Known as "Lion", Krajnc turned pro in 1996, moving to
Lübeck and signing up for a German
promoter to avoid the Swedish ban on professional boxing. Three years later, in 1999, he won the
WBO Middleweight Title by technical knock out (TKO) against
Jason Matthews. Krajnc defended the title three times, before losing it to
Harry Simon in 2002. One of Krajnc's title defenses was against the Stockholm celebrity and fellow Swede
Paolo Roberto. Krajnc had a low personal opinion of the latter and there was considerably controversy preceding the fight. For instance, Krajnc once compared Roberto to a
fjolla (
sissy) and stated that Roberto had better talents in painting female toes, referencing an appearance by Roberto in a Swedish commercial TV-program. It was primarily Roberto's entertainment appearances in television, which Krajnc obviously found unfitting a professional boxer. Based strictly on his boxing record, Roberto was unlikely to receive a title shot, and the personal animosity contributed to the fight being made. 3 November 2001, the match was held in Kranjc home arena in Germany. The distance between
Lübeck and
Scania is fairly short, and between 1500 and 2000 Scanian fans had met up in Lübeck, in order to, together with his German supporters, give their best possible support for Krajnc. Roberto, who was well-known from Swedish television, not only for boxing, would rather have met Krajnc in Mariehamn,
Åland. But the challenger couldn't choose location of this event. Which in Sweden became a very media covered event (though the ban on professional boxing made it impossible to televise it live). Against a combination of joined Germans and Scanias supporters, Roberto's worst assumptions regarding the crowd, proved to be true. He was "the crook" - and Krajnc "the hero", only a few Swedish journalists from Stockholm presumably held on Roberto. Surprisingly the challenger, who before this fight had put on a great deal of muscles, took the fight to the cards. Here, however, Kranjc won easily and unanimously, while
Aftonbladet columnist Lars Angrell wrote "''Why wasn't the assaulting beatings of Paolo Roberto stopped !?''". After the match Kranjc was magnanimous towards Roberto at the press conference, and claimed Paolo Roberto as a great boxer. Their enmity ended with the match, and so did the ban on limited professional boxing after a total prohibition over a period of more than 30 years. In June 2001 Krajnc vacated his WBO title after a dispute with promotional group Universum Box-Promotion, but was later reinstated as champion by the WBO. In 2004 he challenged WBA and IBF Super Middleweight Title holder
Sven Ottke but lost a decision. ==Life after boxing==