Marijan Beneš facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Marijan Beneš |
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Marijan Beneš in 2009
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| Statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Real name | Marijan Beneš | |||||||||||||
| Rated at | Light middleweight | |||||||||||||
| Nationality | Yugoslav → Bosnian | |||||||||||||
| Born | 11 June 1951 Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia |
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| Died | 4 September 2018 (aged 67) Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| Stance | Orthodox | |||||||||||||
| Boxing record | ||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 39 | |||||||||||||
| Wins | 32 | |||||||||||||
| Losses | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Draws | 1 | |||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Marijan Beneš (born June 11, 1951 – died September 4, 2018) was a famous boxer from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was considered one of the best boxers from Yugoslavia.
Marijan had a great start as an amateur boxer. He won a gold medal at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in Belgrade. In 1977, he became a professional boxer. He won the European Boxing Union title in 1979. The next year, he fought for a world title but lost.
Marijan stopped boxing in 1983 because of a serious eye injury. In 2020, he was named the best Bosnian boxer of the 20th century.
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Marijan Beneš: His Life Story
Marijan Beneš was born in Belgrade. His father, Josip, was a Croat and a music teacher. His mother, Marija, was a Serb. Marijan learned to play the piano and violin when he was young.
He had three brothers and one sister. He grew up in Tuzla. Marijan and his three brothers were all boxers for a club called Sloboda Tuzla.
When Marijan was 10, he reportedly stepped into a boxing ring and beat an 18-year-old! This was a big moment in his life. His first coaches were Bego Huseljić and Miloš Todorović. At 16, he joined a new club, Bokserski klub Slavija, in Banja Luka. He stayed with this club for his whole amateur career.
Marijan believed strongly in a united Yugoslavia. He did not support groups that wanted to divide people based on their background.
Marijan's Boxing Career
As an amateur boxer, Marijan Beneš won many awards. He won nine titles in Bosnia and four Yugoslav national championships. In 1973, he won the European title in Belgrade. This earned him the "Golden Badge" award for the Best Athlete in Yugoslavia that year.
Soon after, he got sick with hepatitis. This illness could have ended his boxing career. But Marijan was very determined. He decided to keep boxing. He also competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He lost in the second round of that competition.
Big Wins and Achievements
Marijan Beneš had some amazing wins during his amateur career:
- 1973 European Championships, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
- He won the gold medal in the light welterweight category.
- He beat boxers from England, Romania, East Germany, and the Soviet Union.
- 1973 Balkan Championships, Athens, Greece
- He won the gold medal in the light welterweight category.
- He defeated boxers from Romania and Greece.
- 1976 Balkan Championships, Zagreb, Yugoslavia
- He won the gold medal in the welterweight category.
- He beat boxers from Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania.
Marijan became a professional boxer in 1977. He quickly became one of Europe's top boxers. On March 17, 1979, he won the European Boxing Union (EBU) title. He knocked out French boxer Gilbert Cohen in the fourth round in his hometown of Banja Luka.
He successfully defended his title four times. In 1980, he fought for the World Boxing Association (WBA) world title. He lost to Ayub Kalule in a very tough match in Denmark. He lost his EBU title in 1981 to Louis Acaries.
Marijan's boxing career ended because of a serious injury to his left eye. It's not clear exactly when this injury happened. Some say it was in a 1983 match. Others believe it started in a 1979 match and got worse over time. During his career, he had many other injuries. He had 26 bone fractures and damaged vocal cords. This made him speak very quietly and slowly. He stopped boxing in 1983. He only had two more special matches in the 1990s. The eye injury eventually left him blind in his left eye.
Life After Boxing
Marijan Beneš faced many challenges after his boxing career. His brother was killed in 1992 during the Bosnian War. Marijan also took part in the war. After the war ended in 1995, he was forced to leave Banja Luka. He had received many threats. He sold his belongings cheaply. During the war, he lived in Medulin and Zagreb, in Croatia, and faced poverty.
He divorced his wife, Stana. She moved to Niš, Serbia, with their daughters, Žanet and Marijana. Marijan said that the war changed everything. He felt that people started to hate each other very quickly. He learned who his true friends were.
He returned to Banja Luka in 1996 after the war. He lived a simple life. He said he was used to his old friends in Banja Luka, even though people respected him in Croatia.
In 2004, a documentary film about Marijan's life was made. It was called Bio jednom jedan šampion (Once Upon a Time There Was a Champion). The film was shown all over the former Yugoslavia. Marijan often attended these showings.
Marijan Beneš lived the rest of his life in Banja Luka. His sister, Ljiljana, often helped him financially. He wrote a book of poems called Druga strana medalje (Another Side of Coin). The book was about sports. He said he had written many more poems and planned to publish them.
Even though he stayed active and ate healthy, his boxing career and age caused health problems. In 2017, Marijan had Alzheimer's disease. He also needed a wheelchair to move around. He passed away on September 4, 2018, at the age of 67.
