Jerzy Zdzisław Kulej (; 19 October 1940 – 13 July 2012) was a Polish

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

sports commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

.Jerzy Kulej
. sports-reference.com He was a double Olympic and World Champion.

Life and career

He was born in 1940 in

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He started his boxing career in 1955 in the Start Częstochowa club. In 1958, he joined Poland's national team coached by

Feliks Stamm Feliks “Papa” Stamm (14 December 1901, Kościan (german: Kosten) German Empire – 2 April 1976, Warsaw) was a prominent Polish boxing coach. He is widely regarded as the father of Polish boxing, and the creator of the so-called Polish schoo ...

. At the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

, he won a gold medal in the

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

division (<63.5 kg) defeating Yevgeny Frolov. In 1968, he defended his title in a close match against a Cuban boxer

Enrique Regüeiferos Enrique Regüeiferos (15 July 1948 – 20 June 2002)
was a

becoming the only Polish boxer to ever win two Olympic gold medals. He also twice won a gold medal at the European Amateur Championships in 1963 and 1965, and won a silver medal in 1967. He had a record of 317 wins, 6 draws and 25 losses. In 1976, he made an appearance in a movie ''Przepraszam, czy tu biją?'' directed by

Marek Piwowski Marek Andrzej Piwowski (; born 24 October 1935 in Warsaw) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his cult film ''Rejs'' (1970). Filmography * ''Rejs'' – 1970 * ''Psychodrama'' – 1972 * '' Korkociąg'' ( pl) – 1972 ...

. In 1995, he received the Aleksander Reksza Boxing Award. In 1998, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

by President

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule, he was active in the Socialist Union of Poli ...

for his "outstanding contributions to the Olympic movement, the development and popularization of physical culture as well as sporting achievements". In his later years, he became a politician representing various parties over the time. In 2001, as a member of

Democratic Left Alliance The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in Po ...

for electoral district of Warsaw he became a member of the Polish parliament (the Sejm) and server to 2005. He was a boxing commentator for Polish TV station

Polsat Sport Polsat Sport () is a Polish sports channel owned by Polsat. It launched on 11 August 2000 and is available via satellite on Cyfrowy Polsat. Polsat Sport HD Polsat Sport HD is a sports channel owned by Polsat, which broadcasts in High Definiti ...

Death

In December 2011, he suffered a massive heart attack. While in recovery, he learned that he suffered from an eye

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

that was, in the end, the direct cause of his death in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

on 13 July 2012 at the age of 71. He was buried on 20 July at the

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquial ...

in Warsaw.

Olympic results

1964 - Tokyo *Round of 64 – bye *Round of 32 – Defeated Roberto Amaya (Argentina) by decision, 5–0 *Round of 16 – Defeated

Richard McTaggart Richard McTaggart, MBE (born 15 October 1935) is a Scottish retired amateur boxer. He competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics in the lightweight division and won a gold and a bronze medal, respectively. In 1956 he received the Val Barker Trophy ...

(Great Britain) by decision, 4–1 *Quarterfinal – Defeated Iosif Mihalic (Romania) by decision, 4–1 *Semifinal – Defeated

Eddie Blay Edward "Eddie" Blay (9 November 1937 – 15 October 2006) was a Ghanaian boxer. He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the light welterweight (63.5 kg) category in 1964. Blay was a two-time Commonwealth Games ...

(Ghana) by decision, 5–0 *Final – Defeated Yevgeny Frolov (Soviet Union) by decision, 5–0 1968 - Mexico City *Round of 64 – bye *Round of 32 – Defeated

János Kajdi János Kajdi (30 December 1939 – 10 April 1992) was a boxer from Hungary. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics in the lightweight, light-welterweight and welterweight (– 67 kg) division, respectively, and won a silver medal ...

(Hungary) by decision, 3–2 *Round of 16 – Defeated

Giambattista Capretti Giambattista Capretti (25 September 1946 – 26 September 2016) was an Italian boxer. He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () ...

(Italy) by decision, 4–1 *Quarterfinals – Defeated

Peter Tiepold Peter Tiepold (born 15 November 1945 in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of c ...

(East Germany) by decision, 3–2 *Semifinals – Defeated Arto Nilsson (Finland) by decision, 5–0 *Final – Defeated Enrique Requeiferos (Cuba) by decision, 3–2

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kulej, Jerzy 1940 births 2012 deaths Polish male boxers Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Poland Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in boxing Olympic gold medalists for Poland Democratic Left Alliance politicians Members of the Polish Sejm 2001–2005 Sportspeople from Częstochowa Light-welterweight boxers 20th-century Polish people 21st-century Polish people

Life and career

Death

Olympic results

See also

References

External links