Frank Buglioni (born 18 April 1989)[2] is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2011 to 2018. He challenged once for the WBA super-middleweight title in 2015. At regional level, he held the British light-heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018, and challenged once for the Commonwealth light-heavyweight title in 2018.

Frank Buglioni
Born (1989-04-18) 18 April 1989 (age 35)
Enfield, London, England
NationalityBritish
Other namesThe Wise Guy
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Reach72 in (183 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights27
Wins22
Wins by KO16
Losses4
Draws1

Amateur career

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Buglioni took up boxing at the age of 14 to increase his fitness and strength, his priority at the time being football.[3] Buglioni joined the Waltham Forest Amateur Boxing Club, and after winning his first four fights it was decided that he would move on to train at the Repton Boxing Club in Bethnal Green under the tutelage of head coach Tony Burns.[4]

Buglioni went on to have 70 amateur fights, winning 60 and losing 10, with over half of his wins by knockout.[2][5] He won two national titles and also picked up various medals, whilst representing his country in international tournaments, including a silver medal against the world number one Vijender Singh in the Commonwealth Federations Tournament in Delhi in 2010.[6]

Buglioni was selected to train with the Great Britain Olympic team in 2010. However, the following year he decided to turn professional.

Professional career

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Nicknamed "The Wise Guy", Buglioni made his professional debut in November 2011, stopping Sabie Montieth in the first round. He won his first 10 fights before stopping Stepan Horvath in the eighth round in November 2013 to win the WBO European super middleweight title.[2] He successfully defended the title three months later against Gaetano Nespro, but lost it in April 2014 when he was stopped by Sergey Khomitsky.[2]

Three months later he stopped Sam Couzens in four rounds to win the vacant BBBofC Southern Area super middleweight title.[2] In November he regained the WBO European title with a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Andrew Robinson.[2] He made two further defences (a first round stoppage of Ivan Jukic and a draw with Lee Markham) before beating Fernando Castaneda in July 2015 to take the vacant WBA International super middleweight title.

In September 2015 he challenged for Fedor Chudinov's WBA World super middleweight title at Wembley Arena;[7] The fight went the full 12 rounds with Chudinov winning comfortably on points.[2][8]

In 2016, Buglioni moved up to light heavyweight, stopping journeyman Olegs Fedotovs in the first round in March.[9][10]

On 10 December 2016, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina, Buglioni fought Hosea Burton in a tightly contested 12 round affair. With Buglioni down on the scorecards going into the 12th he produced a stunning knockout to get the win catapulting himself forwards in the rankings. It was one of the fights of 2016.

Buglioni was trained by Mark Tibbs at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town, before moving on to work with the Irish boxing brothers Paschal Collins and former world champion Steve Collins at the Celtic Warrior Boxing Gym in Dublin, Ireland.[2][7][11] In 2016, he moved on to new trainer Don Charles.[12]

In his first defence of the British light heavyweight title, Buglioni faced Ricky Summers. Summers held his own, but in the end Buglioni was too much for Summers and won the contest on points.[13]

In his next fight, Buglioni was slated to battle undefeated Callum Johnson. Johnson, however, dropped shortly before the fight. He was replaced by another undefeated Brit, Craig Richards.[14] Buglioni managed to secure the win via unanimous decision.[15]

On 24 March 2018, Buglioni and Callum Johnson finally squared of in the ring, in a bid for both the British and the Commonwealth light heavyweight titles. Johnson knocked Buglioni down and managed to finish him via TKO in the first round.[16]

On 24 November 2018, Frank fought Fanlong Meng from China, who was undefeated and was ranked #11 by the IBF. In the early rounds, Buglioni was struggling to connect on the savvy defensive Meng. As the action went on, Buglioni suffered a cut above his right eye and the doctor called for a break to take a look at the cut. The fight was initially resumed, however, the cut grew only worse, and the doctor was forced to stop the fight with 1:58 to go in the fifth round.[17]

Two days after the fight, Buglioni announced that at the age of 29, he is officially retiring from boxing. "After thoughtful deliberation; I have decided to hang up the gloves. I am proud of all my achievements in boxing and I will be forever grateful of the life lessons and positive effects it has given me." - said Buglioni as a part of his official statement.[18]

Personal life

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Buglioni has Italian heritage and can trace his roots to Naples. His great grandfather emigrated to London in the 1920s. He was born and raised in Enfield, London where he still resides between training camps.

