Mate Parlov

Mate Parlov

Parlov in 1972
Statistics
Real name Mate Parlov
Rated at light heavyweight, cruiserweight
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Nationality Croat
Born (1948-11-16)16 November 1948
Split, SFR Yugoslavia
Died 29 July 2008(2008-07-29) (aged 59)
Pula, Croatia
Stance Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights 29
Wins 24
Wins by KO 12
Losses 3
Draws 2
No contests 0
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
1972 Munich -81 kg
World Amateur Championships
1974 Havana -81 kg
European Amateur Championships
1969 Bucharest -75 kg
1971 Madrid -81 kg
1973 Belgrade -81 kg

Mate Parlov (16 November 1948 – 29 July 2008) was a Yugoslav boxer of Croatian origin, and Olympic gold medalist who was European and World Champion as amateur and as professional. Parlov is the greatest Croatian boxer of all time, and the Croatian sportsman of the 20th century.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Background

Mate Parlov was born in Split in a Croatian family that originated from the village of Ričice near the town of Imotski. He had younger brother. In 1958, family moved to Pula.

Amateur

In his amateur career he participated in 310 matches and lost 13.[8] He 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 twice, in 1967 and 1969. He participated in the Munich 1972 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division.[9]

Professional career

Parlov took the opportunity to turn professional and won twelve of his first thirteen fights before successfully challenging for the European light-heavyweight title. In 1976 he faced the future world champion Matthew Saad Muhammad. In their first fight in Milan, which was arranged for eight rounds, he was defeated following the referee's decision. In a rematch with Muhammad, they struggled to a ten-round draw. After defending the European title three times, he met Miguel Angel Cuello for the WBC world light-heavyweight title in January 1978. The two men had been scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals at the Munich Olympics, but Cuello withdrew due to an injury. Parlov knocked out the Cuello in the ninth round in Milan to become the first professional world champion from a communist country. Parlov lost the title on his second defense and would later challenge for the World cruiser-weight title without success.[10]

Retirement

In retirement Parlov ran his coffee bar in Pula. He returned to boxing before the 1984 Olympics, where he was the Yugoslav boxing coach.[9] At those Olympics, Yugoslav boxers achieved their best results ever: one gold, one silver and two bronzes. He later moved to Fažana near Pula, away from boxing and the public. In March 2008, he was diagnosed with a lung cancer, and died four months later.

Private life

Mate Parlov was married to Laura Parlov with whom he had two children, daughter Mira and son Matko. He was an economist by profession, and had one graduate exam left before gaining the title of Master of Economics.[11]

Honors and awards

Amateur highlights

1969 – European Championships: Bucharest, Romania: Silver Medal (Middleweight)

