him. One afternoon he noticed a poster of a boxer adorning the door to a boxing gym. Upon entering he was enamored with how the boxers practiced their fighting in a polished, stylized way. D'Agata was drawn into boxing from that moment on. Due to the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, however, D'Agata had to wait until he was 20 years old to fight as an amateur. In 1946, he began an amateur career that saw him win 90 out of 110 bouts.

Professional career

On 14 October 1950, D'Agata turned professional, defeating Giuseppe Saladari by a decision in six rounds. He built a record of 10–0 with 1

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 ...

before suffering his first loss, at the hands of Romolo Re, 2 August 1951, by a decision in ten. Another loss to Re would follow, but D'Agata was able to build a 19–3–2 record with 4 knockouts before challenging for the Italian bantamweight title, on 26 September 1953, beating Gianni Zuddas by a disqualification in round nine to claim the belt. After five more wins, he travelled to

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, where he met the future world champion Robert Cohen, losing a ten-round decision. After two more wins, he embarked on what would have been a long tour of Australia, a trip cut short after three wins when he was shot by his associate. D'Agata then returned to Italy, where he was no longer recognized as champion. On 25 May 1955, he defeated Arthur Emboule by decision in eight rounds, in his first bout after the shooting. After eight more wins in a row (which raised his winning streak to a total of thirteen wins in a row), he was given a shot at the European bantamweight title by Andre Valignat on 29 October of the same year, and he defeated Valignat by a fifth round disqualification. On 29 June 1956, D'Agata finally received his world title opportunity, when former conqueror Cohen gave him a chance to win the world bantamweight title in Rome. D'Agata made his dream come true by knocking Cohen out in six rounds in front of 38,000 fans, many of whom rushed to the ring the moment the fight was over, carrying D'Agata out of the ring on their arms. With that win, D'Agata made history as the first deaf world champion of boxing. D'Agata went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to defend his title for the first time, on 1 April 1957, against local challenger

Alphonse Halimi Alphonse Halimi (February 18, 1932 – November 12, 2006) was a French boxer. He took the World Bantamweight Championship on April 1, 1957, in Paris, and the European Bantamweight Championship three years later. Early life He was born in Consta ...

. Special lights had been set specially for this fight, so that D'Agata, who could not hear the bell after each round, would be able to tell when each round was finished. These lights would flash the moment the bell rang. There was a storm on the day of the fight, which was held in an open-air area. Lightning struck one of the special lights in round three, and D'Agata was struck by sparkles, suffering a burned neck and back. It was decided the fight would go on, and D'Agata tried to defy the odds for the remaining of the fight, but he lost the title by a fifteen-round decision. D'Agata never received a rematch from Halimi. He then fought on with mixed success, until 1 August 1962, when he announced his retirement. He was able to stay away from boxing for the rest of his life.

Legacy

D'Agata became an example to many in his native Italy, where some boxing fans still regard him as a hero. In addition to enduring disabilities, he also survived an attempt on his life before becoming a world champion, after being shot in the chest by a business partner in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, on 12 February 1955. This cost him a shot at the world bantamweight title, at the time held by

Raul Macias Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links