Luan Krasniqi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luan Krasniqi
Born (1971-05-10) 10 May 1971 (age 52)
Junik, SAP Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia
NationalityGerman
Other namesLion (Luan in Albanian)
Statistics
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Reach193 cm (76 in)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights35
Wins30
Wins by KO14
Losses4
Draws1
Medal record
Representing  Germany
Men's Boxing
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Heavyweight
World Amateur Championships
Silver medal – second place 1995 Berlin Heavyweight
European Amateur Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Vejle Heavyweight

Luan Krasniqi (born 10 May 1971) is a German-Albanian actor[1] and former professional boxer.[2] He held the European heavyweight title and also challenged for the WBO world heavyweight title.

Background[edit]

Krasniqi is the youngest of eight children to Kosovar Albanian parents. He has often said that he had a happy and active childhood, growing up in Junik, a small town in the District of Deçan, where in 1987 he finished his primary and secondary school, before his family moved to Rottweil in Germany. Krasniqi stated "my childhood was good, but when I learned that we would be rejoining my father who had moved to Rottweil in 1970 I was overjoyed. I had dreamt about a move to the city and now it was coming true!".

Krasniqi graduated in Germany his A-Level and an education as a wholesaler.

Amateur[edit]

Krasniqi started boxing at the age of 16.[3] His boxing-career began at the local BSV Rottweil, where he met Theo Kerekesch, a boxing trainer of high regard.

Spotting talent and kinship within each other, hard work developed Krasniqi into a solid, well schooled, heavyweight. Once Krasniqi had been granted German citizenship, he entered the Multi-Nations Tournament in Liverpool, England and won the gold medal. He consolidated the success with a gold medal later that year at the German Championships, Berlin.

Krasniqi stormed the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships, by taking the silver medal beating Sinan Samil Sam and Wladimir Klitschko – losing only to one of the best amateur boxers of all times, the Cuban Félix Savón. Krasniqi ended the year on a roll, taking the Heavyweight Gold in the International Chemie Cup Tournament, Halle.

1996 he added the European Championships with a win over Christophe Mendy.

1996 Summer Olympics[edit]

At the Olympic Games in Atlanta he beat future amateur and professional champion Ruslan Chagaev and reached a semi-final bout with Félix Savón. The semi-final bout against Félix Savón was short-lived. During the bout, Krasniqi was cut under the eye. The cut would be examined by the ringside doctor and resulted in a medical stoppage.[4] This left him unable to fight for an Olympic Gold Medal.

Krasniqi returned to Germany with the Bronze medal, Germany's first heavyweight medal since 1976. "I felt that I could have beaten him. He had out-pointed me the previous year but I had grown stronger and developed further since then. I am sure that the fight would have been close but I think that this time, I would have celebrated." However, Krasniqi had many memories to savour from Atlanta - one of which was a meeting with his idol, Muhammad Ali. "Muhammad Ali was and still is an idol. Nobody can ever achieve what he achieved. Such a thing is a once in a lifetime phenomenon."

"To shine so long and so brightly, to define eras in history with the sheer force of his ability and personality and to be so well remembered is unique. Meeting him was an honour I shall never forget." Krasniqi took his first steps to his own fame as he decided to become famous and to get in at Panix Promotions, where Lennox Lewis has his contract.

1996 Olympic Results Boxed as a Heavyweight (– 91 kg)

  • Round 1 - Defeated Ruslan Chagaev (Uzbekistan) 12:4
  • Round of 16 - Defeated Igor Kshinin (Russia) 10:2
  • Quarterfinals - Defeated Serguei Dychkov (Belarus) 10:5
  • Semifinals - Lost by Félix Savón (Cuba) WO

Professional career[edit]

Krasniqi won his first fight (with Harry Senior). In order to improve his training he was invited to train with Lennox Lewis in Big Bear Lake, where he was in preparation for the fight against Andrzej Gołota. Luan showed that he could resist the pressure of sparring with Lewis. Since then, he has been to Big Bear Lake three times.

During Lewis' training for the fights against Shannon Briggs, Željko Mavrović and Evander Holyfield he was one of his sparring partners. Luan overcame with success the first hurdles of his career as a "newcomer" in professional boxing. He boxed extremely successfully for Panix Promotion 15 times and in 2000 after Lennox Lewis had terminated his contract, Luan decided to look for a new alternative. In February and April 2000 he built his connections with Universum Box-Promotion and fought a number of matches for them. In January 2001 he signed a three years long contract with Universum Box-Promotion.

The highlight of his career was the fight against Rene Monse, when he became European Champion. He was the first German European Champion after 29 years.

