Leonard Doroftei

Leonard Dorin Doroftei (Template:IPA, also known as Leonard Dorin; born 10 April 1970)<ref name=boxrec>Template:Cite web</ref> is a Romanian former boxer, the WBA Lightweight World Champion from 5 January 2002 to 24 October 2003.

Amateur highlights

Doroftei took up boxing at the age of 14 at the Ploieşti boxing club. From 1983 to 1984, he won every Romanian national junior title. He went on to win four national senior titles in 1992–1994 and 1997. He won bronze medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.<ref name=sr/> In addition, he was declared World Champion in 1995 and European Champion in 1996. His record as an amateur was 239 victories and 15 defeats.<ref name=cosr>Leonard Doroftei. Romanian Olympic Committee</ref>

Olympic results

1992 (as a Light Welterweight)

• Defeated Edgar Ruiz (Mexico) 24–4
• Defeated Arlo Chavez (Philippines) 15–1
• Defeated Peter Richardson (Great Britain) points
• Lost to Mark Leduc (Canada) 6–32

1996 (as a Lightweight)

• Defeated Julio Mboumba (Gabon) RSC 23 (1:46)
• Defeated Sergey Kopenkin (Kyrgyzstan) 23–1
• Defeated Koba Gogoladze (Georgia) 23–8
• Lost to Hocine Soltani (Algeria) 32–9

Professional career

Doroftei in 1995

In 1997, Doroftei turned professional, signing with the Canadian club Interbox. Throughout his career, Dorin competed on ESPN, Showtime, and HBO. On 5 January 2002 he won the WBA world lightweight title, winning in a thrilling split decision over Argentinian boxer Raul Horacio Balbi 112–115, 114–113, 115–112. On 31 May the two fought again in Bucharest; this time, Dorin scored a knockdown en route to a clear cut unanimous decision victory, 118–111, 117–112 and 118–110.

A lightweight title unification bout on 17 May 2003 with American boxer Paul Spadafora, the IBF champion, ended in a draw, 114–114, 115–113, 114–115. The bout took place in Spadafora's hometown of Pittsburgh, and Dorin was a significant underdog. However, Dorin seemed to control the vast majority of the fight. He got to Spadafora early and often, surprising the champ with his intensity and workrate. Most observers agreed that Dorin had been robbed of a decision he deserved. Unfortunately for both fighters and boxing fans, a rematched never materialized.

On 24 October 2003, Doroftei was to fight a match against Panamanian boxer Miguel Callist. Doroftei had already announced that this would be his last professional match regardless of the result. As it turned out, the match was cancelled after Doroftei exceeded the maximum weight for lightweights at the weigh-in: he was Template:Convert over the Template:Convert weight limit, so he lost his WBA title.

On 24 July 2004, Doroftei lost his undefeated mark when he tried to get the WBC title, getting knocked out with a body shot in two rounds by Arturo Gatti.<ref name=boxrec/>

Retirement

He now resides in Romania with his wife and 3 children and is working as a trainer for boxing prospects. He has his own pub-restaurant in Ploieşti, which is decorated with his photos and memories from his boxing career. In November 2012, he was elected President of Romanian Boxing Federation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
24	Template:No2Loss	Template:Nowrap	Template:Flagicon Arturo Gatti	KO	2 (12)	Jul 24, 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	22–0–1	Template:Flagicon Charles Tschorniawsky	TKO	4 (12)	Mar 20, 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
22	Template:DrawDraw	21–0–1	Template:Flagicon Paul Spadafora	SD	12	May 17, 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	21–0	Template:Flagicon Raul Horacio Balbi	UD	12	May 31, 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Template:Flagicon Raul Horacio Balbi	SD	12	Jan 05, 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Template:Flagicon Emanuel Augustus	UD	10	Sep 28, 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Template:Flagicon Martin O'Malley	TKO	9 (10)	Jul 21, 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Template:Flagicon Darelle Sukerow	KO	5 (8)	Dec 15, 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Template:Flagicon Gairy St Clair	UD	10	Sep 08, 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Template:Flagicon Jose Aponte	TKO	8 (8)	Jun 16, 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Template:Flagicon Gustavo Fabian Cuello	SD	10	Apr 06, 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Template:Flagicon Rudolfo Lunsford	UD	8	Mar 07, 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Template:Flagicon Verdell Smith	UD	10	Dec 10, 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Template:Flagicon Darien Ford	UD	8	Oct 29, 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Template:Flagicon Jean-Luc Morin	TKO	3 (8)	Oct 13, 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Template:Flagicon Dillon Carew	PTS	12	Apr 30, 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Template:Flagicon Bernard Harris	SD	10	Feb 05, 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Template:Flagicon Steve Valdez	TKO	6 (8)	Nov 27, 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Template:Flagicon Khalil Shakeel	UD	8	Nov 06, 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Template:Flagicon Michael Balagna	KO	1 (6)	Oct 14, 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Template:Flagicon Don Sponagle	TKO	2 (6)	Sep 24, 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Template:Flagicon Sean Knight	UD	6	May 28, 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Template:Flagicon Martin Aubut	UD	6	May 5, 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Template:Flagicon Jerry Villareal	UD	4	Apr 24, 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	References External links Template:Boxrec Leonard Doroftei's Official Site Template:Webarchive 1991 Romanian National Championships 1992 Romanian National Championships 1993 Romanian National Championships 1994 Romanian National Championships 1997 Romanian National Championships