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5'5" southpaw flyweight/junior bantamweight Simona
Galassi was born on June 27, 1972 in Forli, Emilia
Romagna,
Italy. She began training in kickboxing and
Thai boxing in 1994 and accumulated a 24-3-3 record in Thai
boxing. In 1997 she won the WAKO PRO Italian
kickboxing
title against Sonia De
Biase. In 1998, she won the WKA European Full-contact title.
In
1999 and 2000, she won and defended her WPKC European
Kickboxing
title three times, and in 2001, she became the WPKC Thai boxing World
Champion.
In 2001 she decided to
focus on amateur boxing and went to the inaugural
AIBA
World Women's Amateur Championhips in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
USA in December. WIth only four months of training
and one prior fight
under amateur boxing rules she won the world
112-lb (51-kg) championship defeating Natalia Petrakova of
Russia 16-2 in the preliminary, Maarit Teuronen of Finland 14-2 in the
quarterfinal, Katrin Enoksson of Sweden 11-10 in the semifinal and
Tammy DelaForest of Canada 20-3 in the final. She was also
named as “Outstanding Boxer” of the tournament.
The Italian Boxing Federation continued to support Simona's
participation in the AIBA
tournaments, and she won gold medals in all that
she attended in 2002, including those in Debrecem (Hungary); Torneo
Italia (Italy); Ahmet Comert
(Turkey); Witch Cup (Pecs, Hungary in August 2002
defeating Marie-Louise Moller of Denmark 5-0 in the 51-kg
final );
Second World Championship (Antalya,
Turkey in October 2002, defeating Kum-Son Kim of
North
Korea in the
final); dual
meets Italy vs Greece and Italy vs Poland.
In March 2002, Simona earned
her university degree in Sport Sciences.
Simona was
awarded WBAN’s April 2003 Fighter of the
month----and was added to FANMAIL!
At
the European Women's Championships in Pecs, Hungary in May 2003, Simona
won the 50-kg division by defeating Hasibe Ozer of Turkey.
At
the Ahmet Comert Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey in May, 2004 she won
the 51-kg division by defeating Hasibe Ozer of Turkey 15-8 in the
final. At the Italian Women's Championship in Sassoferato in July she
defeated Sara De Angelis by RSCO-2 in the 50-kg final. At the "Witch
Cup" tournament in Pecs, Hungary in September 2004, she
defeated Karatzyna
Czuba of Poland by RSCO-2 in the 50-kg semifinal, then Signe Kirse Ellegaard of
Denmark by RSCO-2 in the final. At the
European Women's Championships in Riccione, Italy in October 2004, she
won the 50-kg division by defeating Viktoria Ousachenko of
Russia.
At
the International Women's Tournament held in St Peterburg, Russia in
March 2005 she defeated Viktoria Ousachenko of Russia 16-9 in the
quarterfinal, Antonia Paputaski of Greece 18-1 in the semifinal and
Kumari Meena of India 22-13 in the final. At the Ahmet
Comert Tournament in Istanbul Turkey in April 2005 she lost to
Hasibe Ozer of Turkey by 15-6 in the final.
The
loss to Ozer in Istanbul, which dropped Galassi's amateur record to
84-1, was excoriated by the Italian Federation, who said: “It was one of the biggest
scandals of female boxing history. The match looked like a fix from the
beginning, when the jury is made of the same people who robbed another
Italian boxer. This impression is confirmed at the end of the first
round when Galassi dominates, but the judges score 3-2 for Ozer. In the
second round Simona keeps being the aggressor while the Turk just tries
to survive, but the judges score 9-5 for Ozer. The final round is very
exciting, Galassi puts her opponent under siege and Ozer holds her many
times waiting for the final bell. The judges score 15-6 for the local
girl. This sounded even more ridiculous when Simona was given the award
of best fighter of the event.”
At
the European Championships in Tonsberg, Norway in May 2005 Galassi
defeated DIana Ungureanu of Romonia by RSCO-1 in the 50-kg
quarterfinal, Nelly Onishchenko of Ukraine by 17-4
in the semifinal, then again defeated Hasibe Ozer of Turkey by 13-12 in
the final.
At
the World Championships in Podolsk, Russia in September 2005, she
defeated Hasibe Ozer of Turkey by 13-10 in the 50-kg quarterfinal,
Chowdhiry Kalpana of India 29-12 in the semifinal, and Hyang-Mi Ri of
North Korea 31-19 in the final, for her third world championship gold
medal. .
