Armand Krajnc


Armand Krajnc is a former Swedish professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2004. He held the WBO middleweight title from 1999 to 2002, and challenged once for the unified WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles in his final fight in 2004.

Early life

Krajnc's parents emigrated from Slovenia in the former Yugoslavia to southernmost Sweden, Scania before he was born. Before his professional career, he obtained first Dan, represented by the Black Belt, within the Karate style of Shotokan. This prepared him to become a hard-hitting boxer. When he began his professional career he moved to Malmö and commuted on weekly basis to his new German boxing club and promoter in Lübeck in northern Germany.

Professional career

Known as "Lion", Krajnc turned pro in 1996, moving to Lübeck and signing up for a German promoter to avoid the Swedish ban on professional boxing. Three years later, in 1999, he won the WBO Middleweight Title by technical knock out against Jason Matthews. Krajnc defended the title three times, before losing it to Harry Simon in 2002.
One of Krajnc's title defenses was against the Stockholm celebrity and fellow Swede Paolo Roberto. Krajnc had a low personal opinion of the latter and there was considerably controversy preceding the fight. For instance, Krajnc once compared Roberto to a fjolla and stated that Roberto had better talents in painting female toes, referencing an appearance by Roberto in a Swedish commercial TV-program. It was primarily Roberto's entertainment appearances in television, which Krajnc obviously found unfitting a professional boxer.
Based strictly on his boxing record, Roberto was unlikely to receive a title shot, and the personal animosity contributed to the fight being made. 3 November 2001, the match was held in Kranjc home arena in Germany. The distance between Lübeck and Scania is fairly short, and between 1500 and 2000 Scanian fans had met up in Lübeck, in order to, together with his German supporters, give their best possible support for Krajnc. Roberto, who was well-known from Swedish television, not only for boxing, would rather have met Krajnc in Mariehamn, Åland. But the challenger couldn't chose location of this event. Which in Sweden became a very media covered event.
Against a combination of joined Germans and Scanias supporters, Roberto's worst assumptions regarding the crowd, proved to be true. He was "the crook" - and Krajnc "the hero", only a few Swedish journalists from Stockholm presumably held on Roberto. Surprisingly the challenger, who before this fight had put on a great deal of muscles, took the fight to the cards. Here, however, Kranjc won easily and unanimously, while Aftonbladet columnist Lars Angrell wrote "Why wasn't the assaulting beatings of Paolo Roberto stopped !?". After the match Kranjc was magnanimous towards Roberto at the press conference, and claimed Paolo Roberto as a great boxer. Their enmity ended with the match, and so did the ban on limited professional boxing after a total prohibition over a period of more than 30 years.
In June 2001 Krajnc vacated his WBO title after a dispute with promotional group Universum Box-Promotion, but was later reinstated as champion by the WBO. In 2004 he challenged WBA and IBF Super Middleweight Title holder Sven Ottke but lost a decision.

Life after boxing

Krajnc nowadays lives in Ystad, also in Scania where he teaches boxing to young. He's also starring in the up-and-coming series "Mästarnas mästare", which he also won.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
32Loss29–3 Sven OttkeUD122004-03-27 Bordelandhalle, Magdeburg, GermanyFor IBF and WBA super-middleweight titles.
31Win29–2 Andy LiebingTKO4 2003-12-13 Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, Germany
30Win28–2 Peter ZsilakTKO2, 1:302003-10-04 Stadthalle, Zwickau, Germany
29Win27–2 Eliseo NogueiraPTS82003-04-25 Maritim Hotel, Magdeburg, Germany
28Loss26–2 Sergey TatevosyanTKO7, 2:282002-09-14 Volkswagen Halle, Braunschweig, Germany
27Loss26–1 Harry SimonUD122002-04-06 Cirkusbygningen, Copenhagen, DenmarkLost WBO Middleweight title.
26Win26–0 Paolo Roberto122001-11-03 Hansehalle, Lübeck, GermanyRetained WBO Middleweight title.
25Win25–0 Artur DrinajKO3, 1:372001-07-28 Estrel Convention Center, Neukölln, Germany
24Win24–0 Bert SchenkTKO6, 2:512000-10-07 Estrel Convention Center, Neukölln, GermanyRetained WBO Middleweight title.
23Win23–0 Jonathan CornKO2, 1:292000-03-11 Hansehalle, Lübeck, GermanyRetained WBO Middleweight title.
22Win22–0 Jason MatthewsTKO8, 1:451999-11-27 Hansehalle, Lübeck, GermanyWon WBO Middleweight title.
21Win21–0 Peter KlugeTKO5 1999-09-18 Maritim Hotel, Stuttgart, Germany
20Win20–0 Michel SimeonKO3 1999-07-10 Sporthalle, Augsburg, Germany
19Win19–0 Christian VeleaTKO3, 1:251999-04-24 Circus Krone, Munich, GermanyRetained German International BDB Middleweight title.
18Win18–0 Csaba OlahPTS61999-03-13 Hansehalle, Lübeck, Germany
17Win17–0 James McCrayTKO3 1999-02-13 Maritim Hotel, Stuttgart, Germany
16Win16–0 Anthony IvoryPTS81998-11-28 Hansehalle, Lübeck, Germany
15Win15–0 Leroy OwensPTS81998-11-14 Circus Krone, Munich, Germany
14Win14–0 Jean Paul D'AlessandroTKO5, 1:551998-10-24 Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
13Win13–0 Danny DefevereTKO2 1998-05-02 Hansehalle, Lübeck, Germany
12Win12–0 Bahre Ahmeti81998-03-14 Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany
11Win11–0 Vedran AkrapPTS101998-02-14 Maritim Hotel, Stuttgart, GermanyWon vacant German International BDB Middleweight title.
10Win10–0 Mimoun KhaddaKO2 1997-12-20 Oberrheinhalle, Offenburg, Germany
9Win9–0 Djaafar FilaliKO3 1997-10-11 Stadthalle, Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany
8Win8–0 Gyorgy Mizsei61997-09-07 Universum Gym, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany
7Win7–0 Youssef BakhoucheTKO2 1997-06-14 Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Germany
6Win6–0 Stefan MagyarTKO2 1997-04-26 Hallenstadion, Zürich, Switzerland
5Win5–0 Lajos PatkoKO1, 1:341997-03-08 Sartory-Saal, Cologne, Germany
4Win4–0 Gejza StipakTKO1 1997-01-11 Sport und Erholungszentrum, Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany
3Win3–0 Anton LascekTKO1 1996-12-16 Universum Gym, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany
2Win2–0 Francesco Fiorentino2 1996-12-13 Stadionsporthalle, Hanover, Germany
1Win1–0 Ferousi Ilunga3 1996-10-05 Sartory-Saal, Cologne, GermanyProfessional debut.