Rocky Mattioli (born Rocco Mattioli, 20 September 1953) is an Italian-born Australian former boxer at junior middleweight, and former world champion. Rocky was the 2004 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Moderns category.

Career

Mattioli was born in Ripa Teatina, near Chieti, in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

in central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He emigrated to Australia with his family at the age of six and lived in Morwell, Victoria. 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. He defended the title twice before losing it to Maurice Hope 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 ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

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 20th-century Australian sportsmen 20th-century Italian sportsmen

Career

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links