Nicolae Linca

Nicolae Linca (1 January 1929 – 27 June 2008) was a Romanian amateur welterweight boxer. After winning bronze medals at the 1953 and 1955 European championships he became Romania's first Olympic champion in boxing in 1956. Fighting with a broken finger, he won against Fred Tiedt in a 3:2 split decision. He retired with a record of 25 losses out of 306 bouts and later worked as a boxing coach. By the 1990s he was living in poverty and suffering from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, which led to his deaths at the age of 79. In 2005 he was awarded the Sports Merit Order of First Class.