Carlo Russolillo

Carlo Russolillo was an Italian boxer who spent his competitive career as an amateur, without ever turning professional. Born in Genova, Russolillo was one of the leading Italian amateur boxers in the 1970s and 80s, achieving significant national and international success. In 1976, at the age of 19, he won the featherweight silver medal at the Italian Championships in Torino, losing the final to future World and Olympic super-lightweight champion Patrizio Oliva. After moving up to to lightweight, Russolillo won two more Italian titles in 1979 and 1980,

Also in 1979, Russolillo competed in the European Championships in Cologne, winning the featherweight bronze medal. In the same year, he won the silver medal at the Mediterranean Games in Split, defeated in the final by Milivoje Labudovic of Yugoslavia.

Russolillo was part of the Italian boxing team at the 1980 Moskva (Moscow) Olympics but lost his opening lightweight bout by a unanimous decision to the eventual gold medallist Ángel Herrera of Cuba. Following the Olympics, Russolillo won silver at the 1981 European Championships in Tampere, losing in the final to the double Russian Olympic bronze medallist Viktor Rybakov.

After ending his competitive career, Russolillo remained in contact with the sport for many years at Genova’s Mameli Boxe Gym, a leading boxing centre in the Liguria region.