Dariusz Michalczewski

Michalczewski in 2007

Statistics

Nickname(s)

Tiger

Rated at

Light-heavyweight
Cruiserweight

Height

6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)

Reach

70 in (178 cm)

Nationality

Polish
German

Born

5 May 1968
Gdańsk, Polish People's Republic (now Poland)

Stance

Orthodox

Boxing record

Total fights

Wins

Wins by KO

Losses

Medal record

Representing Germany
Men's boxing
European Amateur Championships
	1991 Gothenburg	Light heavyweight
Representing Poland
Men's boxing
European Junior Championships
	1986 Copenhagen	Middleweight

Dariusz Michalczewski (born 5 May 1968) is a Polish-German former professional boxer. He was the Lineal, WBO, WBA and IBF light-heavyweight champion, and the WBO cruiserweight champion.

Amateur 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 139–11–2 (89 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 beyond the Iron Curtain in West Germany for the Polish national team, Michalczewski defected from the amateur team to stay in West Germany. Becoming a citizen of the now united 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 turned professional in September 1991. He won the German International light-heavyweight title early on 13 February 1993, a title for foreign-born fighters based in Germany. He then won the IBF Intercontinental title on 22 May 1993.

Two-weight world champion

On 10 September 1994, Michalczewski, at 23-0 (18 KOs), captured the WBO light-heavyweight title with a 12-round decision over defending champion Leeonzer Barber at Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany. 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 cruiserweight title with a tenth round knockout of Nestor Giovannini. However, he soon gave up that title to continue campaigning as a light-heavyweight.

In 1996, Universum Box-Promotion's conditioning coach Fritz Sdunek became head coach and replaced Chuck Talhami as Michalczewski's trainer, which resulted in a marked improvement in Michalczewski's performances.

Hill vs Michalczewski unification

On 13 June 1997, he defeated Virgil Hill over 12 rounds to add Hill's Lineal, WBA, & IBF titles to his own. However, Michalczewski soon lost both alphabet titles. The WBA immediately stripped him for displaying its belt along with that of the WBO, an organization it didn't recognize. Michalczewski was then forced to relinquish the IBF title when he was unable to defend the title in a court-ordered defense against mandatory challenger William Guthrie within a little over a month after the bout with Hill.^[1]

After beating Hill, Michalczewski knocked out 14 consecutive opponents, all in defense of his Lineal/WBO titles. In 1998, he defeated Drake Thadzi, in 1999 he defeated Montel Griffin, and in 2000 he defeated Graciano Rocchigiani.

Darius would attempt for six years to secure a bout with his American counterpart, Roy Jones Jr, without success. After his titles were stripped from Dariusz, Jones would win Michalczewski's belts and spuriously declare himself "undisputed world champion". Jones steadfastly refused all offers for a lucrative fight with Darius and even made an attempt to ban the mention of Michalczewski's name on his home network, HBO. Seth Abraham, president and CEO of HBO, refused Jones demand and in 2002 a fan poll showed that the fight fans most wanted to see was Darius Michalczewski vs Roy Jones Jr. Jones continued to refuse offers for the fight however. One of his motivations may have been due to the fact that the offers were for the fight to be held in Europe, where Jones feared he could only win by a knockout.

Going for Marciano's record

Michalczewski had a perfect record of 48-0 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 record of 49 wins with no losses. 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, as when Larry Holmes went for the same record against Michael Spinks, 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, and his career record dropped to 48-1.

Despite the loss, he still holds the record for the most consecutive successful world title defenses at light-heavyweight.

Final fight

In October 2004, it was announced that Michalczewski would come out of retirement to box France's Fabrice Tiozzo for the WBA light heavyweight title on 26 February 2005 in Hamburg. Michalczewski was stopped in six rounds, then announce his retirement 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 Pawel Kocambasi alias 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.

Social involvement

In 2003 Dariusz Michalczewski established foundation "Równe Szanse" (equal chances) which was aimed at supporting initiatives for youth from dysfunctional families.^[5] Since 2014 he supports the social campaign for civil union and the right for adoption by homosexual couples.^[6]^[7]