First loss[edit]

A half year later Krasniqi lost his belt in a fight against Przemysław Saleta. The man from Rottweil was prepared for eight rounds. But after an injury of Vitali Klitschko, his fight was pushed to the main event. Mainly due to this lack of preparation, although leading by points, Krasniqi apparently feared a loss and elected to quit.

After this defeat Krasniqi struggled to get back to the top of the European rankings. Finally on 14 February 2004 he won against the "Bull from Bosphorus" Sinan Samil Sam and became European Champion once again.

Later career[edit]

2005 brought Krasniqi to the top of the heavyweight competition after he knocked out highly regarded Lance Whitaker and became a mandatory challenger for the WBO crown. He lost against Lamon Brewster. Brewster managed to efficiently attack Krasniqi's body. This resulted in Krasniqi fatiguing in the latter rounds and finally being forced into a punch-exchange and getting knocked down in round 9.

It was a disappointing loss to a lot of German and Albanian fans, since the resurrection of a new German heavyweight champion was highly anticipated to occur on Max Schmeling's 100th birthday.

Luan's next fight took place on 29 April 2006 in Stuttgart, Germany, where he won against David Bostice.

Luan Krasniqi was scheduled to fight against Top 10 contender, Tony Thompson, in September 2006, but no contract was made. Krasniqi has stated that the money offered by his promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl was insufficient.

On 17 March 2007, Krasniqi fought Brian Minto for the title of WBO Intercontinental Champion. Despite having a height disadvantage of 4 inches (10 cm), Minto was able to hold his own against Krasniqi. However, in the 12th round Krasniqi was able to knock Minto down and win the match. It was later stated that it was Krasniqi's tactic to tire his adversary. This won Luan Krasniqi the title of Intercontinental Champion and has given him the possibility of a fight against Shannon Briggs.

Kransiqi lost to Tony Thompson, putting a serious dent in his hopes at a future title shot. On 11 November 2008, he lost by a third-round knockout to unbeaten Alexander Dimitrenko.

Personal life[edit]

He is currently an actor.[5] Prior to his boxing success, Krasniqi worked in wholesale and foreign trade.[6] Luan Krasniqi's two boxing idols are Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis.

Accomplishments[edit]

German Heavyweight Champion 2001-2002 EBU Heavyweight Champion 2002, 2004–2005 WBO Intercontinental Champion 2007.

Professional boxing record[edit]

30 Wins (14 knockouts, 16 decisions), 4 Losses (4 knockouts, 0 decisions), 1 Draw[7]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 30-4-1 Ukraine Alexander Dimitrenko KO 3 15/11/2008 Germany Düsseldorf, Germany WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Title. Krasniqi was knocked out at 2:54 of the third round.
Loss 30-3-1 United States Tony Thompson TKO 5 14/07/2007 Germany Hamburg, Germany WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Title
Referee stopped the bout at 2:39 of the fifth round.
Win 30-2-1 United States Brian Minto UD 12 17/03/2007 Germany Stuttgart, Germany WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Title.
Win 29-2-1 United States David Bostice UD 10 29/04/2006 Germany Stuttgart, Germany
Loss 28-2-1 United States Lamon Brewster TKO 9 28/09/2005 Germany Hamburg, Germany WBO Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:48 of the ninth round.
Win 28-1-1 United States Lance Whitaker KO 6 28/05/2005 Germany Stuttgart, Germany Whitaker knocked out at 2:06 of the sixth round.
Draw 27-1-1 Germany Timo Hoffmann PTS 12 04/12/2004 Germany Berlin, Germany EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 27-1 Germany Rene Monse TKO 7 31/07/2004 Germany Stuttgart, Germany EBU Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 0:01 of the seventh round when Monse's corner threw in the towel.
Win 26-1 Turkey Sinan Şamil Sam UD 12 14/02/2004 Germany Stuttgart, Germany EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 25-1 United Kingdom Julius Francis UD 8 18/10/2003 Germany Hamburg, Germany
Win 24-1 United States Doug Liggion UD 8 30/08/2003 Germany Munich, Germany
Win 23-1 Poland Przemysław Saleta TKO 1 26/04/2003 Germany Schwerin, Germany Referee stopped the bout at 2:53 of the first round after Saleta was knocked down thrice.
Win 22-1 United States Sedreck Fields UD 8 08/02/2003 Germany Berlin, Germany
Win 21-1 United States Thomas Williams KO 1 23/11/2002 Germany Dortmund, Germany
Loss 20-1 Poland Przemysław Saleta TKO 9 20/07/2002 Germany Dortmund, Germany EBU Heavyweight Title. Krasniqi did not leave his corner for the ninth round.
Win 20-0 Germany Rene Monse MD 12 05/01/2002 Germany Magdeburg, Germany EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 19-0 Ukraine Yuriy Yelistratov TKO 3 29/09/2001 Germany Hamburg, Germany
Win 18-0 Germany Rene Hanl TKO 2 21/07/2001 Germany Aachen, Germany Germany BDB Heavyweight Title.
Win 17-0 United States Paul Phillips KO 1 07/04/2001 Germany Hamburg, Germany
Win 16-0 United States Cleveland Woods KO 3 24/02/2001 Germany Hamburg, Germany
Win 15-0 United States Rodney McSwain TKO 4 27/05/2000 United Kingdom London, England
Win 14-0 France Antoine Palatis PTS 6 01/04/2000 Germany Berlin, Germany
Win 13-0 United States Everett Martin PTS 8 19/02/2000 Germany Berlin, Germany
Win 12-0 United Kingdom Michael Murray PTS 8 18/12/1999 United Kingdom London, England
Win 11-0 Russia Alexey Osokin TKO 3 16/10/1999 Northern Ireland Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win 10-0 Austria Biko Botowamungu DQ 5 21/08/1999 Germany Dresden, Germany
Win 9-0 Slovakia Ladislav Husarik PTS 6 27/03/1999 Germany Dresden, Germany
Win 8-0 United Kingdom Shane Woollas TKO 3 26/09/1998 United Kingdom York, England
Win 7-0 France Abdelrani Berbachi PTS 6 02/05/1998 United Kingdom London, England
Win 6-0 Bulgaria Spas Spasov PTS 6 28/03/1998 United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull, England
Win 5-0 Bulgaria Stefan Trendafilov TKO 1 14/02/1998 United Kingdom London, England
Win 4-0 France Phillipe Houyvet TKO 4 16/12/1997 France Nord, France
Win 3-0 United States Lewan Livingstone UD 4 02/11/1997 Germany Halle, Germany
Win 2-0 United States Kevin Hudson TKO 4 04/10/1997 United States Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. Referee stopped the bout at 1:37 of the fourth round.
Win 1-0 United Kingdom Harry Senior PTS 4 02/09/1997 United Kingdom London, England

