Mario D’Agata

By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com

There have been many handicaps to boxers in the ring – one eye, broken nose, severe cuts, ankle sprain, etc, but I must say the most debilitating handicaps has to be a deaf mute 다운로드.

Mario D’Agata, an Italian professional boxer, was the first and only world champion to be just that.

D’Agata was born on May 29, 1926 in Arezzo, Italy 튀어 나와요 동물 의 숲 다운로드. As a child he grew up with his disability, and was a prime target for teasing and taunting.  He would resort to prove himself by turning to street fighting to demonstrate his equality 라이브 7화 다운로드.

At a young age his parents moved him from Tuscany to Rome seeking help from doctors for a cure. It was there that he saw a boxing poster hanging outside a gym 다운로드. He peeked into the gym and was drawn to amazement of the boxers at that moment watching them train with such grace and perfection.

At the age of 20 years old he began to fight in amateur bouts, and recorded 90 wins in his 110 bouts 다운로드.

D’Agata turned pro on October 14, 1950. After assembling a ring record of 22 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws, on September 26, 1953 he would win the Italian Bantamweight title over Gianni Zuddas. 

After winning the Italian title, D’Agata would only lose one fight in his next 27 bouts. That only loss was to future world champion Robert Cohen by 10 round decision. He would reverse that loss in a rematch by 6th round knockout over Cohen on June 29, 1956 to win the world bantamweight championship.  The bout was held at the Foro Italico Soccer Stadium, Rome, Italy with over 38,000 fans in attendance. With the win, D’Agata made history as the world’s first deaf champion.

PHOTO: D’Agata knocks out
Cohen in 6th round to
win world bantamweight

In his first title defense, on April 1, 1957, in Paris, France, D’Agata lost by a unanimous 15 round decision to local, and undefeated, challenger Alphonse Halimi.  In their fight special lighting was set up for D’Agata, who could not hear the bell after each round. This was so he could tell when the round ended. The lights would flash in high volume the moment the bell rang.

Unfortunately, the unthinkable happened, a storm came in on the day of the fight and lightning struck one of the overhead light structures. in the 3rd round, D’Agata was struck by sparks and suffered burns to his neck and back. The fight  continued with this usual circumstance, and maybe it should have been stopped and ruled a no-contest in such an oddity?

D’Agata never got the rematch with Halimi to regain his title. On November 6, of that same year – 1957 – Halimi went on to unify the bantamweight title with a 15 round decision over Raul “Raton” Macias.   

After the Halimi fight, and a just ten days before Halimi defeated Macias, on October 27, 1957 D’Agata would go on to win the vacant European Boxing Union Bantamweight title by a 8th round knockout in a scheduled 15 round bout over Federico Scarponi, at the Stadio Amsicora Stadium, in Cagliari, Italy.

A year later in October 1958, at the same location as the Scarponi fight, D’Agata lost the EBU title to Piero Rollo by a 15 round decision. He continued to fight for the next four years. He had eight bouts, winning four and losing four in that stretch, then on August 1, 1962 he officially announced his retirement.

D’Agata was recognized by the fans a hero in his native Italy. Against all odds with the addition to enduring disabilities, he also survived an attempt on his life. He was shot in the chest by a business partner while on tour fighting in Australia, on February 12, 1955. That incident deprived him a shot at the world bantamweight championship held by Raul “Raton” Macias earlier in his career.

D’Agata was only knocked out once in 67 fights. His ring record was 54 wins, 10 losses, 3 draws, with 22 by knockout.  He defeated such boxers as Robert Cohen, Billy Peacock, Gianni Zuddas, Andre Valigant, Jean Renard, Mimoun Ben Ali, Bobby Sinn, Roger Cappato and Federico Scarponi.

Mario D’Agata died at the age of 82, on April 4, 2009, in Florence, Italy.

One thought on “Mario D’Agata

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *