Dariusz Michalczewski
Dariusz Michalczewski | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | Dariusz Michalczewski 5 May 1968 |
| Nationality | Polish German |
| Other names | Tiger |
| Statistics | |
| Weight class | Light Heavyweight Cruiserweight |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Reach | 70 in (178 cm) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 50 |
| Wins | 48 |
| Wins by KO | 38 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 Official Site |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Germany
| ||
| Men’s Boxing | ||
| European Amateur Championships | ||
 |
1991 Gothenburg | Light Heavyweight |
Dariusz Michalczewski (born on 5 May 1968 in Gdańsk, Poland) is a retired Polish-German professional boxer. Michalczewski is a former WBO, WBA, IBF & Lineal Light Heavyweight Champion and WBO Cruiserweight Champion.
Early career
Michalczewski came up through Poland's state-run sports program as a boy and had a successful amateur career. He achieved an amateur record of 133–15–2 (83 KO). Highlights of his amateur career include:
- 1986 – European Junior Semi-Finalist in middleweight division, defeating Fabrice Tiozzo but losing to Ray Close
- 1990 – German National Champion in light heavyweight division
- 1991 – European Champion in light heavyweight division
Defection to Germany
On 24 April 1988, while competing in Germany for the Polish national team, Michalczewski defected from the amateur team to stay in Germany. Becoming a citizen of Germany in 1991 and turning professional the same year, he was soon signed by Universum Box-Promotion, one of the leading boxing promoters in Europe. His aggressive style earned him the nickname, "Tiger."
Professional career
Michalczewski won the German International light heavyweight (175-pound) title on 13 February 1993, a title for foreign born fighters based in Germany. He then won the IBF Intercontinental Championship on 22 May 1993. Finally, on 10 September 1994, Michalczewski captured the WBO Light Heavyweight Championship with a 12-round decision over defending champion Leeonzer Barber.
Between then and March 2003, Michalczewski made 23 successful defenses of his WBO title. Three months after beating Barber, he won the WBO Cruiserweight title with a knockout of Nestor Giovannini. However, he soon gave up that title to continue campaigning as a light heavyweight.
On 13 June 1997, he defeated Virgil Hill over 12 rounds to add Hill's WBA and IBF titles to his own. However, Michalczewski soon lost both titles. The WBA stripped him for displaying its belt along with that of the WBO, an organization it didn't recognize. The IBF did so a few weeks later, when Michalczewski was unable to defend his title against mandatory challenger William Guthrie within 30 days.
After beating Hill, Michalczewski knocked out 14 consecutive opponents, all in defense of his WBO titles. On 1998, he defeated Drake Thadzi. In 2000, he went on to defeat Graciano Rocchigiani.
For years, a bout between Michalczewski and Roy Jones Jr. was discussed, but never happened for various reasons, such as both fighters not wanting to fight outside of their home countries. Both of them blamed each other for the fight never happening.[1]
Michalczewski had a perfect record of 48 wins and no losses when he faced Julio César González of Mexico in defense of his title on 18 October 2003. Coming into the fight, he was within one victory of tying Rocky Marciano's all-time record for an undefeated record by a world champion boxer. A win also would have put him just one victory short of Joe Louis' all-time record for successful defenses at any weight class. However, the now 35-year-old Michalczewski was unable to pull it off. He lost a controversial split decision to the 27-year-old Gonzalez at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany and his career record dropped to 48–1.
Despite the loss, he still holds the record for the most consecutive successful title defenses at light heavyweight.
In October 2004, it was announced that Michalczewski would come out of retirement to fight France's Fabrice Tiozzo for the WBA Light Heavyweight title on 26 February 2005, in Hamburg. Michalczewski lost by sixth round rechnical knockout and declared the end of his career in May 2005.
Michalczewski was to come out of retirement to fight German boxing icon Sven Ottke in Germany in May 2008, but the bout never materialized.
In popular culture
- Tiger Energy Drink is named after the famous boxer. His picture and text "Recommended by Dariusz 'Tiger' Michalczewski" appears on the cans and bottles.[2]
- Dariusz Michalczewski struck a friendship with performer Mark Wahlberg, known at the time by his stage name Marky Mark of the formation Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. In 1995, Marky Mark released a track called No Mercy about his friend Dariusz Michalczewski, including excerpts in Polish language from Dariusz, who also appears in the video clip shot by Frank Papenbroock.[3] No Mercy appears in the album The Remix Album by Prince Ital Joe and Marky Mark, although this particular track is a solo effort by Marky Mark.
- In 2006, a documentary was made by P.M.Starost. The 60-minute documentary entitled "Tiger"[4] took part in Filmfest München and won the award for the Best Documentary at the Biberacher Filmfestspiele.
Professional boxing record
References
- ^ http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Dariusz_Michalczewski
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Energy_Drink#Facts
- ^ Video clip of No Mercy by Marky Mark about Dariusz Michalczewski
- ^ Official website of Polish P.M.Starost documentary on Dariusz Michalczewski
- ^ Dariusz Michalczewski's Professional Boxing Record – BoxRec.com
External links
- Boxing record for Dariusz Michalczewski from BoxRec (registration required)
- Tiger – A Film By Pawel M Starost