Brian Nielsen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brian Nielsen | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Brian Nielsen |
| Nickname | Super Brian |
| Weight | Heavyweight |
| Nationality |  Danish |
| Birth date | April 1, 1965 |
| Birth place | Korsør, Denmark |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 66 |
| Wins | 64 |
| Wins by KO | 43 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Brian Nielsen (born April 1, 1965 in Korsør) is a former boxer from Denmark, who won bronze medals in the super heavyweight division at the 1991 European Championships and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, and turned pro shortly after the Olympics. He won 102 out of 111 amateur fights.
Nielsen's pro career looked obscure at first, but things started to change after his fifth-round stoppage of former WBA champion James 'Bonecrusher' Smith in October, 1994. That win seemed to boost Nielsen's confidence, and through better performances combined with skillful matchmaking, he began to climb the rankings. Nielsen earned a reputation of a man who could take a punch and did not mind trading them with his opponents. A chubby fighter who always looked somewhat out of shape, he won many of his fights by simply wearing out the opposition. During his career, he defeated a number of former world champions, including Jeff Lampkin, Tony Tubbs, Carlos De Leon, Larry Holmes, Tim Witherspoon, Orlin Norris and Uriah Grant, all of whom were past their prime when they faced Nielsen.
Nielsen's record won him a shot at a world title with one of boxing's minor sanctioning organizations. In January of 1996, he became the International Boxing Organization's heavyweight champion of the world when he stopped Tony LaRosa in the second round. He would defend the IBO title five times, most notably by a split decision against Larry Holmes in January, 1997. Along the way, Nielsen equalled the legendary Rocky Marciano's record of 49-0. However, this is not generally recognized as a record, since Nielsen never won the world championship of a major sanctioning organization.
His 50th fight was a disaster, as he lost against Dicky Ryan in June, 1999. Nielsen was stopped by the referee in the 10th without being hit by his opponent. He was hospitalized and found to be suffering from massive dehydration. The bout had not been classified as a title fight, but the IBO still stripped Nielsen of their title as a consequence of his defeat. He would later win a rematch against Ryan by decision.
He quickly came back and continued his string of victories, leading to an International Boxing Council world championship fight against Troy Weida, whom Nielsen knockouted in the eighth round in January, 2000. He defended his second minor championship twice before landing the opponent of his dreams: Mike Tyson.
Nielsen faced Tyson in the Parken Stadium of Copenhagen on October 13, 2001. He put on a courageous performance but was outclassed and did not come out to the seventh round. After Tyson, Nielsen had two more fights before deciding to call it quits. He announced his retirement in October, 2003, citing a knee injury as the cause. He won his last fight by decision against Uriah Grant on April 19, 2002.
Nielsen always entered the ring to the tune of Monty Python's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. This streak of humour was typical of Nielsen, who wasn't afraid of putting on a show, often clowning about or jeering his opponent. His cheerful attitude, snappy interview remarks and courageous displays in the ring won the hearts of Danish boxing fans and made him a household name in his home country. He is in all likelihood the most popular prizefighter ever to have fought out of Denmark.
[edit] Controversy
Only a month after his official retirement, Nielsen again hit the headlines when he became involved in a drunken brawl in Slagelse on the night of November 16, 2003. The situation escalated when the police tried to arrest one of Nielsen's friends for drunk and disorderly conduct. Although Nielsen claimed he only wanted to help his friend, the former boxer was sentenced to 40 days in prison for assaulting a police officer.
More controversy arose in early 2004, when journeyman heavyweight Thomas Williams revealed that he had been bribed to throw his fight against Nielsen in March, 2000. Along with promoter Robert Mitchell, Williams was indicted by the United States District Court in Nevada for match fixing in order to promote the career of white heavyweight hope Richie Melito, and it was during the FBI's investigation of that case that Williams admitted to intentionally losing to Nielsen. The fix was arranged by promoter Robert Mittleman, a frequent associate of Nielsen's promoter Mogens Palle, who later confessed that he had been paid $1,000, while Williams had received "up to $40,000" from Palle in order to lose the fight. Williams, Mitchell and Mittleman were all found guilty of sports bribery by the court in November and December, 2004. [1] [2]
The Nielsen vs. Williams fight was the 57th of Nielsen's career and was one of the fights leading to his meeting with Tyson. Both Nielsen and Mogens Palle denied any knowledge of match fixing in media statements, and the findings of the American case did not lead to criminal proceedings in Denmark.
