Giovanni Parisi former WBO lightweight & light welterweight World champion signed promotional photo, measuring 7" x 4 1/4".

Condition mint

Price: £ SOLD

Giovanni Parisi (December 2, 1967 – March 25, 2009) Italian. Who won the gold medal in the Men's Featherweight (– 57 kg) category at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

A native of Vibo Valentia, Calabria, Parisi began his professional career in 1989 and won the Vacant WBO Lightweight Title by defeating Javier Altamirano in 1992. He later defeated former champion Freddie Pendleton and in 1995 challenged Mexican Julio César Chávez for the WBC Light Welterweight Title, losing a unanimous decision. Parisi went on to capture the WBO Light Welterweight Title and defend it successfully six times. He later challenged WBO Welterweight Title holder Daniel Santos, and lost via a 4th round KO.

On 25 March 2009, Parisi was driving a car at Voghera, near Pavia, when it crashed head-on with a truck. Parisi died at the scene; he was 41.