Damiano Lassandro

Damiano Lassandro was an Italian boxer. As an amateur in the welterweight class, he won an Italian title and took two bronze medals in 1971, at the Madrid European Championships (won by the Olympian János Kajdi) and at the Mediterranean Games (won by the Turkish Olympian Celal Sandal).

A year later, at the age of 25, at the München Olympics, the draw was unlucky for Lassandro, as he had to face Cuban Emilio Correa in his first bout, who was one of the favorites in the welterweight division. Unconcerned by the reputation of his opponent, Lassandro started well but, in the first round, a precise and powerful left uppercut to the stomach damaged his physical efficiency. Also injured over his right eye, he fought with bravery in the second round when Correa, perhaps desiring to end the match, hit Lassandro below the belt and received a reproach by the Romanian referee Constantin Kiriac. The last round was characterized by a lot of punches, mostly favorable to Correa, who won the match 5:0 and eventually the gold medal some days later.

After the Olympics, Lassandro turned professional and his first fight was a win by TKO against Mario Petrillo in November 1972. After a series of winning bouts, he became Italian champion in the middleweight class on 5 November 1975 after beating, by disqualification, Antonio Castellini, his teammate at München three years before. Castellini won the re-match by TKO in April 1976, just few months before his tragic death in a motorcycle accident. In November 1976 Lassandro was again crowned Italian champion in the super welterweight category by defeating Aldo Bentini, and he remained unbeaten until October 1979. On 13 February 1980 in Pesaro he drew the Yugoslavian Olympian Marijan Beneš for the EBU European super welter title before finishing a year later with a defeat by TKO against Sumbu Kalambay. Lassandro recorded a professional record of 29 wins (18 by KO), 6 losses (all by KO) and 2 draws.