Duilio Loi

Duilio Loi (19 April 1929 – 20 January 2008) was an Italian professional boxer who held the Italian and European lightweight and welterweight titles, as well as the World Junior Welterweight Championship. Loi fought from 1948 to 1962, and retired with a record of 115 wins (26 KOs), 3 losses and 8 draws.

Sandro Loi is widely regarded as one of the leading fighters in his weight class and among the notable boxers to come out of Italy.

Biography

Loi was born in Trieste in 1929, to a father from Sardinia and mother from Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Loi fought many outstanding fighters in his career, including three bouts with lightweight great Carlos Ortiz. Although all their fights were close, Loi won two out of three bouts, which were all for the world light welterweight title.

The first bout, which was nationally televised in the US, took place on 16 June 1960 at Cow Palace in Daly City, California. In what would be one of only two US appearances, Loi was defeated after 15 rounds, with a controversial split-decision in Ortiz' favour. Less than three months later the two met again for a rematch, this time in Loi's native Italy. The bout took place at Milan's famous San Siro stadium, in front of a record crowd of 65,000. Loi came through strongly in the late rounds to become World Champion by majority decision. The next year a third bout took place, again at the San Siro. Loi knocked down Ortiz in the sixth and earned a victory by unanimous decision to defend his title.

After his retirement, Duillio Loi's life was marked by a personal tragedy. In 1975, his son Vittorio, a neo-fascist militant, was sentenced to ten years in prison for causing the death of a policeman in a street clash.

Loi was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. His daughter Bonaria accepted the award on his behalf, because Loi was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Loi died in January 2008 at the age of 78 in Treviso, Italy, and is buried at the Monumental Cemetery of Milan.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing Major world titles NYSAC light welterweight champion (140 lbs) (2×) NBA (WBA) light welterweight champion (140 lbs) (2×)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

Regional/International titles Italian lightweight champion (135 lbs) European lightweight champion (135 lbs) European welterweight champion (147 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed light welterweight champion (2×)