Obits in Brief: Giovanni Parisi

The boxer Giovanni Parisi, who died in a car crash in his native Italy on 25 March at the age of 41, won an Olympic gold medal in 1988 before going on to win professional world titles at two weights.

Born in Calabria in December 1967, Parisi took featherweight gold in Seoul, beating the Romanian Daniel Dumitrescu in a first-round knock-out. Turning professional the following year, he beat Javier Altamirano to take the vacant World Boxing Organisation lightweight title in 1992.

After beating the former world lightweight champion Freddie Pendleton, he challenged Julio Cesar Chavez for the World Boxing Council light-welterweight title in April 1995 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, losing on points. A year later, though, he beat Sammy Fuentes to take the title, and he went on to make six successful defences. His last fight was in 2006.