Dariusz Michalczewski
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| Dariusz Michalczewski | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Dariusz Michalczewski |
| Nickname | The Tiger |
| Weight | Light Heavyweight |
| Nationality |  Polish  German |
| Birth date | May 5, 1968 |
| Birth place | Gdańsk, Poland |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 50 |
| Wins | 48 |
| Wins by KO | 38 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Dariusz Michalczewski pseudonym: Tiger (born May 5, 1968 in Gdańsk, Poland) is one of the most successful Polish light heavyweight champion of recent years. Despite going undefeated for the first 12 years of his professional career and threatening several major records, he was criticized for rarely fighting outside of Germany.
Nicknamed the "Tiger", Dariusz lives with his family in Hamburg.
Now also a citizen of Germany and a native of Gdańsk, Poland, Michalczewski came up through Poland's state-run sports program as a boy and had a successful amateur career before turning professional in 1991. Fighting mostly in neighboring Germany, he began piling up wins and was soon signed by Universum Box-Promotion, one of the leading boxing promoters in Europe. His aggressive style earned him the nickname The Tiger.
In 2002 Michalczewski announced in public that he will be fighting for Poland. In one of the interview he said: "I am the Pole. I want to proof it. I will be fighting for Poland and under the Polish flag." (in accordance to PAP, 09.09.2002).
[edit] Professional Career
He won the German international light heavyweight (175-pound) title early on 13 February 1993, the title is for foreign born fighters based in Germany. He then won the IBF Intercontinental championship on 22 May 1993. Finally, on September 10, 1994, Michalczewski captured the WBO world light heavyweight title with a 12-round decision over Leeonzer Barber.
Between then and March 2003, Michalczewski made 23 successful defenses of his WBO title and picked up three other belts along the way. Three months after beating Barber, he won the WBO's cruiserweight, 190 pound (86 kg) title with a knockout of Nestor Giovannini. However, he soon gave up that title to continue campaigning as a light heavyweight.
On June 13, 1997, he gained global recognition as a top light heavyweight when 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 doesn't recognize. The IBF did so a few weeks later, when Michalczewski refused 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 title. On 1998, he defeated Drake Thadzi and in 2000 he went to defeat Gracciano Rocchigianni. However, he drew some criticism for never fighting outside Germany, and also for never facing Roy Jones Jr.. Shortly after Michalczewski beat Hill, Jones eventually captured the other three major belts in the division. Boxing fans began to clamor for the two men to meet one another in the ring, but it never happened. Universum was reluctant to make a fight for Michalczewski, a huge draw in Germany, anywhere else. Meanwhile, Jones still harbored bad memories of being robbed of a gold medal in the 1988 Olympic Games and preferred to fight only in his native United States.
Even without facing Jones, Michalczewski has posted some impressive victories, including those over Richard Hill, Derrick Harmon, Thadzi and former world champions Graciano Rocchigiani and Montell Griffin. Griffin and Thadzi are the only two men, other than Roy Jones, to hold victories over James Toney.
Michalczewski had a perfect record of 48 wins and no losses when he faced Julio Cesar Gonzalez of Mexico in defense of his title on October 18, 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 championship 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, Michalczewski was unable to pull it off. He lost a controversial split decision to 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 of 2004, it was announced that Michalczewski would fight France's Fabrice Tiozzo for the WBA light-heavyweight title on February 26, 2005 in Hamburg.
He fought him but he lost, and then he declared the end of his career in May 2005.
| Preceded by Leeonzer Barber |
WBO Light Heavyweight Champion 10 Sep 1994–18 Oct 2003 |
Succeeded by Julio Gonzalez |
| Preceded by Nestor Hipolito Giovannini |
WBO Cruiserweight Champion 17 Dec 1994–Jan 1995 Vacated |
Succeeded by Ralf Rocchigiani |
| Preceded by Virgil Hill |
WBA Light Heavyweight Champion 13 Jun 1997–1 Jul 1997 Vacated |
Succeeded by Lou Del Valle |
| Preceded by Virgil Hill |
IBF Light Heavyweight Champion 13 Jun 1997–16 Jun 1997 Vacated |
Succeeded by William Guthrie |
[edit] Amateur Career
Amateur Record: 133-15-2 (83 KO's)
- 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
