Gianluca Branco
Born (1970-09-20) 20 September 1970
NationalityItalian
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights53
Wins49
Wins by KO24
Losses3
Draws1

Gianluca Branco (born 20 September 1970) is an Italian former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He held the European super-lightweight title twice between 2001 and 2009, the European Union welterweight title from 2012 to 2013, the European welterweight title from 2014 to 2016, and challenged twice for a world title in 2004 and 2006. Gianluca is the younger brother of former boxer Silvio Branco.

Professional career

Branco made his professional debut on 7 April 1995, knocking out Aladar Horvath in six rounds. Fighting almost exclusively in his native Italy, he would spend the next nine years undefeated, save for a points draw against Viktor Baranov on 19 October 1998. Branco won his first major regional championship—the vacant European light-welterweight title—on 23 June 2001, with a majority decision victory over Gabriel Mapouka. Two successful defences of the title were made, against George Scott on 17 November 2001 (sixth-round technical decision) and Allan Vester on 9 March 2002 (tenth-round stoppage).

On 24 January 2004, Branco fought for his first world championship—the vacant WBC light-welterweight title—against veteran Arturo Gatti. This was also Branco's first visit to the United States, where Gatti was an established star. Branco started off well, counterpunching the combinations of Gatti, until the latter injured his hand severely by landing a punch on Branco's hip in round five. Gatti then had to rely entirely on his jab to stay out of trouble for the remainder of the fight. By the tenth round, with the fight still close, Gatti turned the tide decisively in his favour when he scored a knockdown against Branco. By the end of twelve rounds, Gatti won a clear unanimous decision (UD) to hand Branco his first loss.[1]

Branco would receive a second opportunity at a world title on 4 March 2006, this time against WBO light-welterweight champion Miguel Cotto. From the opening round, Branco had no answer for the undefeated superstar, who stopped him in eight rounds.[2] On 16 May 2008, Branco won his second European light-welterweight title. Despite suffering a knockdown in the second round, he went on to claim a split decision over the defending champion Lynes.[3] Branco made one defence, on 19 December 2008, stopping Juho Tolppola in nine hard-fought rounds.[4]

Having moved up in weight, Branco made his first of two attempts at winning the European welterweight title, on 26 March 2010, but lost a UD to Matthew Hatton.[5] On 10 November 2012, Branco won the vacant European Union welterweight title with a UD over Krzysztof Bienias. Once defence was made, on 22 February 2013, in a UD victory against Lukasz Maciec. On 22 November 2014, Branco succeeded in his second attempt at winning the now-vacant European welterweight title, by forcing Rafał Jackiewicz to retire in his corner after six rounds.[6]