In
the Italy-Poland Women's Dual held in Poland in 2006 she
defeated Katarzyna Czuba in Grudziadz
on March 31 and again in Torun on April 1, both times winning by 3-0
margins.tar
In
June 2006 in Porto Torres, Sardinia,
Galassi added
a European Union 50-kg title to her collection,
defeating
Marjut Salo of Finland by RSCO-1 in the quarterfinal, Ayse Yavuz of
Turkey by retirement in the semifinal, and Delphine Mancini of France
by RSCO-2 in the final. A firework show on June 11 celebrated
Galassi's retirement from amateur boxing. CSimona’s ultimate goal had once
been to
be in the Olympics as an amateur boxer, but this was not possible as
the International Olympic Committe did not allow women's
boxing until 2012. zuba
She
made her pro boxing debut on October 8, 2006 at the PalaLido
in Milan,
Lombardia, Italy, winning by a second round TKO over Simona Pencakova
of Medzev, Slovakia who fell to 0-7-1.
On November 14, 2006 at
Palasport
Villa Romiti in her home town of Forli, Italy, Simona won an
eight-round decision over Svetla Taskova of Sofia, Bulgaria who fell to
4-18-1.
On
January 9, 2007 at Palazzetto dello Sport in Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy,
Simona (111½ lbs) fought to a split (97-92.95-95,93-96) draw
with
Nadia Hokmi (111¾
lbs) of France in a ten-rounder for the vacant EBU Flyweight title.
Galassi has said on her own web site this was her most disappointing
fight as she was not physically or mentally ready for the bout.
Hokmi moved her record to 8-4-1 with the result.
On
March 30, 2007 at Palestra Millennium, Como, Lombardia, Italy Simona
TKO'd Petra Jachmanova of Komárno, Slovakia in the fifth round
of
a scheduled six-rounder. Jachmanova fell to 2-14-1 with the
loss.
On
May 11, 2007 at Palasport in Bertinoro, Emilia Romagna, Italy, SImona
TKO'd Bettina Völker of Germany in the final round of a ten-rounder for
the vacant EBU Flyweight title. Völker fell to 4-2-3 (1 KO)
with
the loss.
On July 31, 2007 at Centro
Polivalente, San Genesio ed Uniti, Lombardia, Italy, Simona fought to a
no decision after two rounds in a rematch with Svetla Taskova.
On Novermber 16, 2007 at the
Palasport
di Pisa in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, SImona won an eight-round
decision over
Isabelle Leonardi of Paris, France, dropping Leonardi's record to 2-1
(0
KO's). [Video
clip]
On December 28, 2007 at the
Palasport Villa
Romiti in Forli, Simona (111 lbs) defended the EBU Flyweight title with
a ten-round unanimous (100-90x3) decision over Floarea Lihet (112 lbs)
of Bucharest, Romania who fell to 7-4 (3 KO's).
 On
March 29, 2008 at the Palasport Villa Romiti in Forli,
Simona won a ten-round unanimous decision over her chief
Italian
rival Stefania Bianchini
of Milan, Italy for the WBC Flyweight title. Bianchini, who
had
held the WBC title since August 2005 and had successfully defended it
four
times, fell to 16-3-3 (2 KO's) with a loss that marked a changing of
the guard in Italian professional women's boxing.
On
July 18, 2008 at Piazza XX Settembre in Civitanova, Marche,
Italy,
Simona (111 lbs) won a ten-round unanimous decision over Eileen Olszewski
(111½ lbs) of New York defending the WBC Flyweight title. Both boxers
showed respect for the other's technical skills in a matchup that was
mosty fought at long range with good movement and defense. Galassi's
reach and greater accuracy with her right over Olszewski's
jabs were
the difference as Olszewski fell to 5-2-1 (0 KO's). [Video]
 On
October 24, 2008 at the Palalido in Milan, Lombardia, Italy,
Simona
(111¼ lbs) won another ten-round unanimous (100-90,100-90,99-91)
decision over Stefania Bianchini
(5′ 2½″, 111¼ lbs) of
Milan, defending the WBC Flyweight title. BIanchini fell to
17-4-3 (2 KO's) in what would be her last fight as a pro boxer.
On April 25, 2009 at
PalaVeneto,
Ancona, Marche, Italy, Simona won a rematch with Isabelle Leonardi of
Paris, France by a six-round points decision. Leonardi fell
to
4-4-1 with the loss.
On June 13, 2009 at Piazza
Saffi in Forli, Simona won a six-round decision over Eva Ott of
Budapest, Hungary, who fell to 0-7.
