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Michele di Rocco
Born	(1982-05-04) 4 May 1982 (age 42) Foligno, Umbria, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Other names	The King
Statistics
Weight(s)	Light-welterweight
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	45
Wins	41
Wins by KO	18
Losses	3
Draws	1
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Italy Mediterranean Games 2001 Tunis Lightweight European Championships 2002 Perm Lightweight

Michele di Rocco (born 4 May 1982) is an Italian professional boxer of Romani origin. He is a former European and European Union super-lightweight champion, and has challenged once for the WBA super-lightweight title. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 2002 European Championships and represented Italy at the 2004 Olympics, both in the lightweight division.

Professional career

On 2 October 2004, di Rocco made his professional debut against Marian Bunea, stopping him in four rounds. He won his first regional championship—the European Union super-lightweight title—on 26 December 2006, defeating Giorgio Marinelli via unanimous decision (UD). One defence of the title was made a month later, on 30 January 2007, when di Rocco travelled to Finland and scored a UD over Juho Tolppola. On 21 September 2007, di Rocco lost his title to veteran and fellow Italian Giuseppe Lauri, who stopped him in seven rounds. In a rematch five years later, on 14 April 2012, di Rocco stopped Lauri in one round to regain his now-vacant title.

Di Rocco's career highlight came on 8 June 2013, when he defeated Lenny Daws via UD to win the vacant European super-lightweight title. However, the decision was highly disputed by Daws. Four successful defences were made of the title over the following two years. On 28 May 2016, di Rocco travelled to Scotland to face former two-weight world champion Ricky Burns, with the vacant WBA super-lightweight title on the line. In a very one-sided fight where di Rocco was knocked down twice, Burns won by stopping him in the eighth round.

Professional boxing record

References

1. Sukachev, Alexey (14 April 2012). "Di Rocco Destroys Lauri in Rematch, Boschiero Wins". BoxingScene. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
2. "Boxing - Lenny Daws may appeal decision against Di Rocco". Eurosport. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
3. Dielhenn, James (29 May 2016). "Ricky Burns beats Michele di Rocco to win the WBA super-lightweight title". Sky Sports. Sky. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2016.

External links

• Boxing record for Michele di Rocco from BoxRec (registration required)

• 1982 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Foligno
• Lightweight boxers
• Light-welterweight boxers
• Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Olympic boxers for Italy
• Italian Romani people
• Romani sportspeople
• Italian male boxers
• European Boxing Union champions
• Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Italy
• Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games
• Mediterranean Games medalists in boxing
• 21st-century Italian sportsmen