After achieving his International Baccalaureate Diploma from Highlands School, Buglioni attended the University of Westminster to study building surveying. He chose to put his education on hold when he was selected for the GB Olympic team. Buglioni has said he would like to go back and complete his degree.[19]

Buglioni's boxing heroes are Oscar De La Hoya and Arturo "Thunder" Gatti.[20]

Before Buglioni took up boxing full-time, he worked as a building surveyor.[21] He supports London football team Chelsea F.C.[22]

Professional boxing record

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27 fights 22 wins 4 losses
By knockout 16 3
By decision 6 1
Draws 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
27 Loss 22–4–1 Meng Fanlong TKO 5 (12), 1:58 24 Nov 2018 Casino de Monte Carlo Salle Medecin, Monte Carlo, Monaco For IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
26 Win 22–3–1 Emmanuel Feuzeu RTD 6 (8), 3:00 28 Jul 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
25 Loss 21–3–1 Callum Johnson TKO 1 (12), 1:31 24 Mar 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England Lost British light-heavyweight title;
For Commonwealth light-heavyweight title
24 Win 21–2–1 Craig Richards UD 12 28 Oct 2017 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Retained British light-heavyweight title
23 Win 20–2–1 Ricky Summers UD 12 1 Jul 2017 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained British light-heavyweight title
22 Win 19–2–1 Hosea Burton TKO 12 (12), 1:56 10 Dec 2016 Manchester Arena, Manchester, England Won British light-heavyweight title
21 Win 18–2–1 Olegs Fedotovs TKO 1 (6), 1:40 26 Mar 2016 Wembley Arena, London, England
20 Loss 17–2–1 Fedor Chudinov UD 12 26 Sep 2015 Wembley Arena, London, England For WBA (Regular) super-middleweight title
19 Win 17–1–1 Fernando Castañeda KO 5 (12), 2:26 24 Jul 2015 Wembley Arena, London, England Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental super-middleweight title
18 Draw 16–1–1 Lee Markham SD 10 9 May 2015 Wembley Arena, London, England Retained WBO European super-middleweight title
17 Win 16–1 Ivan Jukic TKO 1 (10), 1:25 28 Feb 2015 O2 Arena, London, England Retained WBO European super-middleweight title
16 Win 15–1 Andrew Robinson UD 10 29 Nov 2014 ExCeL Arena, London, England Won vacant WBO European super-middleweight title
15 Win 14–1 Alexey Ribchev TKO 6 (10), 2:11 20 Sep 2014 York Hall, London, England
14 Win 13–1 Sam Couzens TKO 4 (10), 2:24 16 Jul 2014 York Hall, London, England Won vacant Southern Area super-middleweight title
13 Loss 12–1 Sergey Khomitsky TKO 6 (10), 1:04 12 Apr 2014 Copper Box, London, England Lost WBO European super-middleweight title
12 Win 12–0 Gaetano Nespro TKO 5 (10), 2:24 15 Feb 2014 Copper Box, London, England Retained WBO European super-middleweight title
11 Win 11–0 Štěpán Horváth KO 8 (10), 2:53 30 Nov 2013 Copper Box, London, England Won vacant WBO European super-middleweight title
10 Win 10–0 Broislav Kubin TKO 2 (10), 1:19 21 Sep 2013 Copper Box, London, England
9 Win 9–0 Kirill Psonko UD 8 20 Jul 2013 Wembley Arena, London, England
8 Win 8–0 Darren McKenna TKO 3 (8), 1:36 20 Apr 2013 Wembley Arena, London, England
7 Win 7–0 Ciaran Healy RTD 2 (6), 3:00 15 Dec 2012 ExCeL Arena, London, England
6 Win 6–0 Joe Rea TKO 2 (6), 1:24 14 Sep 2012 York Hall, London, England
5 Win 5–0 Jody Meikle UD 6 1 Jun 2012 York Hall, London, England
4 Win 4–0 Daniel Borisov TKO 1 (6), 2:48 28 Apr 2012 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Ryan Clark UD 4 10 Feb 2012 York Hall, London, England
2 Win 2–0 Paul Morby TKO 1 (4), 2:37 18 Nov 2011 York Hall, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Sabie Montieth TKO 1 (4), 2:04 5 Nov 2011 Wembley Arena, London, England

