Anton Josipović

Anton Ante Josipović (born 22 October 1961 in Banja Luka, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Croatian^[1] boxer from Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia). He won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Amateur career

Josipović, a member of "Slavija" from Banja Luka, won his first Yugoslav champion title in 1982, and went on to become a Balkan champion in 1983. In LA for the first time a Yugoslav athlete was awarded a gold medal by default. Josipović was left without an opponent after Gligorije Novičić, a Yugoslav referee, in the other semifinal bout between New Zealand's Kevin Barry and Evander Holyfield from the US had disqualified the American boxer for having knocked out his opponent as he yelled break while Holyfield was in the middle of throwing combinations.

In spite of several protests and appeals by the hosts, Holyfield, who later became the only person to ever capture the professional world heavyweight championship four times, was not allowed to compete in the final bout, while Barry could not compete because of the knock-out, which resulted in Josipović’s being awarded gold medal by default.

During the medal ceremony Josipović pulled Holyfield to the top of the podium to join him.^[2]

Olympic results

1984 - Olympic Games, Los Angeles, USA: Gold Medal (light heavyweight)

• W-PTS 4-1 Markus Bott (Germany),
• W-PTS 5-0 Georgica Donici (Romania),
• W-PTS 5-0 Mustapha Moussa (Algeria),
• W-Forfeit Kevin Barry (New Zealand)

Pro career

Josipović began his professional career in 1990 and won his first eight bouts. In 1994, he took on Asmir Vojnović for the Croatian Cruiserweight Title and lost a decision. In the rematch in 1995, Josipović again lost by decision and retired from boxing.

Professional boxing record

8 Wins (4 knockouts, 4 decisions), 2 Losses (0 knockouts, 2 decisions) [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	4-0	Asmir Vojnovic	PTS	10	17/06/1995	Zagreb, Croatia	Croatia Cruiserweight Title.
Loss	3-0	Asmir Vojnovic	UD	10	10/12/1994	Rijeka, Croatia	Croatia Cruiserweight Title.
Win	6-12-1	Albert Toma	TKO	3	09/04/1992	Celano, Abruzzo, Italy
Win	38-12-3	Matthew Saad Muhammad	PTS	8	09/05/1991	Novi Sad, Serbia
Win	18-21-4	Dave Owens	UD	8	17/02/1991	Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Win	17-6-2	Kemper Morton	PTS	8	17/01/1991	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Win	1-26-3	Kabunda Kamanga	TKO	4	22/11/1990	Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Win	17-17	Yves Monsieur	KO	6	04/10/1990	Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Win	8-17-3	John Held	PTS	8	25/08/1990	Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Win	4-8-3	Renald De Vulder	TKO	4	12/07/1990	Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Personal life

He later became a sports journalist and covered Holyfield's career.^[3]

His cousin Aleksandar Josipović won the Yugoslavian National Championship in Ballroom dancing five times and is a dancer of the Moulin Rouge in Paris. He also performed as Master of Ceremonies at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Anton Josipović from BoxRec
• Profile on Serbian Olympic Committee