Salvatore Burruni

Salvatore Burruni (11 April 1933 – 30 March 2004) was an Italian flyweight and bantamweight boxer who fought between 1957 and 1969.

Burruni was Italian flyweight champion in 1954 and 1956 and won the World Military Championships in 1955 and 1956 as well as the Mediterranean Games in 1955. At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics he progressed to the second round when he lost to Vladimir Stolnikov.

Burruni turned professional in 1958. After successfully campaigning for seven years, during which he won the European Flyweight title, Burruni was given a title shot by WBA, WBC against Lineal flyweight champion Pone Kingpetch from Thailand. On 23 April 1965, Burruni made the most of his opportunity and won a unanimous 15-round decision.

However, on November 1965, WBA & WBC stripped him of the title following his refusal to meet themandatory challenger, Hiroyuki Ebihara.

On December 2, 1965, Burruni successfully defended his lineal crown by knocking out Australian Rocky Gattellari.
On 14 June 1966, he lost to Walter McGowan, whom he had defeated previously.

Unable to make the weight any longer, Burruni moved up to the bantamweight division. He won the European Bantamweight title by taking a 15-round decision from champion Mimoum Ben Ali in 1968. His campaign to secure a World Bantamweight title ended when he was knocked out by Rubén Olivares in 1968. Burruni's final fight took place in 1969, when he defeated Pierre Vetroff by KO.