former world champion boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

. His brother Maurizio

Maurizio Stecca

Maurizio Stecca is an Italian former boxer, who won the Bantamweight Gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.His brother Loris Stecca was also a professional boxer.-Professional career:...

 is also a former boxer and held the WBO world Featherweight title shortly during the late 1990s.

Professional career

Stecca held the WBA

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

 super bantamweight

Super Bantamweight

Super bantamweight is a weight division in professional boxing. The maximum weight for this division is 122 pounds, or roughly 55.34 kilograms....

 title for three months in 1984. He defeated Leo Cruz

Leo Cruz

Leonardo Cruz , better known in the world of boxing as Leo Cruz, was a world Jr. Featherweight champion from the Dominican Republic.-Personal:...

 to win the title by twelfth round knockout, then lost it to Victor Callejas

Victor Callejas

Victor Callejas is a Puerto Rican former boxer who was World Junior Featherweight champion. A native of Guaynabo, Callejas as a child wanted to be a singer, and his childhood friend, Orvil Miller, wanted to be a boxer. As it turned out, however, it was Callejas who was a boxer and Miller who...

 by a knockout in round eight at Mario Morales

Mario Morales

Mario Morales , aka "Quijote" Morales, for his ability to conquer both scoring and team championships in the Puerto Rican BSN league, is one of Puerto Rico's most famous basketball players.-Professional career:...

 coliseum, then known as Mets Pavilion, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Guaynabo is a municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas; south of Cataño; east of Bayamón; and west of San Juan...

.

Stecca won five fights in a row, all by knockout, putting himself on title contention once again. In a rematch with Callejas, held in November 1985 in Rimini, Italy, however, he lost by a sixth round knockout. Ahead on the scorecards, Stecca received a punch that lifted him off the floor, sending him to the air before he landed on his knees. He got up, but his corner soon stopped the fight, and the punch made the highlights of many sports news shows.

Many boxing fans consider Stecca to be one of the best Italian boxers in history.