Giorgio Campanella’s Wild De La Hoya Upset Bid
On May 27, 1994, Giorgio Campanella knocked down Oscar De La Hoya early in their WBO junior-lightweight championship fight in Las Vegas, but De La Hoya recovered and stopped the Italian challenger in the third round. Campanella later challenged Regilio Tuur for another world title.
Campanella’s opening knockdown is memorable because it briefly put the champion under pressure before De La Hoya regained control. The bout’s sequence—an immediate knockdown, two responses from De La Hoya and a third-round finish—explains why the fight has remained part of both men’s career retrospectives. Campanella did not win the title, but he made the first defense difficult enough to become a notable moment in De La Hoya’s early championship years (contemporary report).
An opening knockdown against De La Hoya
On May 27, 1994, Campanella met De La Hoya in Las Vegas for the WBO junior-lightweight title. The unbeaten champion was making the first defense of the belt he had won earlier that year. Campanella’s early knockdown briefly changed the mood of the fight, but De La Hoya recovered and answered with two knockdowns of his own before the bout ended in the third round (fight record).
The result was a loss, but the first moments showed why Campanella had been rated as a leading contender. He forced the champion to respond under pressure and made his challenge one of De La Hoya’s more dramatic early title defenses. Contemporary reports and the Italian Boxing Federation’s retrospective both emphasize the sharp reversal after Campanella’s opening success.
A second challenge against Regilio Tuur
Campanella returned to the WBO super-featherweight title picture on December 23, 1995, when he challenged Regilio Tuur in Amsterdam. Unlike the short De La Hoya bout, this fight went the full twelve rounds. Tuur won by unanimous decision and retained the championship, adding another world-title challenge to Campanella’s record.
Together, the two contests show the range of Campanella’s championship run. Against De La Hoya he produced an explosive opening before the champion stopped him; against Tuur he lasted the scheduled distance in a twelve-round title fight. He did not win a world championship, but his Olympic background and repeated appearances against leading champions placed him among Italy’s notable contenders of the era.
Explore more boxing on MMAUSA.
Sources
Article Tags
Giorgio Campanella, Boxing, Championship Fights, Boxing History
