Mario Preskar

Preskar was born in Zagreb, Croatia. He began boxing at the age of 9^[1] at the urging of his father Željko, a cab driver. Preskar became a seven-time Croatian national champion, his final amateur record was 45-5.^[1]

Preskar started his professional career in 2003, at only 19, signing a contract with the world-famous boxing manager Don King.^[2] King and Preskar parted ways in September 2008, with King reportedly unwilling to accept new contract terms put forward by Preskar and Pijetraj, who demanded more frequent fights.^[2] Preskar founded new opportunities with K2 Promotions, run by the Klitschko brothers.^[3]

In his 19th professional fight against Maksym Pedyura on June 27, 2009 in Lviv, Preskar was ahead throughout most of the match, but was knocked down twice in the last round.^[4][5] After the final bell, he collapsed and was immediately taken to hospital.^[4] The fight was declared a draw.

Preskar ascribed the incident to extreme exhaustion, due to high temperature and insufficient ventilation in the hall.^[6] In August 2009, he announced an indefinite break from boxing, citing lack of motivation.^[6] In May 2010 he collapsed while training, and was diagnosed with epilepsy.^[7]

As of 2019, Preskar is working as a boxing coach and a boxing commentator for RTL Televizija.^[7]