Clemente Russo (born 27 July 1982) is a retired

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

amateur boxer An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

, best known for winning gold at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2013 World Amateur Boxing Championships at heavyweight (201 lbs limit). He boxed for the Italia Thunder team in the

World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...

league.

Career

Russo qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

by finishing in second place at the 1st AIBA European 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. At the Games, Russo, who hails from

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, fought at light heavyweight. He ran right into eventual winner

Andre Ward Andre Michael Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including unified super ...

from the USA and was eliminated early. He moved up to the 201 lbs category and exited early at the World championships 2005 and the European championships 2006. In 2007 he lost the European Championships final to Elias Pavlidis, at the World Championships he easily beat Englishman Daniel Price, 2005 medalist Alexander Povernov (PTS 17–5) and won the quarterfinals against

Milorad Gajović Milorad Gajović (born July 27, 1974) is a Montenegrin amateur boxer who qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics as a heavyweight. He has also had some success as an amateur kickboxer. Boxing career 6 -time Jugoslavija Champion, SCG 81 ...

(Montenegro) to qualify for Beijing. He beat Chinese Yushan Nijiati to reach the finals where he edged out Russian top favorite Rakhim Chakkhiev 7–6. In the 2008 Olympics he won the silver medal, losing the final round and so the competition to Rakhim Chakkhiev. He carried the Italian flag at the Beijing closing ceremony. In the

he boxed for Italia Thunder team. He received the "Winner WSB Heavyweight Individual World Champion 2011" and "Winner WSB Team World Champion 2012" awards. Outside of his athletic career, in 2011 Russo debuted as an actor in the drama film '' Tatanka''. At the

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

, Russo again won the silver medal, losing the final to

Oleksandr Usyk Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk (, ; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held the unified champion (boxing), unified heavyweight championship since 2021, and the ''The Ring (magazine), Ring'' magazine title since 2022 ...

. In 2019, he was the Italian flag bearer at the

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

in Minsk. Russo retired from boxing on 22 July 2021 after unsuccessfully requesting a wild card to compete at the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo.

Personal life

Russo worked as a police officer. He credits boxing with teaching him English and self discipline. He married former international

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

competitor in 2008, they have three daughters. Since retiring from boxing, Russo has participated in a number of reality shows on Italian television, including ''Big Brother VIP'' in 2016 and as a correspondent for '' Le Iene''. In 2022, he appeared with his wife on the Italian reality show '' L'isola dei famosi.''

World Amateur Championships results

2003 *Defeated Stefan Balint (Romania) 15–10 *Lost to Magomed Aripgadzhiev (Belarus) 4–14 2005 *Lost to Jasur Matchanov (Uzbekistan) 13–16 2007 *Defeated Danny Price (England) 14–5 *Defeated Lukas Viktora (Czech Republic) 17–6 *Defeated Alexander Povernov (Germany) 17–5 *Defeated

(Montenegro) 15–3 *Defeated Yushan Nijiati (China) 19–11 *Defeated Rakhim Chakkhiev (Russia) 7–6

Olympic results

2008 (as a heavyweight) *Defeated Viktar Zuyev (Belarus) 7–1 *Defeated

(Ukraine) 7–4 *Defeated

Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion si ...

(United States) 7–1 *Lost to Rakhim Chakkhiev (Russia) 2–4 2012 (as a heavyweight) *Defeated Tumba Silva (Angola) *Defeated Jose Larduet (Cuba) *Defeated Teymur Mammadov (Azerbaijan) 7–1 *Lost to

(Ukraine) 2016 (as a heavyweight) *Defeated Hassen Chaktami (Tunisia) *Lost to Evgeny Tishchenko (Russia) 0–3

References

External links

List of exploits as a light-heavyweight (poliziadistato.it)
(archived) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Clemente 1982 births Italian male boxers Heavyweight boxers Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Italy Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in boxing Olympic silver medalists for Italy Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists World boxing champions People from Marcianise Mediterranean Games medalists in boxing Living people European Games competitors for Italy Boxers at the 2019 European Games Boxers of Fiamme Oro Boxers of Fiamme Azzurre Sportspeople from Caserta 21st-century Italian sportsmen