Professional career
Nati turned professional in 1978 under the management of Giorgio Bonetti. He won the Italian bantamweight title from Giuseppe Fossati in his 11th fight in 1979, and the vacant European Bantamweight title in a bout against Juan Francisco Rodríguez the following year.
Juan Francisco Rodríguez Márquez was a Spanish boxer. As an amateur he won the 1971 European flyweight title and reached the quarterfinals at the 1972 Summer Olympics. At the 1976 Games he was stopped in the second bout by the eventual silver medalist Charles Mooney.
Between 1981 and 1982, Nati defended his title five times in matches against Vicente Rodriguez, John Feeney, Jean-Jacques Souris, Luis De La Sagra, and Esteban Eguia. However, he struggled to get down to 118 lbs. for his fight with Fossati in 1982 and lost the title to his rival. A rematch with Fossati the following year was fought to a draw.
John Feeney is a British former boxer who was British bantamweight champion for two spells between 1981 and 1985, and who also challenged for the European bantamweight title four times, and the British featherweight title twice.
In 1983, Nati lost two matches for the European Boxing Union Featherweight title. The following year, Bonetti retired and Nati chose Umberto Branchini as his new manager. Between 1984 and 1987 Nati racked up 14 consecutive victories to get another shot at the European Featherweight title, which he won against Marc Amand in two rounds. After six more victories, he had a World Boxing Council Super Bantamweight title opportunity against Daniel Zaragoza, but was knocked out in the 5th round. He rebounded from the loss, challenging World Boxing Organization Super Bantamweight champion Kenny Mitchell and winning by disqualification. However, Nati lost his first defense of the WBO title to Puerto Rican Orlando Fernandez, and eventually retired in 1991. From 2012 to 2014 he was a part of the World Series of Boxing Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder team that won the 2011–2012 World Championship in London.
The European Boxing Union is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the most-prestigious continental title in Europe, the EBU European Championship, in addition to their EBU EU Championship for competitors from within the European Union and the EBU EE Championship for those outside the European Union.
Umberto Branchini was an Italian boxing promoter and manager. Born in Modena, Italy, on July 17, 1914, he promoted or arranged fights on six continents during his career, which lasted for over fifty years. He was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a "Non-participant" and was also inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in its "Expanded Category".
The World Boxing Council (WBC) is one of four major organizations which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO). Many historically high-profile bouts have been sanctioned by the organization with various legendary fighters having been recognised as WBC World champions. All four organizations recognise the legitimacy of each other, and each have interwoven histories dating back several decades.
Jeff Fenech is a retired Australian professional boxer. He won world titles in three weight divisions, and is best known for his trilogy with Ghanaian boxer Azumah Nelson. Fenech was trained by renowned Sydney-based trainer Johnny Lewis. He is currently a boxing trainer himself.
Wilfredo Vázquez Olivera is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 2002. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA bantamweight title from 1987 to 1988, the WBA super bantamweight title from 1992 to 1995, and the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 1996 to 1998. His son, Wilfredo Vázquez Jr., is also a former boxer and world champion.
Billy Hardy is a former bantamweight and featherweight boxer champion. He held the British championship at bantamweight and featherweight, as well as the European and Commonwealth featherweight titles.
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Rafael Márquez Méndez is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2013. He is a two-time world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF bantamweight title from 2003 to 2007; and the WBC, Ring magazine, and lineal super bantamweight titles in 2007. He also held the IBO bantamweight title from 2005 to 2007, and challenged once for WBO featherweight title in 2011. Márquez was known for his formidable knockout power and relentless pressure fighting style. His older brother Juan Manuel Márquez is also a professional boxer and multiple-time world champion.
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Jhonny González Vera is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a three-time former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO bantamweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the WBC featherweight title twice between 2011 and 2015. Additionally, he held the IBO featherweight title from 2010 to 2011.
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Junior Jones is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2002. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBA bantamweight title from 1993 to 1994, and the WBO super bantamweight title from 1996 to 1997. Additionally he held the IBO featherweight title from 1999 to 2000.
István Kovács, nicknamed Ko-Ko or sometimes The Cobra is a Hungarian retired world champion boxer.
Daniel Zaragoza is a Mexican former professional boxer known also as "The Mouse". Described as a "road warrior" for his willingness to travel and fan friendly style, Zaragoza was a popular champion in the Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight divisions throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Steve Molitor is a Canadian former professional boxer. He is the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) Junior featherweight champion. He has a record of 34–3. Molitor announced his retirement in February 2013.
Takanori Hatakeyama is a former professional boxer.
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Érik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera II, was a professional boxing match between the three-division and reigning Lineal featherweight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera and reigning WBC Featherweight world champion Erik Morales. It took place on June 22, 2002, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Barrera won the contest by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 115-113 and the other scoring it 116-112 for Barrera.
Jorge Luján is a Panamanian who was a professional boxer and fought many top-flight boxers and several champions during the 1970s and 1980s. Luján is the former Lineal and WBA Bantamweight world champion. He was managed by Aurelio Cortez.
Orlando Fernandez is a former Puerto Rican professional boxer. He competed in the men's featherweight event at the 1984 Summer Olympics. After turning professional in 1985, he would go to become WBO super bantamweight world champion on May 12, 1990 after stopping Valerio Nati in Italy. Fernandez lost his title in his next fight against Jesse Benavides on May 24, 1991.