Television viewership[edit]

Germany[edit]

Date Fight Viewership (avg.) Network Source
26 April 2003
 Luan Krasniqi vs. Przemyslaw Saleta
3,390,000
 ZDF [8]
14 February 2004
 Luan Krasniqi vs. Sinan Samil Sam
4,330,000
 ZDF [9]
4 December 2004
 Luan Krasniqi vs. Timo Hoffmann
5,180,000
 ZDF [10]
28 May 2005
 Luan Krasniqi vs. Lance Whitaker
3,540,000
 ZDF [11]
28 September 2005
 Lamon Brewster vs. Luan Krasniqi
7,620,000
 ZDF [12]
29 April 2006
 Luan Krasniqi vs. David Bostice
6,200,000
 ZDF [13]
17 March 2007
 Luan Krasniqi vs. Brian Minto
6,390,000
 ZDF [14]
7 July 2007
 Luan Krasniqi vs. Tony Thompson
4,640,000
 ZDF
15 November 2008
 Luan Krasniqi vs. Alexander Dimitrenko
4,770,000
 ZDF [15]
Total viewership 46,080,000

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Luan Krasniqi". Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
  2. ^ "Krasniqi Announces Retirement". Seconds Out Boxing News.
  3. ^ "Round 13 - Interview: Luan Krasniqi, Cisse Salif and Raphael Zumbano".
  4. ^ "Round 13 - Interview: Luan Krasniqi, Cisse Salif and Raphael Zumbano".
  5. ^ "Luan Krasniqi". Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
  6. ^ "Eins zu Eins. Der Talk Gast: Luan Krasniqi". bayern2.de (in German). Bayerischer Rundfunk. January 10, 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  7. ^ "BoxRec - Luan Krasniqi".
  8. ^ "Krasniqi vor dem Ende der Karriere" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  9. ^ "4,3 Millionen Zuschauer sahen Boxen im Zweiten" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Eine Frau, die Männer in den Schatten stellt" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  11. ^ "3,54 Millionen ZDF-Zuschauer sahen K.O.-Sieg Krasniqis" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Krasniqi beschert ZDF Spitzen-Quote" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  13. ^ "DFB-Pokal und Boxen: Erfolgreicher Sport-Samstag für das ZDF" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Du bist nicht wirklich Deutschland!" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Primetime-Check: Samstag, 15. November 2008" (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2020.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luan_Krasniqi&oldid=1219996903"