Mario Preskar (born January 12, 1984) is a former

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n professional heavyweight boxer. He trained at Leonardo Boxing Gym in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

with his trainer Leonard Pijetraj.

Amateur career

Preskar was born in

, Croatia. He began boxing at the age of 9 at the urging of his father Željko, a cab driver. Preskar became a seven-time Croatian national champion, his final amateur record was 45-5.

Professional career

Preskar started his professional career in 2003, at only 19, signing a contract with the world-famous boxing manager

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. King's career highlights include, among multiple other enterprises, promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the ...

. King and Preskar parted ways in September 2008, with King reportedly unwilling to accept new contract terms put forward by Preskar and Pijetraj, who demanded more frequent fights. Preskar founded new opportunities with

K2 Promotions K, or k, is the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''kay'' (pronounced ), plural ''kays''. The letter ...

, run by the

Klitschko brothers Vitali Klitschko (born 19 July 1971) and Wladimir Klitschko (born 25 March 1976), known as the Klitschko Brothers, are Ukrainian former professional boxers. During their peak years between 2004 and 2015, they were considered the dominant world he ...

. In his 19th professional fight against Maksym Pedyura on June 27, 2009 in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Preskar was ahead throughout most of the match, but was knocked down twice in the last round. After the final bell, he collapsed and was immediately taken to hospital. The fight was declared a draw. Preskar ascribed the incident to extreme exhaustion, due to high temperature and insufficient ventilation in the hall. In August 2009, he announced an indefinite break from boxing, citing lack of motivation. In May 2010 he collapsed while training, and was diagnosed with

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

. As of 2019, Preskar is working as a boxing coach and a boxing commentator for

RTL Televizija RTL (previously known as RTL Televizija) is a Croatian free-to-air television network founded on 30 April 2004. It was owned by the RTL Group from 2004 to 2022. Since 1 June 2022, it is owned by the CME Group. It is the second commercial television ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Leonardo Boxing Gym
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preskar, Mario 1984 births Living people Boxers from Zagreb Croatian male boxers Heavyweight boxers People with epilepsy 21st-century Croatian sportsmen