RIP Giovanni Parisi

[Boxingmad]

According to Fightnews.com former Olympic champion & WBO light-welterweight boss Giovanni Parisi has been killed in a car crash in Italy. Nice fluid boxer with a dig on him, I saw him fight on the undercard of Robin Reid's victory over Vincenzo Nardiello in 1996 and liked what I saw. I'm not sure what he was up to since his retirement but he will be sadly missed. RIP.

[JAHamilton77]

Just saw the artice..... sad news RIP

[bennie]

Parisi won his Olympic gold in 1988 with the most beautiful left hook you will ever see in your life.
One shot, and it was all over inside a minute.

[Arnie]

R.I.P

[Coco]

R.I.P champ

[DG.]

According to fightviews.com former Olympic champion & WBO light-welterweight boss Giovanni Parisi has been killed in a car crash in Italy. Nice fluid boxer with a dig on him, I saw him fight on the undercard of Robin Reid's victory over Vincenzo Nardiello in 1996 and liked what I saw. I'm not sure what he was up to since his retirement but he will be sadly missed. RIP.

RIP.

Sad news.

[dondada]

Bloody hell. Terrible news. RIP.

[clubberlang]

Very sad news :( . RIP Giovanni

Found this tribute to him on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F12zChTzVBo its his Olympic gold medal winning performance.

[Jacopodb]

Exciting fighter. Olympic gold, 2 times world champion.

[Old bones Ian]

Very sad news, only 41 R.I.P

I remember his fight against Michael Ayers, I was sure Ayers would catch Parisi with a big shot and win, but Parisi boxed rings around him and won a wide decision.

[johnty1888]

Gutted

[THEBUTCH]

One of Italy's better boxers with a real touch of class and pedigree.

Being a huge fan of Michael Ayres it was mission impossible trying to win the title from such an accomplished champion in Italy after something like only 11 fights, but Ayres tried his best but got outclassed and decked but showed what grit he had seeing it through to the end.

[bennie]

Giovanni died years ago.

[margaret thatcher]

Ya died 2009, our boi Jac bumped it up after 11 years

[bennie]

Ya died 2009, our boi Jac bumped it up after 11 years

oh, my bad. Parisi uncorked a beautiful left hook to finish Romania's Daniel Dumitrescu in the first round of their Olympic final in 1988. As a pro he got a taste of his own medicine from Puerto Rico's Antonio Rivera (the quality of Rivera's left hooks are well worth a watch) but he outscored Rivera in a 12-rounder some years later. Beat a lot of British fighters.

[SticknMove]

Classy boxer was Parisi. Lost to a Chavez that was a peak terror. Died in a car crash I believe. RIP.

[THEBUTCH]

What a way to win an Olympic Gold medal !

Beautiful counter left hook from Parisi

[bennie]

What a way to win an Olympic Gold medal !

Beautiful counter left hook from Parisi

He sparked the Russian earlier on the Games when Russia boasted some of the greatest amateurs in the world. Kostya Tszyu was there in Korea.

[THEBUTCH]

Parisi simply oozed confidence in the final and no wonder if he already turned the same trick against that sort of opposition you mention.

Although the Romanian wasn't KO'd (out for the count) he was in no fit state to continue and the contest was rightly called off.

[bennie]

Parisi simply oozed confidence in the final and no wonder if he already turned the same trick against that sort of opposition you mention.

Although the Romanian wasn't KO'd (out for the count) he was in no fit state to continue and the contest was rightly called off.

Dumitrescu was the pre-final favourite because he had oozed class in outpointing the Korean entrant on a 5:0 decision and Dutch banger Reggie Tuur (also 5:0), after Tuur had flattened American star Kelcie Banks. Parisi brought his own judges with the left hook.

[THEBUTCH]

The talent in that division alone is staggering.

I recorded every final in 1988, but ended up taping over it

[bennie]

Andrew Maynard won light-heavyweight gold in Korea and turned pro with Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Trainer but they changed his style from an aggressive, hard-hitting approach to that of a boxer and Maynard underachieved as a consequence and certainly in comparison to Kennedy McKinney and Ray Mercer, the other gold medallists in Korea (from the States) to turn pro. "I never got to hurt anyone," Maynard lamented after his retirement. America's silver medallists did even better in the pros (Roy Jones, Michael Carbajal and Riddick Bowe). Anthony Hembrick is chasing a bus somewhere.

[THEBUTCH]

What a team the Yanks had in 88. Littered with talent and success stories.

[bennie]

What a team the Yanks had in 88. Littered with talent and success stories.

I forgot to mention American flyweight Arthur Johnson who had the misfortune to run into Korean sensation Kim Kwang-Sun in the preliminaries and was unanimously outpointed. Kwang-Sun went on to win the gold medal.

[THEBUTCH]

Yep, he was a lovely stylist was Johnson. Had pretty similar luck in the pros when you see some of the outstanding boxers he ran into.