# Gianluca Branco

Gianluca Branco (born 20 September 1970) is an Italian former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He held the European super-lightweight title twice between 2001 and 2009, the European Union welterweight title from 2012 to 2013, the European welterweight title from 2014 to 2016, and challenged twice for a world title in 2004 and 2006. Gianluca is the younger brother of former boxer Silvio Branco.

## Professional career

Branco made his professional debut on 7 April 1995, knocking out Aladar Horvath in six rounds. Fighting almost exclusively in his native Italy, he would spend the next nine years undefeated, save for a points draw against Viktor Baranov on 19 October 1998. Branco won his first major regional championship—the vacant European light-welterweight title—on 23 June 2001, with a majority decision victory over Gabriel Mapouka. Two successful defences of the title were made, against George Scott on 17 November 2001 (sixth-round technical decision) and Allan Vester on 9 March 2002 (tenth-round stoppage).
On 24 January 2004, Branco fought for his first world championship—the vacant WBC light-welterweight title—against veteran Arturo Gatti. This was also Branco's first visit to the United States, where Gatti was an established star. Branco started off well, counterpunching the combinations of Gatti, until the latter injured his hand severely by landing a punch on Branco's hip in round five. Gatti then had to rely entirely on his jab to stay out of trouble for the remainder of the fight. By the tenth round, with the fight still close, Gatti turned the tide decisively in his favour when he scored a knockdown against Branco. By the end of twelve rounds, Gatti won a clear unanimous decision (UD) to hand Branco his first loss.
Branco would receive a second opportunity at a world title on 4 March 2006, this time against WBO light-welterweight champion Miguel Cotto. From the opening round, Branco had no answer for the undefeated superstar, who stopped him in eight rounds. On 16 May 2008, Branco won his second European light-welterweight title. Despite suffering a knockdown in the second round, he went on to claim a split decision over the defending champion Lynes. Branco made one defence, on 19 December 2008, stopping Juho Tolppola in nine hard-fought rounds.
Having moved up in weight, Branco made his first of two attempts at winning the European welterweight title, on 26 March 2010, but lost a UD to Matthew Hatton. On 10 November 2012, Branco won the vacant European Union welterweight title with a UD over Krzysztof Bienias. Once defence was made, on 22 February 2013, in a UD victory against Lukasz Maciec. On 22 November 2014, Branco succeeded in his second attempt at winning the now-vacant European welterweight title, by forcing Rafał Jackiewicz to retire in his corner after six rounds.

