Graciano Rocchigiani (29 December 1963 – 1 October 2018) was a German professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 2003. He held world championships in two weight cl*es, including the IBF super-middleweight *le from 1988 to 1989, and the WBC light-heavyweight *le in 1998. At regional level he held the European light-heavyweight *le from 1991 to 1992.

Contents

• 1 Professional career
• 2 Outside of boxing
• 3 Professional boxing record
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Professional career

Rocchigiani turned professional in 1983 after a successful amateur career in which he won the 1982 German National Amateur championship in the light-middleweight division. In 1988 he captured the vacant IBF super-middleweight *le by stopping Vincent Boulware, and defended the *le three times before vacating to step up to the light-heavyweight division. Despite becoming European champion, Rocchigiani failed to secure a world *le shot at light-heavyweight and moved back down to super-middleweight in February 1994 to challenge WBO champion Chris Eubank in Berlin, Germany, losing a unanimous decision.

After boxing to a draw with Frederic Seillier for the European super-middleweight *le in December 1994, Rocchigiani moved back up to light-heavyweight to challenge the 26-0 Henry Maske IBF *le in May 1995 at the Arena Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Nordrhein-Westfalen. He lost by a disputed unanimous decision despite having Maske reeling numerous times towards the end of the fight, and lost a rematch later in the year, again by unanimous decision. In August 1996 Rocchigiani lost via disqualification to WBO light-heavyweight *le holder Dariusz Michalczewski after hitting Michalczewski on the break during round seven. Michalczewski's prolonged, theatrical reaction to the punch was seen by many as way of getting out of a fight he was losing. Initially the result was a technical draw, later changed to a disqualification.

Three weeks after the Michalczewski bout, it was reported that Rocchigiani had tested positive for traces of ephedrine and methylephedrine. However, the German boxing *ociation did not request a follow up test.

In March 1998, Rocchigiani captured the vacant WBC light-heavyweight *le by defeating Michael Nunn by split decision at Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, but was demoted to "interim champion" three months later after the WBC inexplicably claimed its references in promotions and contracts to the Rocchigiani-Nunn fight as a championship bout, and to Rocchigiani as the champion in its rankings, had been "typographical errors". A match with WBC *le holder Roy Jones was scheduled for November 1999 after Rocchigiani filed a lawsuit against Jones' promotional companies M&M Sports and Square Ring Promotions Inc due to Jones' reluctance to box Rocchigiani. However, the match was canceled by Jones' promoter Murad Muhammad after Rocchigiani missed a press conference. After initially threatening to strip Jones of his *le if he didn't arrange another match with Rocchigiani, the WBC stripped Rocchigiani outright and removed him from their rankings due to inactivity, which prompted Rocchigiani to file a lawsuit against the WBC. The case went Rocchigiani's way and he was awarded $31m, however the WBC paid a smaller sum, to avoid bankruptcy.

Rocchigiani again challenged Michalczewski for the lineal and WBO *les at Preussag Arena, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany in April 2000. By this time Rocchigiani was an aging fighter and despite a strong performance he lost via corner retirement after nine rounds. After a short lived comeback in 2003 after a two-year layoff, he retired from boxing.

Outside of boxing

Although he was a notable champion, Rocchigiani's most significant achievement was his victory in 2003 in the lawsuit against the WBC, in which he was awarded a $31 million judgment for damages over the loss of his light-heavyweight *le. The court ruling also retroactively declared him champion from when he beat Nunn until his rematch defeat to Michalczewski. When the WBC announced its intentions to dissolve, he settled for an undisclosed sum.

In 2006, he was sentenced to five months in jail for *aulting a taxi driver.

Graciano was the younger brother of former WBO cruiserweight champion Ralf Rocchigiani, who also served as Graciano's trainer during the latter stages of his career.

He died on 1 October 2018 in Belp*o, Italy when he was run over by a car while taking a walk.

Professional boxing record

See also

• List of boxing families

References

External links

• Boxing record for Graciano Rocchigiani from BoxRec (registration required)