Luca Podda

Luca Podda is a young boxer who plays for the Italian boxing team. The 22-year old was born in Cagliari although he and his family now live in Santorini. Podda started to box as a young child with the support of his parents. He was hanging out at local boxing clubs since he was ten and eventually entered the national boxing team. He counts legendary boxers like Mike Tyson as his heroes.

Podda was in the Italian team which faced off against the American team in September 2010. The event was held at the Palazzeto Dello Sport Flaminio, where he was defeated by Luis Arias from Milwaukee with a 14-8 decision.

Another notable match was against David Arustamyan, whom the Italian boxer defeated with a score of 2-1 49-46; 48-47; 47-48. Podda credited the win to the encouragement of his coach, Francesco Damiani.

"In the first two rounds I wasn't fighting using my full strength but then my coach Francesco Damiani boosted me to the victory. His support is really important for me. I followed his advice and I won," he said after the match, which was one of the series of matches of the World Series of Boxing.

Aside from his ringside skills Podda is also a crowd favourite due to his charm and good looks and enjoys local celebrity status in his country. He was recently the subject of a series of pop artworks done by artist Marco Santaniello.