Professional boxing record

48 Wins (38 KOs), 2 losses (1 KO)^[8]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	48-2	Fabrice Tiozzo	TKO	6 (12), 2:05	2005-02-26	Color Line Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.	For WBA light-heavyweight title.
Loss	48-1	Julio Cesar Gonzalez	SD	12	2003-10-18	Color Line Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.	Lost Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	48-0	Derrick Harmon	KO	9 (12), 1:58	2003-03-29	Color Line Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	47-0	Richard Hall	TKO	10 (12), ?	2002-09-14	Volkswagenhalle, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	46-0	Joey DeGrandis	KO	2 (12), ?	2002-04-20	Stoczniowiec Olivia Arena, Gdansk, Poland.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	45-0	Richard Hall	TKO	11 (12), 1:50	2001-12-15	Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, Berlin, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	44-0	Alejandro Lakatos	KO	9 (12), 1:35	2001-05-05	Volkswagenhalle, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	43-0	Ka-Dy King	TKO	7 (12), 0:28	2000-12-16	Grugahalle, Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	42-0	Graciano Rocchigiani	TKO	10 (12), 3:00	2000-04-15	Preussag Arena, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	41-0	Montell Griffin	TKO	4 (12), 2:59	1999-08-28	Stadthalle, Bremen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	40-0	Muslim Biarslanov	TKO	7 (12), 1:41	1999-04-03	Stadthalle, Bremen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light heavyweight titles.
Win	39-0	Drake Thadzi	TKO	9 (12), 1:45	1998-12-12	Ballsporthalle, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	38-0	Mark Prince	KO	8 (12), ?	1998-09-19	Arena Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	37-0	Andrea Magi	TKO	4 (12), ?	1998-03-20	Ballsporthalle, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	36-0	Darren Zenner	RTD	6 (12), 3:00	1997-12-13	Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	35-0	Nicky Piper	TKO	7 (12), 3:00	1997-10-04	Stadionsporthalle, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.	Retained Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win	34-0	Virgil Hill	UD	12	1997-06-13	Arena Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title. Won Lineal/WBA/IBF light-heavyweight titles.
Win	33-0	Christophe Girard	TKO	8 (12), 2:35	1996-12-13	Stadionsporthalle, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	32-0	Graciano Rocchigiani	DQ	7 (12), 2:35	1996-08-10	Wilhelm-Koch-Stadion, St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	31-0	Christophe Girard	UD	12	1996-06-08	Deutz Sporthalle, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	30-0	Asluddin Umarov	TKO	5 (12), 2:30	1996-04-06	Stadionsporthalle, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	29-0	Philippe Michel	UD	12	1995-10-07	Festhalle, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	28-0	Everardo Armenta Jr	KO	5 (12), 2:59	1995-08-19	Eisstadion, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	27-0	Paul Carlo	KO	4 (12), 2:46	1995-05-20	Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	26-0	Roberto Dominguez Perez	KO	2 (12), 1:05	1995-03-11	Deutz Sporthalle, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Retained WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	25-0	Nestor Giovannini	KO	10 (12), 1:25	1994-12-17	Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.	Won WBO cruiserweight title.
Win	24-0	Leeonzer Barber	UD	12	1994-09-10	Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.	Won WBO light-heavyweight title.
Win	23-0	Melvin Wynn	KO	2 (?), 3:05	1994-05-28	Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Win	22-0	David Davis	KO	7 (10), ?	1994-04-23	Sporthalle Bildungszentrum, Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.
Win	21-0	David Vedder	DQ	1 (?), ?	1994-02-19	Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany.
Win	20-0	Sergio Daniel Merani	TD	9 (12), -	1993-11-20	Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.	Retained IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title.
Win	19-0	Mwehu Beya	PTS	12	1993-09-11	Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Retained IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title.
Win	18-0	Juan Alberto Barrero	KO	5 (10), ?	1993-06-26	Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Win	17-0	Noel Magee	TKO	8 (12), ?	1993-05-22	Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.	Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title.
Win	16-0	Pat Alley	KO	4 (?), ?	1993-04-03	Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany.
Win	15-0	Ali Saidi	KO	10 (10), ?	1993-02-13	Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.	Won German International light-heavyweight title.
Win	14-0	Willie McDonald	KO	3 (?), ?	1993-01-12	Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Win	13-0	Mike Peak	PTS	8	1992-12-08	Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
Win	12-0	Keith Williams	TKO	2 (?), ?	1992-11-17	Holstentorhalle, Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Win	11-0	Cecil Simms	KO	2 (?), ?	1992-11-07	Deutz Sporthalle, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Win	10-0	Steve McCarthy	DQ	3 (10), ?	1992-09-29	Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
Win	9-0	Sylvester White	TKO	5 (?), ?	1992-08-28	Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Win	8-0	Richard Bustin	KO	4 (8), ?	1992-06-27	Quinta do Lago Hotel, Quinta do Lago, Portugal.
Win	7-0	Terrence Wright	TKO	2 (?), ?	1992-05-22	Dinslaken, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Win	6-0	Robert Johnson	TKO	2 (8), 2:41	1992-04-04	Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Win	5-0	Sean Mannion	TKO	3 (?), ?	1992-02-21	Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
Win	4-0	Yves Monsieur	TKO	4 (8), ?	1992-01-28	Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
Win	3-0	Zoltan Habda	TKO	2 (?), ?	1992-01-10	Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Win	2-0	Peter Cenki	TKO	2 (?), ?	1991-10-15	Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
Win	1-0	Frederic Porter	TKO	2 (?), ?	1991-09-16	Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany.	Professional debut.

References

External links

Media related to Dariusz Michalczewski at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Leeonzer Barber	WBO Light Heavyweight Champion 10 September 1994 – 18 October 2003	Succeeded by Julio César González
Preceded by Nestor Hipolito Giovannini	WBO Cruiserweight Champion 17 December 1994 – January 1995 Vacated	Succeeded by Ralf Rocchigiani
Preceded by Virgil Hill	WBA Light Heavyweight Champion 13 June 1997 – 1 July 1997 Vacated	Succeeded by Lou Del Valle
Preceded by Virgil Hill	IBF Light Heavyweight Champion 13 June 1997 – 16 June 1997 Vacated	Succeeded by William Guthrie

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 52571533 GND: 122466500

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