Leonard Dorin Doroftei
(known also as Leonard Dorin
, though his family name is Doroftei; born April 10, 1970) is a Romanian-Canadian former boxer, the WBA lightweight world champion from January 5, 2002 to October 24, 2003.
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LEONARD DORIN TICKETS
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Amateur career
Born in
Ploiesti, Doroftei began boxing, at the age of 14, at the Prahova Ploiesti 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 the
1992 Summer Olympics in
Barcelona and the
1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta, 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)
- Defeated Edgar Ruiz (Mexico) 24-4
- Defeated Arlo Chavez (Philippines) 15-1
- Defeated Peter Richardson (Great Britain) points
- Lost to Mark Leduc (Canada) 6-13
1996
(as a Lightweight)
- Defeated Julio Mboumba (Gabon) RSC 2 (1:46)
- Defeated Sergey Kopenkin (Kyrgyzstan) 10-1
- Defeated Koba Gogoladze (Georgia) 17-8
- Lost to Hocine Soltani (Algeria) 6-9
Pro career
In 1997, Doroftei became a professional boxer, signing with the
Canadian club
Interbox. On
January 5,
2002 he won the WBA world lightweight title, winning in a split decision over
Argentinian boxer
Raul Horacio Balbi 112-115, 114-113, 115-112. On
May 31, the two fought again in
Bucharest; 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 boxer
Paul Spadafora, the
IBF champion, ended in a draw, 114-114, 115-113, 114-115.
On
October 24,
2003, Doroftei was to fight a match against
Panamanian boxer
Miguel 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 4ΒΌ 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 by
Arturo 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.
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