Frank Buglioni


Frank Buglioni is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2011 to 2018. He challenged once for the WBA super-middleweight title in 2015. At regional level, he held the British light-heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018, and challenged once for the Commonwealth light-heavyweight title in 2018.

Amateur career

Buglioni took up boxing at the age of 14 to increase his fitness and strength, his priority at the time being football. Buglioni joined the Waltham Forest Amateur Boxing Club, and after winning his first four fights it was decided that he would move on to train at the Repton Boxing Club in Bethnal Green under the tutelage of head coach Tony Burns.
Buglioni went on to have 70 amateur fights, winning 60 and losing 10, with over half of his wins by knockout. He won two national titles and also picked up various medals, whilst representing his country in international tournaments, including a silver medal against the world number one Vijender Singh in the Commonwealth Federations Tournament in Delhi in 2010.
Buglioni was selected to train with the Great Britain Olympic team in 2010. However, the following year he decided to turn professional.

Professional career

Nicknamed "The Wise Guy", Buglioni made his professional debut in November 2011, stopping Sabie Montieth in the first round. He won his first 10 fights before stopping Stepan Horvath in the eighth round in November 2013 to win the WBO European super middleweight title. He successfully defended the title three months later against Gaetano Nespro, but lost it in April 2014 when he was stopped by Sergey Khomitsky.
Three months later he stopped Sam Couzens in four rounds to win the vacant BBBofC Southern Area super middleweight title. In November he regained the WBO European title with a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Andrew Robinson. He made two further defences before beating Fernando Castaneda in July 2015 to take the vacant WBA International super middleweight title.
In September 2015 he challenged for Fedor Chudinov's WBA World super middleweight title at Wembley Arena; The fight went the full 12 rounds with Chudinov winning comfortably on points.
In 2016, Buglioni moved up to light heavyweight, stopping journeyman Olegs Fedotovs in the first round in March.
On 10 December 2016, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina, Buglioni fought Hosea Burton in a tightly contested 12 round affair. With Buglioni down on the scorecards going into the 12th he produced a stunning knockout to get the win catapulting himself forwards in the rankings. It was one of the fights of 2016.
Buglioni was trained by Mark Tibbs at the TRAD TKO Boxing Gym in Canning Town, before moving on to work with the Irish boxing brothers Paschal Collins and former world champion Steve Collins at the Celtic Warrior Boxing Gym in Dublin, Ireland. In 2016, he moved on to new trainer Don Charles.
In his first defence of the British light heavyweight title, Buglioni faced Ricky Summers. Summers held his own, but in the end Buglioni was too much for Summers and won the contest on points.
In his next fight, Buglioni was slated to battle undefeated Callum Johnson. Johnson, however, dropped shortly before the fight. He was replaced by another undefeated Brit, Craig Richards. Buglioni managed to secure the win via unanimous decision.
On 24 March, 2018, Buglioni and Callum Johnson finally squared of in the ring, in a bid for both the British and the Commonwealth light heavyweight titles. Johnson knocked Buglioni down and managed to finish him via TKO in the first round.
On 24 November, 2018, Frank fought Fanlong Meng from China, who was undefeated and was ranked #11 by the IBF. In the early rounds, Buglioni was struggling to connect on the savvy defensive Meng. As the action went on, Buglioni suffered a cut above his right eye and the doctor called for a break to take a look at the cut. The fight was initially resumed, however, the cut grew only worse, and the doctor was forced to stop the fight with 1:58 to go in the fifth round.
Two days after the fight, Buglioni announced that at the age of 29, he is officially retiring from boxing. "After thoughtful deliberation; I have decided to hang up the gloves. I am proud of all my achievements in boxing and I will be forever grateful of the life lessons and positive effects it has given me." - said Buglioni as a part of his official statement.

Personal life

Buglioni has Italian heritage and can trace his roots to Naples. His great grandfather emigrated to London in the 1920s. He was born and raised in Enfield, London where he still resides between training camps.
After achieving his International Baccalaureate Diploma from Highlands School, Buglioni attended the University of Westminster to study building surveying. He chose to put his education on hold when he was selected for the GB Olympic team. Buglioni has said he would like to go back and complete his degree.
Buglioni's boxing heroes are Oscar De La Hoya and Arturo "Thunder" Gatti.
Before Buglioni took up boxing full-time, he worked as a building surveyor. He supports London football team Chelsea F.C..

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
27Loss22-4-1 Meng FanlongTKO5, 1:5824 Nov 2018 Casino de Monte Carlo Salle Medecin, Monte Carlo, MonacoFor IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
26Win22-3-1 Emmanuel FeuzeuRTD6, 3:0028 Jul 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
25Loss21-3-1 Callum JohnsonTKO1, 1:3124 Mar 2018 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandLost British light-heavyweight title;
For Commonwealth light-heavyweight title
24Win21-2-1 Craig RichardsUD1228 Oct 2017 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, WalesRetained British light-heavyweight title
23Win20-2-1 Ricky SummersUD121 Jul 2017 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandRetained British light-heavyweight title
22Win19-2-1 Hosea BurtonTKO12, 1:5610 Dec 2016Manchester Arena, Manchester, England.png" />Won British light-heavyweight title
21Win18-2-1 Olegs FedotovsTKO1, 1:4026 Mar 2016
20Loss17-2-1 Fedor ChudinovUD1226 Sep 2015For WBA super-middleweight title
19Win17-1-1 Fernando CastañedaKO5, 2:2624 Jul 2015Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental super-middleweight title
18Draw16-1-1 Lee MarkhamSD109 May 2015Retained WBO European super-middleweight title
17Win16-1 Ivan JukicTKO1, 1:2528 Feb 2015Retained WBO European super-middleweight title
16Win15-1 Andrew RobinsonUD1029 Nov 2014 ExCeL Arena, London, England.png" />Won vacant WBO European super-middleweight title
15Win14-1 Alexey RibchevTKO6, 2:1120 Sep 2014York Hall, London, England.png" />
14Win13-1 Sam CouzensTKO4, 2:2416 Jul 2014Won vacant Southern Area super-middleweight title
13Loss12-1 Sergey KhomitskyTKO6, 1:0412 Apr 2014Copper Box, London, England.png" />Lost WBO European super-middleweight title
12Win12-0 Gaetano NesproTKO5, 2:2415 Feb 2014Retained WBO European super-middleweight title
11Win11-0 Štěpán HorváthKO8, 2:5330 Nov 2013Won vacant WBO European super-middleweight title
10Win10-0 Broislav KubinTKO2, 1:1921 Sep 2013
9Win9-0 Kirill PsonkoUD820 Jul 2013
8Win8-0 Darren McKennaTKO3, 1:3620 Apr 2013
7Win7-0 Ciaran HealyRTD2, 3:0015 Dec 2012
6Win6-0 Joe ReaTKO2, 1:2414 Sep 2012
5Win5-0 Jody MeikleUD61 Jun 2012
4Win4-0 Daniel BorisovTKO1, 2:4828 Apr 2012Royal Albert Hall, London, England.png" />
3Win3-0 Ryan ClarkUD410 Feb 2012
2Win2-0 Paul MorbyTKO1, 2:3718 Nov 2011
1Win1-0 Sabie MontiethTKO1, 2:045 Nov 2011