WBA Lightweight World Champion from January 2002 to October 2003, and a bronze medalist at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
He began boxing at age 14, and won every Romanian junior title.
He founded a restaurant in Ploiesti, which is decorated with photographs from his boxing career.
He was born and raised in Ploiesti, Romania.
He took the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic Games, where Russia's Oleg Saitov took home the gold.
