Italy's Olympic Champion and reigning AIBA World Champion Roberto Cammarelle is aiming to claim back the super heavyweight title he lost at last year's European Championships in Moscow.
The two-time super heavyweight World Champion has been boxing for Italy since 1998 and has over 250 fights under his belt, making him the most experienced athlete at the European Men's Elite Championships and the top favorite in the heaviest weight class. Cammarelle's biggest rivals in Ankara will be Russia's strong Niyaz Fayzullin and Belarus' Olympic Games silver medalist Viktor Zuyev.
Italy's full ten-member squad includes another defending AIBA World Champion, Domenico Valentino, who performed well during the WSB season where he was member of the Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder team.
Former AIBA World Champion and Beijing Olympic Games silver medalist Clemente Russo already qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games after winning the WSB Individual Championships. Russo entered for the European Championships but had to be replaced by reserve boxer and newcomer 22-year-old Francesco Soggia at the last minute due to an ear injury.
Beijing Olympic Games and AIBA World Championships bronze medalist Vincenzo Picardi also competed in the World Series of Boxing has secured a lot of bronze medals in his career. He will be looking to make a step up in the Turkish capital city.
Beijing Olympian and Mediterranean Games winner 28-year-old Vittorio Parrinello has been involved in the national team since 2005. The 1.71m tall boxer has yet to make the podium in a major continental event and will be hoping that his WSB experience can spur him on to success.
Another veteran boxer, Alex Ferramosca, has moved down a division into light flyweight and will be competing in his first international tournament, despite taking his first national title in 2005.
Light welterweight Vincenzo Mangiacapre, 22, reached the quarter-final at last year's edition but Hungary's Gyula Kate stopped him in their medal contest.
Welterweight Danilo Creati is the team's youngest member while Italy's top middleweight boxer Luca Podda is another WSB boxer.
Italy's secret weapon is Simone Fiori, who is unbeaten this year and secured the gold medal at the Vllaznia Memorial Tournament after beating Kazakh National Champion Almat Serimov.
It is already a tradition that the Italian boxing team's average age is high in comparison with other top teams in the continent and even after the replacement of Russo their average is 25.3 years.
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