Mate Parlov
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| Mate Parlov | |
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Mate Parlov |
| Rated at | light heavyweight, cruiserweight |
| Nationality | Croatian |
| Birth date | November 16, 1948 |
| Birth place | Imotski, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Death date | July 29, 2008 (aged 59) |
| Death place | Pula, Croatia |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 29 |
| Wins | 24 |
| Wins by KO | 12 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Boxing | |||
Competitor for  Yugoslavia |
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| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1972 Munich | Light Heavyweight | |
| World Amateur Championships | |||
| Gold | 1974 Havana | Light Heavyweight | |
Mate Parlov (November 16, 1948 – July 29, 2008) was a Croatian boxer, and an Olympic gold medalist for former Yugoslavia. As a professional, he won the European light heavyweight title in 1976 and WBC light heavyweight world title in 1978. He is widely regarded as the best Croatian boxer of all time. During his career he already gained the status of a boxing legend.
Born in Split, his origins were from the village of Ričice near the town of Imotski, Croatia.
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[edit] Professional career
Parlov turned professional in 1974 and won the European light heavyweight champion title in 1976.
In 1976 he faced the future world champion Matthew Saad Muhammad. In their first fight, in Milan, he was defeated by an eight round decision. In a rematch with Muhammad, he and Muhammad struggled to a ten round draw.
He won the World light heavyweight champion title in 1978. He lost the WBC light heavyweight version title by defeat from Marvin Johnson with a 10th-round KO in Italy (December 2, 1978). As a professional he had 29 fights, 24 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws.
[edit] Amateur
In his amateur career he participated in 310 matches and lost only 13. During his amateur career, Parlov was an eight-time champion of Yugoslavia in the light heavyweight category (1967-1974), five-time champion of the Balkans (1970-1974), two-time champion of Europe (1971 in Madrid, and 1973 in Belgrade) and the world champion at the inaugural 1974 World Championships in Havana, Cuba. He won the Golden Glove award two times, in 1967 and 1969. He participated in the Munich 1972 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division.
1968 - Olympic Games, Mexico City, Mexico: Quarter Finals (Middleweight)
- W-PTS Lahcen Ahidous (Mauritania)
- W-PTS Jan van Ispelen (Netherlands)
- L-PTS Chris Finnegan (England) (Finnegan would win the gold medal)
1971 - European Championships: Gold Medal (Light Heavyweight)
1972 - Olympic Games, Munich, Germany: Gold Medal (Light Heavyweight)
- W-KO 2 Nouredine Aman Hassan (Chad)
- W-KO 2 Imre Toth (Hungary)
- W- Forfeit Miquel Angel Cuello (Argentina)
- W-PTS Janusz Gortat (Poland)
- W-TKO 2 Gilberto Carrillo (Cuba)
1973 - European Championships: Gold Medal (Light Heavyweight)
1974 - World Championships, Havanna, Cuba: Gold Medal (Light Heavyweight)
[edit] After boxing
His final contact with boxing was in 1984 Olympics, when he was the Yugoslav coach. At those Olympics, Yugoslav boxers achieved their best results ever: one gold, one silver and two bronzes.
After he ended his active boxing career, he moved to Fažana near Pula, away from boxing and the public. He ran his coffee bar in Pula. Periodically he appeared on Croatian national TV as guest-commentator during matches of Željko Mavrović and Stipe Drviš.
[edit] Death
In March 2008 he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Five months later, he died on the way to the hospital in Pula, where he lived after retiring from boxing.
[edit] Awards
- Golden Gloves 1967 and 1969
- Croatian Sportsman of the 20th century [1]
[edit] Trivia
In late 1990s, Parlov admitted his secret passion - reading of poetry. As he said in the interview for Nedjeljna Dalmacija weekly magazine, his elder brother was a professor of Croatian language which strongly influenced him. So, even before very important matches (such as an hour before the fight), Mate Parlov was psychologically preparing for the match by reading Croatian poetry.
He adored the skills of Dragutin Šurbek.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ (Slovene) RTV Slovenia Umrl boksarski šampion Mate Parlov
- ^ (Croatian) Slobodna Dalmacija Interview with Mate Parlov, January 3, 2000
[edit] External links
- Olympiad Medal Results for 1972: Boxing 75-81kg (light-heavyweight) Men
- Professional boxing record for Mate Parlov from Boxrec
- (Croatian) Odlazak legende Umro najveći hrvatski boksač Mate Parlov, July 30 2008
| Preceded by Miguel Angel Cuello |
WBC Light Heavyweight Champion 7 January 1978–2 December 1978 |
Succeeded by Marvin Johnson |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Parlov, Mate |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Boxer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1948-11-16 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2008-07-29 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Pula, Croatia |