References

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  1. ^ "Frank Buglioni". Box Nation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Frank Buglioni Archived 15 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine", Box Nation. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  3. ^ "Prospect Profile: Frank Buglioni". boxingasylum.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  4. ^ Maylett, Chris (2012) "In the Ring Q&A Interview with Frank Buglioni Archived 6 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine", britishboxers.co.uk, 22 November 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  5. ^ "Frank Buglioni: A fighter heading in the right direction". Hattonboxing.com. 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Frank Buglioni interview – explosive knockout on bonfire night and beyond". News.boxrec.com. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  7. ^ a b Davies, Gareth (2015) "Frank Buglioni uses hypnotist Steve Collins employed to defeat Chris Eubank ahead of Fedor Chudinov world title challenge", Daily Telegraph, 19 September 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  8. ^ "Frank Buglioni beaten by Fedor Chudinov in London", msn.com, 27 September 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016
    - Davies, Gareth A. (2015) "Frank Buglioni loses tilt at World Boxing Association super middleweight title against Fedor Chudinov", Daily Telegraph, 27 September 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  9. ^ Robinson, Isaac (2016) "Frank Buglioni is moving up to light-heavyweight", Sky Sports, 9 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  10. ^ "Hughie Fury shuts out Dominick Guinn over 10 Archived 31 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine", The Ring, 26 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  11. ^ Holmes, Jason (2013) "Exclusive: Frank Buglioni, a Rising Star in the Boxing Firmament", Huffington Post, 30 January 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  12. ^ Stafford, Dominique (2016) "Buglioni excited by his step up to light-heavweight", Barnet & Whetstone Press, 13 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  13. ^ "Frank Buglioni Wins Tough Over Summers To Retain British Title". BoxingScene.com. July 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Callum Johnson Out Of Buglioni Clash, Replaced By Craig Richards". BoxingScene.com. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Frank Buglioni Retains British Title; Hosea Burton Could Be Next". BoxingScene.com. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Callum Johnson Demolishes Frank Buglioni in One Round". BoxingScene.com. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Fanlong Meng Stops Frank Buglioni, Due To Cut, in Fifth Round". BoxingScene.com. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Frank Buglioni Calls it a Day, Decides To Retire From Boxing". BoxingScene.com. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  19. ^ Fella Tio says (6 February 2012). "Frank Buglioni Q&A". Boxingnews24.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  20. ^ "Frank Buglioni Q&A &#124". Frankwarren.com. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ Davies (2015) "Frank Buglioni faces tough task against Fedor Chudinov to lift supermiddleweight crown", Daily Telegraph, 26 September 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016
  22. ^ Gary Smith/Frank Buglioni (30 January 2012). "Frank Buglioni Interview (by Gary Smith)". Boxtacular. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
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Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Geard Ajetovic
WBO European super-middleweight champion
30 November 2013 – April 2014
Succeeded by
Siarhei Kamitski
Vacant
Title last held by
Kelvin Young
Southern Area super-middleweight champion
16 July 2014 – March 2015
Vacant
Title next held by
Tom Baker
Vacant
Title last held by
Siarhei Kamitski
WBO European super-middleweight champion
29 November 2014 – July 2015
Vacant
Title next held by
Jamie Cox
Vacant
Title last held by
Patrick Nielsen
WBA International super-middleweight champion
24 July 2015 – April 2016
Vacant
Title next held by
George Groves
Preceded by British light-heavyweight champion
10 December 2016 – 24 March 2018
Succeeded by