Romanian Pugilist Mihai Nistor
Seven Romanian boxers have stepped onto the podium during the traditional international boxing tournament held in Iasi, northern Romania, under the title, ‘The Golden Belt.
Steliu Lambru, 12.07.2016, 13:43
Mihai Nistor, the only Romanian boxer qualified for the Olympics in Rio, has reaped the only gold medal for Romania in the +91 kilogram category. Nistor has secured a 2-1 on-points win against Croatian Filip Hrgovic. The first match between the two contenders that took place at the European Championships in Sofia in 2015, was won by the Croatian, 2-1.
The other medals for the Romanian delegation have been reaped by Daniel Costea, silver medallist in the 64 kilogram category, while Florin Bujor and Ionut Vulpe, both in the 52 kilograms, Andrei Aradoaie in the 81 kilogram, Catalin Cristea and Alexandru Machedon, both in the 91 kilogram category, have reaped bronze. The best performance was clinched by Mihai Nistor, who also got the Athlete of the Week title granted by Radio Romania International to the best Romanian athlete in the week that passed.
Mihai Nistor was born on September 5th 1990 in Bacau and took up boxing at the age of 15. Five years later he became Romanias champion and reaped silver in the World Combat Games held in Beijing after losing in the finals to Zhang Zhilei, the 2008 Olympic vice-champion. In 2011 at the European boxing championship held in Ankara, Nistor became silver medallist and walked away with bronze from the European Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria in 2015. He turned semiprofessional in 2012 and joined Astana Arlans in the World Series of Boxing. With this Kazakh squad he ended the 2012-2013 season on the first position, after which he got transferred to Italia Thunder.
In 2014 he joined AIBA Pro Boxing, while his win against Mohammed Arjaoui of Morocco, has ensured his plane tickets for Rio de Janeiro. He became world champion in September 2015, after a TKO win against German Erik Pfeifer, holder of the APB super heavy title.
