- Leonard Doroftei
Leonard Dorin Doroftei (or Leonard Dorin; born
April 10 ,1970 ) is a Romanian former boxer, the WBA lightweight world champion fromJanuary 5 ,2002 toOctober 24 , 2003.Amateur career
Born in
Ploieşti , Doroftei began boxing, at the age of 14, at the Prahova Ploieşti boxing club. From 1986 to 1988, he won every Romanian national junior title. He went on to win five national senior titles in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997. He won bronze medals at the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona and the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, Georgia . In addition, he was declared World Champion in 1995 and European Champion in 1996 and 1997. His record as an amateur was 239 victories and 15 defeats.Olympic Results
1992 (as a Light Welterweight)
*DefeatedEdgar Ruiz (Mexico) 24-4
*DefeatedArlo Chavez (Philippines) 15-1
*DefeatedPeter Richardson (Great Britain) points
*Lost toMark Leduc (Canada) 6-131996 (as a Lightweight)
*DefeatedJulio Mboumba (Gabon) RSC 2 (1:46)
*DefeatedSergey Kopenkin (Kyrgyzstan) 10-1
*DefeatedKoba Gogoladze (Georgia) 17-8
*Lost toHocine Soltani (Algeria) 6-9Pro career
In 1997, Doroftei became a professional boxer, signing with the Canadian club
Interbox . OnJanuary 5 ,2002 he won the WBA world lightweight title, winning in a split decision over Argentinian boxerRaul Horacio Balbi 112-115, 114-113, 115-112. OnMay 31 , the two fought again inBucharest ; this second fight was a unanimous decision for Doroftei, 118-111, 117-112 and 118-110.A lightweight title unification bout
May 17 ,2003 with American boxerPaul Spadafora , the IBF champion, ended in a draw, 114-114, 115-113, 114-115.On
October 24 ,2003 , Doroftei was to fight a match againstPanama nian boxerMiguel Callist . Doroftei had already announced that this would be his last professional match regardless of the result. As it turned out, the match was cancelled after Doroftei exceeded the maximum weight for lightweights at the weigh-in: he was 4¼ lb (1.9 kg) over the 135 lb (61.2 kg) weight limit, so he lost his WBA title.On
July 24 ,2004 , Doroftei lost his undefeated mark when he tried to get the interim WBC title, getting knocked out in two rounds byArturo Gatti .His record consisted of 22 wins, 1 loss and one draw, with 8 knockout wins.
Retirement
He now resides in Romania with his wife and two sons and is working as a trainer for boxing prospects. Sports publications have reported that he might return to Montreal as a trainer for Interbox.
External links
* [http://www.leonarddoroftei.ro Leonard Doroftei official website]
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