I think Mate Parlov is the first (only?) professional world champion born in what is now Croatia (it was under Yugoslav control I think when he was born). He won Olympic gold and a world championship as an amateur and captured the WBC light heavyweight crown in the late 1970s. He defended it against John Conteh and lost it to Marvin Johnson. I think he was 0-1-1 against Matthew Saad Muhammad (not in title fights) so he came up the hard way. Fought Marvin Camel to a draw for the inaugural cruiserweight title and lost the rematch.
Stipe Drvis (alias Spiderman) deserves a mention. He was fighting for a German boxing promoter and was WBA world light heavyweight champion. BTW., he is 6′ 5″ and maybe the tallest LHW ever. At least, I don't know a taller one. Just to name a few more of this small but pretty country: - Filip Hrgovic is an interesting prospect. - Željko Mavrović who fought Lennox Lewis for the title but unfortunately had to finish his career due to an illness.
Everyone knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man. You must be thinking of Night ******, the European ripoff superhero. This content is protected
Okay, good joke. I'll give you that. And maybe we don't have one of these cool and fancy superheroes. But let's not forget Asterix would make mincemeat of Spiderman
This is according to the results of Mate Parlov, but here is an interesting story about another Croatian boxer Anton Josipović. 1984 Olympics Los Angeles Boxing Tournament. In the semifinals, the Yugoslav (Croatia was under Yugoslav control at the time) refree meaninglessly disqualifies Holyfield. Another semifinal is won by Anton Josipović. 4:21... This content is protected
