Pasqualino Morbidelli

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full namePasqualino•Morbidelli
Used namePasqualino•Morbidelli
Nick/petnamesLino
Born1 November 1948 in Allumiere, Roma (ITA)
Died21 March 2020 in Roma, Roma (ITA)
Measurements164 cm / 57 kg
AffiliationsCivitavecchia Ring, Civitavecchia (ITA)
NOC Italy

Biography

Pasqualino Morbidelli was an Italian boxer. Born in Allumiere near the Italian capital, he moved at a very young age to Santa Marinella and, pushed by the father, who personally brought him to the instructor Giuseppe Peris, began to attend the gym Civitavecchia Ring at the age of 16.

Under the guide of Peris, who refined the boy’s qualities, Pasqualino quickly became a strong featherweight. Fast, agile and very dynamic, with a gritty and combative disposition, he was an untamable fighter. In 1969, after years in the youth category and while serving in the military, he won his first Italian title at Castelfranco Veneto. He was on the national team in four international meetings, but in 1971 he lost the final for the Italian title against Sergio Emili. In September he wore the Azzurro vest at the Mediterranean Games, where he won the bronze medal.

Morbidelli had a good start to 1972, with a new national title and wins at the Athens International tournament and at the dual match against Great Britain, where he defeated the rampage of Mark Bliss. A month later, he experienced another great success at the Groningen’s tournament, after three bouts in six days on the Olympic model.

At the München Games his class, the featherweight, was the most populated of the 1972 boxing tournament, with five bouts to reach the final. Morbidelli had no problems in the first two matches, both won by decision 5:0, but in the third round he fought in front of the very strong Japanese boxer Royal Kobayashi, who was a strong puncher (he became professional world champion in 1976). In the afternoon of 3 September Morbidelli was the last Italian boxer still in the competition after the elimination of Franco Udella. The bout between Morbidelli and Kobayashi was short but sportingly dramatic: after a slow start (the Mexican referee Ernesto Arcos requested much more fighting spirit), Morbidelli suffered two violent blows to the stomach halfway through the first round, which brought him to the canvas. When he collected himself two minutes later, Morbidelli retreated to the corner stool with a cry of anger and despair that touched the audience.

One year later Morbidelli turned professional and, after 13 bouts with only one loss, he fought for the Italian bantam title on 23 May 1975 in Sassari against Michele Siracusa and won after 12 spectacular rounds: after 39 years – the last was the Olympic champion Vittorio Tamagnini in 1936 – the Italian title of the bantamweight returned to a boxer of the Civitavecchia Boxe school. Only two months later he lost the title against Sergio Emili after a bout where, from the second round, he fought practically with only one hand because an injury to his other thumb. After a defeat by KO in front of the Brazilian and former world champion Éder Jofre in a friendly match in Ibirapuera, Morbidelli lost the re-match with Emili. Morbidelli’s final match was a win by decision in May 1978 against Brazil’s Juan Carlos dos Santos. His career professional record was 16 wins (3 by KO), 7 losses (3 by KO) and one draw.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1972 Summer Olympics Boxing ITA Pasqualino Morbidelli
Featherweight, Men (Olympic) =9

Special Notes