## Professional boxing record

| 53 fights | 49 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 24 | 1 |
| By decision | 25 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 53 | Win | 49–3–1 | Rafał Jackiewicz | RTD | 6 (12), 3:00 | 22 Nov 2014 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Terracina, Italy | Won vacant European welterweight title |
| 52 | Win | 48–3–1 | Konstantins Sakara | UD | 6 | 21 Dec 2013 | PalaBadminton, Milan, Italy | |
| 51 | Win | 47–3–1 | Łukasz Maciec | UD | 12 | 22 Feb 2013 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Montalto di Castro, Italy | Retained European Union welterweight title |
| 50 | Win | 46–3–1 | Krzysztof Bienias | UD | 12 | 10 Nov 2012 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy | Won vacant European Union welterweight title |
| 49 | Win | 45–3–1 | János Petrovics | TKO | 6 (6), 0:28 | 11 Nov 2011 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Pontedera, Italy | |
| 48 | Win | 44–3–1 | Semjons Moroseks | PTS | 6 | 27 Nov 2010 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 47 | Loss | 43–3–1 | Matthew Hatton | UD | 12 | 26 Mar 2010 | Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England | For vacant European welterweight title |
| 46 | Win | 43–2–1 | János Petrovics | PTS | 6 | 11 Jul 2009 | BJK Akatlar Arena, Istanbul, Turkey | |
| 45 | Win | 42–2–1 | Juho Tolppola | TKO | 9 (12) | 19 Dec 2008 | PalaLido, Milan, Italy | Retained European light-welterweight title |
| 44 | Win | 41–2–1 | Colin Lynes | SD | 12 | 16 May 2008 | PalaRuffini, Turin, Italy | Won European light-welterweight title |
| 43 | Win | 40–2–1 | Nico Salzmann | PTS | 8 | 29 Feb 2008 | PalaLido, Milan, Italy | |
| 42 | Win | 39–2–1 | Laszlo Komjathi | TKO | 4 (6) | 8 Dec 2007 | La Palestre, Le Cannet, France | |
| 41 | Win | 38–2–1 | Arek Malek | PTS | 6 | 31 Jul 2007 | Centro Polifunzionale, San Genesio ed Uniti, Italy | |
| 40 | Win | 37–2–1 | Adam Zadworny | TKO | 1 (6) | 8 Oct 2006 | PalaLido, Milan, Italy | |
| 39 | Loss | 36–2–1 | Miguel Cotto | TKO | 8 (12), 0:49 | 4 Mar 2006 | Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón, Puerto Rico | For WBO light-welterweight title |
| 38 | Win | 36–1–1 | Farid El Houari | TKO | 4 (8) | 22 Jul 2005 | Campione d'Italia, Italy | |
| 37 | Win | 35–1–1 | Ariel Francisco Burgos | TKO | 6 (8), 2:35 | 12 Mar 2005 | Mazda Palace, Milan, Italy | |
| 36 | Win | 34–1–1 | Vasile Herteg | TKO | 2 (6) | 24 Jul 2004 | Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 35 | Win | 33–1–1 | Nasser Lakrib | TKO | 4 (10) | 8 May 2004 | Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 34 | Loss | 32–1–1 | Arturo Gatti | UD | 12 | 24 Jan 2004 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | For vacant WBC light-welterweight title |
| 33 | Win | 32–0–1 | Michel Raynaud | PTS | 6 | 5 Nov 2002 | Villa Erba, Cernobbio, Italy | |
| 32 | Win | 31–0–1 | Massimo Bertozzi | PTS | 6 | 13 Sep 2002 | Hotel Marina Piccola, Puglia, Italy | |
| 31 | Win | 30–0–1 | Allan Vester | TKO | 10 (12) | 9 Mar 2002 | Montecatini Terme, Italy | Retained European light-welterweight title |
| 30 | Win | 29–0–1 | George Scott | TD | 6 (12) | 17 Nov 2001 | Civitavecchia, Italy | Retained European light-welterweight title; TD after Scott was cut from an accidental head clash |
| 29 | Win | 28–0–1 | Gabriel Mapouka | MD | 12 | 23 Jun 2001 | Massy, France | Won vacant European light-welterweight title |
| 28 | Win | 27–0–1 | Frederic Tripp | PTS | 6 | 17 Feb 2001 | Padua, Italy | |
| 27 | Win | 26–0–1 | Adejoussi Adewale | UD | 6 | 22 Dec 2000 | Monfalcone, Italy | |
| 26 | Win | 25–0–1 | Slobodan Vlaovic | PTS | 6 | 17 Jun 2000 | Bovezzo, Italy | |
| 25 | Win | 24–0–1 | Slobodan Vlaovic | UD | 6 | 18 Mar 2000 | Ferrara, Italy | |
| 24 | Win | 23–0–1 | Francesco Cioffi | PTS | 6 | 3 Dec 1999 | Milan, Italy | |
| 23 | Win | 22–0–1 | Gheorghe Paraschiv | TKO | 2 | 16 Oct 1999 | Bondeno, Italy | |
| 22 | Win | 21–0–1 | Horia Dobre | TKO | 1 (6) | 7 Aug 1999 | Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 21 | Win | 20–0–1 | Francesco Cioffi | UD | 6 | 24 Apr 1999 | Ferrara, Italy | |
| 20 | Win | 19–0–1 | Nassim Yahiaoui | PTS | 6 | 18 Dec 1998 | Brindisi, Italy | |
| 19 | Draw | 18–0–1 | Viktor Baranov | PTS | 8 | 19 Oct 1998 | Bari, Italy | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Andile Nongaza | TKO | 4 (6) | 28 Jul 1998 | Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Massimo Bertozzi | PTS | 10 | 9 May 1998 | Aulla, Italy | Retained Italy light-welterweight title |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Elyes Mahdjoub | UD | 8 | 26 Feb 1998 | Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Elyes Mahdjoub | PTS | 6 | 29 Nov 1997 | Novara, Italy | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Antonio Strabello | KO | 6 (10) | 28 Aug 1997 | Forte Michelangelo, Civitavecchia, Italy | Retained Italy light-welterweight title |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Francesco Cioffi | PTS | 10 | 30 May 1997 | Castellammare di Stabia, Italy | Won vacant Italy light-welterweight title |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Lajos Nagy | TKO | 4 (12) | 13 Feb 1997 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy | Won vacant WBU Intercontinental light-welterweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Abderzek Oulad Laarbi | TKO | 1 (6) | 28 Dec 1996 | Castel Mella, Italy | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Angel Fernandez | TKO | 1 (6) | 12 Dec 1996 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Janos Zsiros | TKO | 1 (6) | 8 Aug 1996 | Town Square, San Mango d'Aquino, Italy | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Rene Orlovsky | TKO | 4 (6) | 2 May 1996 | Palazzetto dello Sport, Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Rene Orlovsky | TKO | 4 (6) | 20 Jan 1996 | Palasport, Marsala, Italy | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Hamit Riahi | PTS | 6 | 4 Jan 1996 | Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Fabio Marinoni | PTS | 6 | 27 Sep 1995 | Petrosino, Italy | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Mario Spadaro | TKO | 5 (6) | 5 Aug 1995 | Tatti, Italy | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Maurizio Bonito | KO | 4 (6) | 26 Jun 1995 | Cinigiano, Italy | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Mauro Barigelli | KO | 3 (6) | 3 Jun 1995 | Civitavecchia, Italy | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Aladar Horvath | KO | 6 (6) | 7 Apr 1995 | Rome, Italy | |