Professional boxing record

53 fights 49 wins 3 losses
By knockout 24 1
By decision 25 2
Draws 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
53 Win 49–3–1 Rafał Jackiewicz RTD 6 (12), 3:00 22 Nov 2014 Palazzetto dello Sport, Terracina, Italy Won vacant European welterweight title
52 Win 48–3–1 Konstantins Sakara UD 6 21 Dec 2013 PalaBadminton, Milan, Italy
51 Win 47–3–1 Łukasz Maciec UD 12 22 Feb 2013 Palazzetto dello Sport, Montalto di Castro, Italy Retained European Union welterweight title
50 Win 46–3–1 Krzysztof Bienias UD 12 10 Nov 2012 Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy Won vacant European Union welterweight title
49 Win 45–3–1 János Petrovics TKO 6 (6), 0:28 11 Nov 2011 Palazzetto dello Sport, Pontedera, Italy
48 Win 44–3–1 Semjons Moroseks PTS 6 27 Nov 2010 Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy
47 Loss 43–3–1 Matthew Hatton UD 12 26 Mar 2010 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England For vacant European welterweight title
46 Win 43–2–1 János Petrovics PTS 6 11 Jul 2009 BJK Akatlar Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
45 Win 42–2–1 Juho Tolppola TKO 9 (12) 19 Dec 2008 PalaLido, Milan, Italy Retained European light-welterweight title
44 Win 41–2–1 Colin Lynes SD 12 16 May 2008 PalaRuffini, Turin, Italy Won European light-welterweight title
43 Win 40–2–1 Nico Salzmann PTS 8 29 Feb 2008 PalaLido, Milan, Italy
42 Win 39–2–1 Laszlo Komjathi TKO 4 (6) 8 Dec 2007 La Palestre, Le Cannet, France
41 Win 38–2–1 Arek Malek PTS 6 31 Jul 2007 Centro Polifunzionale, San Genesio ed Uniti, Italy
40 Win 37–2–1 Adam Zadworny TKO 1 (6) 8 Oct 2006 PalaLido, Milan, Italy
39 Loss 36–2–1 Miguel Cotto TKO 8 (12), 0:49 4 Mar 2006 Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón, Puerto Rico For WBO light-welterweight title
38 Win 36–1–1 Farid El Houari TKO 4 (8) 22 Jul 2005 Campione d'Italia, Italy
37 Win 35–1–1 Ariel Francisco Burgos TKO 6 (8), 2:35 12 Mar 2005 Mazda Palace, Milan, Italy
36 Win 34–1–1 Vasile Herteg TKO 2 (6) 24 Jul 2004 Civitavecchia, Italy
35 Win 33–1–1 Nasser Lakrib TKO 4 (10) 8 May 2004 Civitavecchia, Italy
34 Loss 32–1–1 Arturo Gatti UD 12 24 Jan 2004 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US For vacant WBC light-welterweight title
33 Win 32–0–1 Michel Raynaud PTS 6 5 Nov 2002 Villa Erba, Cernobbio, Italy
32 Win 31–0–1 Massimo Bertozzi PTS 6 13 Sep 2002 Hotel Marina Piccola, Puglia, Italy
31 Win 30–0–1 Allan Vester TKO 10 (12) 9 Mar 2002 Montecatini Terme, Italy Retained European light-welterweight title
30 Win 29–0–1 George Scott TD 6 (12) 17 Nov 2001 Civitavecchia, Italy Retained European light-welterweight title;
TD after Scott was cut from an accidental head clash
29 Win 28–0–1 Gabriel Mapouka MD 12 23 Jun 2001 Massy, France Won vacant European light-welterweight title
28 Win 27–0–1 Frederic Tripp PTS 6 17 Feb 2001 Padua, Italy
27 Win 26–0–1 Adejoussi Adewale UD 6 22 Dec 2000 Monfalcone, Italy
26 Win 25–0–1 Slobodan Vlaovic PTS 6 17 Jun 2000 Bovezzo, Italy
25 Win 24–0–1 Slobodan Vlaovic UD 6 18 Mar 2000 Ferrara, Italy
24 Win 23–0–1 Francesco Cioffi PTS 6 3 Dec 1999 Milan, Italy
23 Win 22–0–1 Gheorghe Paraschiv TKO 2 16 Oct 1999 Bondeno, Italy
22 Win 21–0–1 Horia Dobre TKO 1 (6) 7 Aug 1999 Civitavecchia, Italy
21 Win 20–0–1 Francesco Cioffi UD 6 24 Apr 1999 Ferrara, Italy
20 Win 19–0–1 Nassim Yahiaoui PTS 6 18 Dec 1998 Brindisi, Italy
19 Draw 18–0–1 Viktor Baranov PTS 8 19 Oct 1998 Bari, Italy
18 Win 18–0 Andile Nongaza TKO 4 (6) 28 Jul 1998 Civitavecchia, Italy
17 Win 17–0 Massimo Bertozzi PTS 10 9 May 1998 Aulla, Italy Retained Italy light-welterweight title
16 Win 16–0 Elyes Mahdjoub UD 8 26 Feb 1998 Civitavecchia, Italy
15 Win 15–0 Elyes Mahdjoub PTS 6 29 Nov 1997 Novara, Italy
14 Win 14–0 Antonio Strabello KO 6 (10) 28 Aug 1997 Forte Michelangelo, Civitavecchia, Italy Retained Italy light-welterweight title
13 Win 13–0 Francesco Cioffi PTS 10 30 May 1997 Castellammare di Stabia, Italy Won vacant Italy light-welterweight title
12 Win 12–0 Lajos Nagy TKO 4 (12) 13 Feb 1997 Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy Won vacant WBU Intercontinental light-welterweight title
11 Win 11–0 Abderzek Oulad Laarbi TKO 1 (6) 28 Dec 1996 Castel Mella, Italy
10 Win 10–0 Angel Fernandez TKO 1 (6) 12 Dec 1996 Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy
9 Win 9–0 Janos Zsiros TKO 1 (6) 8 Aug 1996 Town Square, San Mango d'Aquino, Italy
8 Win 8–0 Rene Orlovsky TKO 4 (6) 2 May 1996 Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy
7 Win 7–0 Rene Orlovsky TKO 4 (6) 20 Jan 1996 Palasport, Marsala, Italy
6 Win 6–0 Hamit Riahi PTS 6 4 Jan 1996 Civitavecchia, Italy
5 Win 5–0 Fabio Marinoni PTS 6 27 Sep 1995 Petrosino, Italy
4 Win 4–0 Mario Spadaro TKO 5 (6) 5 Aug 1995 Tatti, Italy
3 Win 3–0 Maurizio Bonito KO 4 (6) 26 Jun 1995 Cinigiano, Italy
2 Win 2–0 Mauro Barigelli KO 3 (6) 3 Jun 1995 Civitavecchia, Italy
1 Win 1–0 Aladar Horvath KO 6 (6) 7 Apr 1995 Rome, Italy

References

  1. Associated Press (25 January 2004). "Gatti overcomes hand injury, beats Branco". ESPN. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. Zayas, Pedro (5 March 2006). "Cotto stops Branco, retains WBO junior welterweight title". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  3. "Branco claims Lynes' belt". Sky Sports. Sky. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  4. Schmidt, Erik (22 December 2008). "Branco Stops Tolppola". Boxing News 24. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  5. Mitchell, Kevin (27 March 2010). "Matthew Hatton beats Gianluca Branco to win European welterweight title". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  6. Furman, Luke (22 November 2014). "Branco Stops Jackiewicz To Capture EBU Crown". BoxingScene. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
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