Mihai Leu

Leu started boxing in 1977 at local club Constructorul Hunedoara. In 1981, he transferred to Metalul Hunedoara, and in 1982 he moved on to Dinamo Bucharest. During his time with Dinamo, he won the national championship four years in a row (1983–1986). In 1986, he joined Steaua Bucharest and also became a member of the national team. In 1987, he became World Junior Champion in Havana, Cuba.

In 1987, after becoming World Junior Champion, he fled communist-ruled Romania, risking severe consequences, and moved to West Germany.^[2] There, he competed for Bayer Leverkusen, with whom he became German champion twice, in 1989 and 1990.^[3]

In total he fought 200 amateur matches, out of which he won 190.

In 1991, Leu became a professional boxer in Germany (using the name Michael Löwe). He would go on to win the vacant WBO welterweight title in 1997 by defeating Santiago Samaniego.^[4] He would defend the title once against Irish challenger Michael Carruth,^[5] before officially retiring in 1998.

He made his debut in 1994 at the Banat Rally, driving a Volkswagen Golf GTI. In 1998, Leu started his new career at the wheel of a Ford Ka and after only three years, he managed to become Romania's rally vice-champion.

Five years later, in 2003, he became Romania's national champion, driving a Hyundai Accent WRC with co-driver Ciprian Solomon. After failing to win another race following his championship-winning year, Leu retired from competitive rallying in 2008, only to return in 2010 as team manager of the Jack Daniel's Rally Team, in the Romanian National Rally Championship (CNR).

Leu was the son of Nicolae Leu, a well-known Romanian rally driver of the 1970s and 1980s. His brother, Victor, also made his debut in car racing in 1999, as his co-driver.^[6]

Leu was married to Anna, an Italian woman he met in Germany, and the couple had one son named Marco.^[7]

Leu was involved in politics along with the Partidul Conservator, despite failing to secure a place in the European Parliament, in the 2007 national elections. He worked part-time as assistant at the Tibiscus University in Timișoara.^[8]

In 2014, Leu had colon cancer and received surgery in Bucharest and treatment in Vienna.^[9]

Leu died aged 57, in Bucharest on 1 July 2025, following a long illness.^[10]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mihai Leu.

• List of world welterweight boxing champions
• List of undefeated world boxing champions