Professional boxing record

24 Wins (12 knockouts, 12 decisions), 3 Losses (1 knockout, 2 decisions), 2 Draws[10]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 24–3–2 United States Marvin Camel UD 15 31 March 1980 Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, United States For inaugural WBC World Cruiserweight title.
Draw 24–2–2 United States Marvin Camel PTS 15 8 December 1979 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Split, Yugoslavia For inaugural WBC World Cruiserweight title.
Win 24–2–1 Australia Tony Mundine PTS 12 26 September 1979 Italy Gorizia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy WBC World Cruiserweight title eliminator.
Win 23–2–1 United States Joe Maye KO 5 28 July 1979 Germany Munich, Bavaria, West Germany
Loss 22–2–1 United States Marvin Johnson TKO 10 2 December 1978 Italy Marsala, Sicily, Italy Lost WBC World Light Heavyweight title.
Win 22–1–1 United Kingdom John Conteh SD 15 17 June 1978 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Belgrade, Yugoslavia Retained WBC World Light Heavyweight title.
Win 21–1–1 United States Tony Greene TKO 6 28 April 1978 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
Win 20–1–1 Argentina Miguel Angel Cuello KO 9 7 January 1978 Italy Milan, Lombardy, Italy Won WBC World Light Heavyweight title.
Win 19–1–1 Germany Leo Kakolewicz TKO 6 21 August 1977 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Rijeka, Yugoslavia
Win 18–1–1 Norway Harald Skog UD 15 9 July 1977 Switzerland Basel, Switzerland Retained EBU Light Heavyweight title.
Win 17–1–1 Spain Francois Fiol PTS 15 5 April 1977 Switzerland Morges, Switzerland Retained EBU Light Heavyweight title.
Win 16–1–1 France Christian Poncelet PTS 10 5 March 1977 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Velenje, Yugoslavia
Draw 15–1–1 United States Matthew Saad Muhammad PTS 10 3 December 1976 Italy Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Win 15–1 Italy Aldo Traversaro PTS 15 15 October 1976 Italy Milan, Lombardy, Italy Retained EBU Light Heavyweight title.
Win 14–1 United States Al Bolden KO 9 11 September 1976 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zagreb, Yugoslavia
Win 13–1 Italy Domenico Adinolfi TKO 11 10 July 1976 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Belgrade, Yugoslavia Won EBU Light Heavyweight title.
Loss 12–1 United States Matthew Saad Muhammad PTS 8 21 May 1976 Italy Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Win 12–0 Tonga Maile Haumona PTS 10 20 March 1976 Australia Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Win 11–0 Fiji Sentiki Qata PTS 10 6 March 1976 Australia Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Win 10–0 United States Macka Foley TKO 2 6 February 1976 Italy Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Win 9–0 Italy Onelio Grando PTS 8 26 December 1975 Italy Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Win 8–0 United States Billy Freeman PTS 10 22 November 1975 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Skopje, Yugoslavia
Win 7–0 United States Karl Zurheide KO 1 30 October 1975 Italy Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Win 6–0 United States Johnny Griffin TKO 5 6 October 1975 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zagreb, Yugoslavia
Win 5–0 Argentina Jose Evaristo Gomez PTS 8 13 September 1975 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Pula, Yugoslavia
Win 4–0 Spain Jose Galvez Vasquez PTS 8 22 August 1975 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Split, Yugoslavia
Win 3–0 Germany Horst Lang KO 1 12 July 1975 Italy Arenzano, Liguria, Italy
Win 2–0 France Robert Amory TKO 5 20 June 1975 Italy Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Win 1-o Italy Dante Lazzari KO 1 31 May 1975 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Opatija, Yugoslavia

References

  1. ↑ Giuliano Lebanore. Parlov: Mislim da će sve proć' dobro. boks-savez.hr
  2. ↑ IN MEMORIAM: MATE PARLOV / Odlazak boksača koji je volio pjesnike. gloria.com.hr
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Mate Parlov se bori s teškom bolesti pluća – Vijesti. Index.hr (31 March 2008). Retrieved on 2016-04-19.
  5. ↑ Nina Tomljanović; Petra Horvat (30 July 2008). "Umro Mate Parlov" [Mate Parlov dies]. Nacional (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Umro Mate Parlov. vjesnik.hr (30 July 2008)
  7. ↑ Home | Radio 101. Radio101.hr. Retrieved on 19 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Mate Parlov. BoxRec. Retrieved on 19 April 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Mate Parlov. sports-reference.com
  10. 1 2 Mate Parlov. BoxRec. Retrieved on 19 April 2016.
  11. ↑ http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/sport/ostalo/clanak/id/16009/sugraani-legende-mate-je-zaduzio-istru-hrvatsku-i-bivsu-jugoslaviju
  12. ↑ (Slovene) Umrl boksarski šampion Mate Parlov. RTV Slovenia (30 July 2008)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mate Parlov.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Miguel Angel Cuello		 WBC Light Heavyweight Champion
7 January 1978 – 2 December 1978 		Succeeded by
Marvin Johnson
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Miroslav Cerar
Marijan Beneš		 Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year
1971, 1972
1974 		Succeeded by
Marijan Beneš
Nenad Stekić
Preceded by
Sreten Damjanović
Marijan Beneš		 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Best Athlete of Yugoslavia
1972
1974 		Succeeded by
Marijan Beneš
Nenad Stekić
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