At the moment of his greatest triumph to date, the German professional boxer Vincenzo Gualtieri also thought of his sponsor and former world champion Graciano Rocchigiani.
“He watched from the cloud, I’m sure of that. He gave me strength,” said Gualtieri in an interview with “Sportschau” about his teacher, who died in October 2018. Immediately prior to that, he had secured the world middleweight title. “His brother is here, he gave me mental strength,” said the 30-year-old, who defeated the Brazilian Esquiva Falcao after twelve rounds in the IBF decider by a point decision (116:110, 117:109, 116:110). .
“A dream comes true”
“It’s indescribable. There are so many emotions that hit me. I still can’t see what I’ve just achieved – I can’t find the words,” said Gualtieri. Felix Sturm last wore this belt as a German before he had to give it to the Australian Sam Soliman in 2014.
Gualtieri has no concrete plans for the future. “Now let’s rest first, celebrate first,” he said. “Then I’ll sit down with my team and then we’ll meet again,” he said. “But first of all I’m enjoying the triumph. It’s indescribable, I can’t put it into words. A dream comes true.”
