Blog Post
Tallest professional boxer: Gogea Mitu
May 06, 2019
Mitu was born in Mârșani, near Craiova, Romania, in 1909, the oldest of eleven children, his mother being only 16 when she delivered him.
BUCHAREST, Romania -- Gogea Mitu
,also known as 'Giant of Mârsani',born Dumitru Ștefanescu, (September 15, 1909 – June 08, 1936) was a Romanian professional boxer; he had the height of2.42 m (7.9 ft) and the weight of150 kg (330 lb), thus setting the world record for being the World's Tallest Professional Boxer
, according to the World record Academy.
Mitu was born in Mârșani, near Craiova, in 1909, the oldest of eleven children, his mother being only 16 when she delivered him.He also had a brother named Tudorel, who had the same gigantism as
Gogea, but he died at the age of seven. He was 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall.
It was said that he was highly intelligent; despite not going to
school, he learned to read by himself at the age of three, as he had the
stature of a five — six year old child. By age 17 he had become so famous that a circus owner from Prague offered him a job, to be presented as a human rarity.
He also presented shows at the Globus Circus in Monaco. His circus career was brief, but very fortuitous, because he was spotted by the successful Italian
boxer and talent scout Umberto Lancia, who taught Mitu how to box and later became his manager.
Gogea Mitu went to Paris to attend the famous Paris School for Boxing
and after graduating he started his boxing career.
His first boxing match took place on the Venus Stadium in Bucharest and his opponent was the experienced Italian boxer Severio Gizzo. Mitu won by knockout in the first round.
His second fight was against former Romanian heavyweight champion
Dumitru Pavelescu, which Mitu won again by knockout in the first round.
It was also Mitu's last fight as a professional boxer.
On June 8th, 1936, he died due to tuberculosis at the age of 26.
Related world records:
