This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tbhotch (talk | contribs) at 02:06, 21 February 2012 (WP:MOS violations). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 02:06, 21 February 2012 by Tbhotch (talk | contribs) (WP:MOS violations)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
| Dariusz Michalczewski | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | Dariusz Michalczewski (1968-05-05) 5 May 1968 (age 56) Gdańsk, Poland |
| Other names | Tiger |
| Nationality | Polish-German |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Division | Light Heavyweight Cruiserweight |
| Reach | 70.0 in (178 cm) |
| Fighting out of | Hamburg, Germany |
| Trainer | Fritz Sdunek |
| Years active | 1988–2005 |
| Professional boxing record | |
| Total | 50 |
| Wins | 48 |
| By knockout | 38 |
| Losses | 2 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| Amateur record | |
| Total | 150 |
| Wins | 133 |
| By knockout | 83 |
| Losses | 15 |
| By knockout | 0 |
| Draws | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Website | http://www.dariusz-tiger.com/ |
| 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 Lineal, WBO, WBA & IBF 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's). 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 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, "The 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 and picked up three other belts along the way. 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.
Darius would attempt for 6 years to secure a bout with his American counter-part, Roy Jones Jr, without success. After his titles were stripped from Darius, Jones would win all the vacant belts and declare himself "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.
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 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, 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
- Polish Energy drink "Tiger" is named after the famous boxer. His picture and text "Recommended by Dariusz 'Tiger' Michalczewski" appears on the cans and bottles.
- 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. 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" took part in Filmfest München and won the award for the Best Documentary at the Biberacher Filmfestspiele.
Professional boxing record
| 48 Wins (38 knockouts, 7 decisions, 3 disqualifications), 2 losses (1 knockout, 1 decision), 0 Draws | |||||||
| Res. | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes | |
| Loss |  Fabrice Tiozzo
|
TKO | 6 (12) 2:05 | 2005-02-26 | Color Line Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany
|
For WBA Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Loss |  Julio Cesar Gonzalez
|
SD | 12 | 2003-10-18 | Color Line Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win |  Derrick Harmon
|
KO | 9 (12) | 2003-03-29 | Color Line Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win |  Richard Hall
|
TKO | 10 (12) | 2002-09-14 | Volkswagenhalle, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Joey DeGrandis
|
KO | 2 (12) | 2002-04-20 |  Stoczniowiec Olivia Arena, Gdansk, Poland
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Richard Hall
|
TKO | 11 (12) 1:50 | 2001-12-15 | Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, Berlin, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win |  Alejandro Lakatos
|
KO | 9 (12) 1:35 | 2001-05-05 | Volkswagenhalle, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Ka-Dy King
|
TKO | 7 (12) 0:28 | 2000-12-16 | Grugahalle, Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Graciano Rocchigiani
|
TKO | 10 (12) 3:00 | 2000-04-15 | Preussag Arena, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Montell Griffin
|
TKO | 4 (12) 2:59 | 1999-08-28 | Stadthalle, Bremen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win |  Muslim Biarslanov
|
TKO | 7 (12) 1:41 | 1999-04-03 | Stadthalle, Bremen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win |  Drake Thadzi
|
TKO | 9 (12) | 1998-12-12 | Ballsporthalle, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win |  Mark Prince
|
KO | 8 (12) | 1998-09-19 | Arena Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win |  Andrea Magi
|
TKO | 4 (12) | 1998-03-20 | Ballsporthalle, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Darren Zenner
|
RTD | 6 (12) 3:00 | 1997-12-13 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Nicky Piper
|
TKO | 7 (12) 3:00 | 1997-10-04 | Stadionsporthalle, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & Lineal Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Virgil Hill
|
UD | 12 | 1997-06-13 | Arena Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
Retained WBO & won Lineal, WBA andIBF Light Heavyweight titles. | |
| Win | Christophe Girard
|
TKO | 8 (12) 2:35 | 1996-12-13 | Stadionsporthalle, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Graciano Rocchigiani
|
DQ | 7 (12) 2:35 | 1996-08-10 | Wilhelm-Koch-Stadion, St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Christophe Girard
|
UD | 12 | 1996-06-08 | Deutz Sporthalle, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win |  Asluddin Umarov
|
TKO | 5 (12) 2:30 | 1996-04-06 | Stadionsporthalle, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Philippe Michel
|
UD | 12 | 1995-10-07 | Festhalle, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Everardo Armenta Jr
|
KO | 5 (12) 2:59 | 1995-08-19 | Eisstadion, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Paul Carlo
|
KO | 4 (12) 2:46 | 1995-05-20 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Roberto Dominguez Perez
|
KO | 2 (12) 1:05 | 1995-03-11 | Deutz Sporthalle, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win |  Nestor Giovannini
|
KO | 10 (12) 1:25 | 1994-12-17 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
|
Won WBO Cruiserweight title. | |
| Win | Leeonzer Barber
|
UD | 12 (12) | 1994-09-10 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
|
Won WBO Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Melvin Wynn
|
KO | 2 (3:05) | 1994-05-28 | Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
||
| Win | David Davis
|
KO | 7 (10) | 1994-04-23 | Sporthalle Bildungszentrum, Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
|
||
| Win | David Vedder
|
DQ | 1 | 1994-02-19 | Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany
|
||
| Win | Sergio Daniel Merani
|
TD | 9 (12) | 1993-11-20 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
|
Retained IBF Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Mwehu Beya
|
PTS | 12 | 1993-09-11 | Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
Retained IBF Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win |  Juan Alberto Barrero
|
KO | 5 (10) | 1993-06-26 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
|
||
| Win | Noel Magee
|
TKO | 8 (12) | 1993-05-22 | Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
|
Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Pat Alley
|
KO | 4 | 1993-04-03 | Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany
|
||
| Win | Ali Saidi
|
KO | 10 (10) | 1993-02-13 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.
|
Won German International Light Heavyweight title. | |
| Win | Willie McDonald
|
KO | 3 | 1993-01-12 | Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
||
| Win | Mike Peak
|
PTS | 8 | 1992-12-08 | Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
|
||
| Win | Keith Williams
|
TKO | 2 | 1992-11-17 | Holstentorhalle, Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
|
||
| Win | Cecil Simms
|
KO | 2 | 1992-11-07 | Deutz Sporthalle, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
||
| Win | Steve McCarthy
|
DQ | 3 (10) | 1992-09-29 | Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
|
||
| Win | Sylvester White
|
TKO | 5 | 1992-08-28 | Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
||
| Win | Richard Bustin
|
KO | 4 (8) | 1992-06-27 |  Quinta do Lago Hotel, Quinta do Lago, Portugal
|
||
| Win | Terrence Wright
|
TKO | 2 | 1992-05-22 | Dinslaken, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
||
| Win | Robert Johnson
|
TKO | 2 | 1992-04-04 | Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
||
| Win |  Sean Mannion
|
TKO | 3 | 1992-02-21 | Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
|
||
| Win |  Yves Monsieur
|
TKO | 4 (8) | 1992-01-28 | Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
|
||
| Win | Zoltan Habda | TKO | 2 | 1992-01-10 | Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
|
||
| Win | Peter Cenki | TKO | 2 | 1991-10-15 | Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
|
||
| Win | Frederic Porter
|
TKO | 2 | 1991-09-16 | Legien Center, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
|
Professional debut. | |
References
- 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
| Preceded byLeeonzer Barber | WBO Light Heavyweight Champion 10 September 1994 – 18 October 2003 |
Succeeded byJulio César González |
| Preceded byNestor Hipolito Giovannini | WBO Cruiserweight Champion 17 December 1994 – January 1995 Vacated |
Succeeded byRalf Rocchigiani |
| VacantTitle last held byMichael Spinks | Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion 13 June 1997 – 16 June 1997 Titles fractured |
Succeeded byRoy Jones, Jr. |
| Preceded byVirgil Hill | WBA Light Heavyweight Champion 13 June 1997 – 1 July 1997 Vacated |
Succeeded byLou Del Valle |
| IBF Light Heavyweight Champion 13 June 1997 – 16 June 1997 Vacated |
Succeeded byWilliam Guthrie |