 On
December 4, 2009 at the Freizeit Arena in Sölden, Austria, Simona (111
lbs)
defended the WBC Flyweight title with a ten-round unanimous
(99-91,100-90,99-91) decision over Aziza
Oubaita (109¼ lbs, at left in photo) of Levallois-Perret,
Hauts-de-Seine, France. Oubaita fell to 9-2-1 (4
KO's).
On March 12, 2010 at Palasport
in Bertinoro, Emilia Romagna, Italy, Simona (111¼
lbs) defended the WBC Flyweight title with a ten-round
unanimous (100-89,100-90,99-90) decision
over Esmeralda Moreno
(111¼ lbs) of Mexico. Both
boxers worked from range in the early going, with southpaw Galassi's
lead rights landing with better accuracy than Moreno's jab. Moreno
pressed the action harder in the later rounds but Galassi's quick hands
and superior technique kept her out of any serious trouble for the
decision. Moreno was cut over her left eye in the fifth
round and
Galassi over her right eye in the sixth but both corners were able to
contain the damage effectively. Most rounds were closer than the
scorecards might suggest, but Galassi's more precise
counter-punching frustrated most of Moreno's attempts
to
close the distance
behind her own jab. Moreno fell to 13-6 (5 KO's) with
the loss.
[Video]
On
September 3, 2010 at Piazza Saffi, Forli, Emilia Romagna, Italy, SImona
won an eight-round decision over Fleis Djendji of Kanjiza,
Serbia,
who fell to 10-7-1 (5 KO's).
Simona
Galassi vs Mariana Juarez in March 2011
©
copyrighted photo by Pepe Rodriguez/WBC
On
March 11, 2011 at the Jose Cuervo Salon in
Polanco, Distrito Federal, México, Mariana
Juárez
(111¾ lbs) of Mexico won a hard fought ten round unanimous
(97-93,97-93,96-94)
decision over Simona (111 lbs) for
the WBC Flyweight title. Juárez
(at left in photo) overcame a shaky start to find her range and
decipher Galassi's style in the later rounds, which were fought toe to
toe with Galassi bleeding from her nose. Galassi
appeared to have won the early rounds with her rapier-like
right and solid followups with her left but the action became more even
when Juarez became more aggressive and was able to mix it
up at
tighter range. Juarez was knocked off balance by Galassi's
forearm and
went to the canvas at the end of the fourth but the referee ruled the
stumble a slip. The
38-year-old Galassi
fell to 14-1-1 (3 KO's). WBC head José
Sulaimán had described this bout as the "most important fight in
women's boxing in the world". [Video]
On
July 23, 2011 at Piazza Saffi in Forli, Simona won a six-round decision
in her third match with Svetla Taskova who fell to 4-32-1.
On October 28, 2011 at
PalaRockfeller
in Cagliari, Sardegna, Italy, SImona (114 lbs) won the vacant IBF
Junior Bantamweight title with a ten-round unanimous
(100-91,100-90,100-90) decision over Nadege Szikora (114 lbs) of
Montpelier, France, who fell to 10-3-1 (4 KO's). [Video]
On April 14, 2012 at Palasport
in Vicenze, Italy, Simona Galassi (115 lbs) won a
hard fought unanimous (96-94x3) decision over 18-year-old Renata
Szebeledi (114¾
lbs) of Budapest, Hungary defending the IBF Junior Bantamweight title.
Szebeledi was aggressive throughout the fight and frequently caught
Galassi with clubbing lefts to the head, including some that drew
warnings from the referee for holding and hitting. Szebeledi fell to
14-9-0 (8 KO's) with this narrow loss. [Video]
On October 27, 2012 at
Palasport Arcella in Padua,
Veneto, Italy, Renata Szebeledi (111 lbs) avenged her April loss
to Simona Galassi (111 lbs) and stopped her in the third
round of a scheduled ten-rounder for the interim WBC Flyweight
title.
three rounds. Szebeledi was the aggressor again using
her jab to set up hard right hands. Galassi, a full 19 years
older than her opponent, was not strong enough to keep
Szebeledi at bay in the rematch. She as knncked down
once after a left-right combination. Galassi was saved from
further punishment by referee Guido Cavalleri
in the third round. Galassi's record fell to 17-2-1 with the
loss as Szebeledi improved hers to 16-9 (10 KO's).
When Simona is not boxing, she
works as a trainer for Acqua Gym,
Thai/Kickboxing, Fit boxing, and sometimes as a personal
trainer. Her
hobbies include oriental massages, alternative medicine,
and eating good food! Her favorite is chocolate
cake, but
she still
manages to keep her very fit 112 lb. frame!
Other
Simona Galassi links
To check
out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with
huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records
Member Site
Page
last updated: Monday, October 29, 2012
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