Brian Nielsen (born 1 April 1965) is a Danish former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He held the IBO heavyweight title from 1996 to 1999 successfully defending it five times, including against

Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which led to his boxing nickname of the "Eas ...

and

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...

, the second highest number of defenses behind

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label=Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол� ...

's record of 18. At one point of time, he equaled Rocky Marciano's record of 49 successive wins with no losses. While he never held a world title from any of the main four sanctioning bodies (WBC, IBF, WBA, WBO), he did defeat several former world champions who had, including

Orlin Norris Orlin Levance Norris (born October 4, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the WBA cruiserweight title from 1993 to 1995. As an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves title. He is the brothe ...

Carlos De León Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

Jeff Lampkin Jeff Lampkin (born September 21, 1961) is an American former professional boxer. During his 11-year professional career, Lampkin won the USBA cruiserweight title and IBF cruiserweight belt. Amateur career Lampkin had a stellar amateur caree ...

, and

Tony Tubbs Tony Tubbs (born February 15, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2006, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1985 to 1986. Amateur career As an amateur, Tony Tubbs competed in 253 bouts, compiling a reco ...

Amateur career

As an amateur, Nielsen won bronze medals in the super heavyweight division at the 1991 European Championships and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Brian Nielsen was sent to Svendborg, where Johnny Antonsen had arranged a match against the local hero Carsten Dahl. Nielsen easily beat Dahl, winning the bout by knockout in the second round. Dahl later got the opportunity for revenge, but again Nielsen won by knockout. He was both Zealand champion and Danish champion for five consecutive years (1988-1992), and also won numerous international tournaments. His career as an amateur ended after the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 where he won the bronze. In the semifinals he lost to the powerful Cuban

Roberto Balado Roberto Balado Méndez (February 15, 1969 – July 2, 1994) was a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1986 to 1994. At the 1992 Summer Olympics he won a Gold medal in the men's super heavyweight (+91 kg). A natural heavyweight, h ...

. Balado won 15 to 1. In total, Nielsen boxed 111 fights as an amateur and won 104. He only took a count once in amateur career, and only once was he stopped before time - during the 1989 European Championship bout, where he suffered a cut near one of his eyes. His opponent at this match was the Greek boxer George Tsachakis who attended the final.

Professional career

After his win over 41-year-old ex-

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

champion

James 'Bonecrusher' Smith James "Bonecrusher" Smith was born in April 13, 1953 at Mangolia, Nort Carolina, USA. James "Bonecrusher" Smith is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1999, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1986 to 1987. E ...

in October 1994, Nielsen began to attract attention. He went on to hold the minor IBO belt during an unbeaten streak equaling that of legend

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...

. He later held the minor IBC belt.

Tyson fight

On 13 October 2001, Nielsen fought

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

at the

Parken Stadium Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. After six rounds heavily in Tyson's favour, Nielsen quit on his stool citing an eye injury. Nielsen was knocked down once in the third round.

Announced comeback and Holyfield fight

On February 8, 2010, Brian Nielsen told reporters that he was prepared to return to the ring, after 8 years of absence, and that a proposed fight against

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

had been met with interest by both sides. Though originally thought unrealistic by former promoter

Mogens Palle Mogens Palle (14 March 1934 – 27 August 2022) was a Danish professional boxing promoter and manager. He was involved in more than 200 matches for European and world titles and worked with Ayub Kalule, Tom Bogs, Jimmy Bredahl, Thomas Damgaa ...

, due to Nielsen's bad knee, Nielsen's comeback was confirmed by Nielsen's promoter Sauerland Event on June 1, 2010. Nielsen met Holyfield on May 7, 2011 in a World Boxing Federation (WBF) title bout, in Copenhagen. Holyfield won the fight, knocking Nielsen down in the 3rd with a left hook and stopping him by TKO in the 10th.

Controversy

At a press conference prior to the Mike Tyson fight, Nielsen called Tyson an "abekat" which was translated as "monkey". The Tyson camp took great offense at this supposed racial slur, and Tyson himself declared, "This will make me punish him even more than I had planned." The controversy over the remark calmed down when the expression was clarified to the media by Danish linguists as having no racial connotations and simply meaning "brat" in Danish. Controversy arose in early 2004, when journeyman heavyweight Thomas Williams stated 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 for the District of Nevada United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

for

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

in order to promote the career of 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. The Nielsen vs. Williams fight was the 57th of Nielsen's career. Nielsen and Mogens Palle denied any knowledge of the match fixing, and were not charged of any wrongdoing by American or Danish authorities.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" , - !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , -align=center , Loss , 64–3 ,

, TKO , 10 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 64–2 ,

Uriah Grant Uriah or Uriyah () is a Hebrew given name. It may refer to: People In the Bible *Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in King David's army in the Books of Samuel *Uriah, a priest under Ahaz in the Books of Kings *Uriah (prophet), a prophet murdered by Je ...

, UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 63–2 , Ken Murphy , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Loss , 62–2 ,

, RTD , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 62–1 ,

, UD , 12 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 61–1 , Benji Baker , TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 60–1 , Dicky Ryan , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 59–1 , Andy Sample , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 58–1 , Kevin Cook , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 57–1 , Jeremy Williams , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 56–1 , Thomas Williams , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 55–1 , Jeff Pegues , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 54–1 , Troy Weida , KO , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 53–1 , Frank Wood , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 52–1 , Don Normand , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 51–1 , Dale Crowe , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 50–1 , Shane Sutcliffe , KO , 5 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Loss , 49–1 , Dicky Ryan , TKO , 10 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 49–0 ,

Tim Witherspoon Tim Witherspoon (born December 27, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. Witherspoon also wor ...

, TKO , 4 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 48–0 , Paul Phillips , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 47–0 ,

Peter McNeeley Peter McNeeley (born October 6, 1968) is an American former heavyweight boxer, best known for his 1995 fight with Mike Tyson, before which McNeeley had said he would wrap Tyson in a "cocoon of horror." McNeeley fought aggressively but was kno ...

, KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 46–0 , Dan Murphy , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 45–0 ,

Lionel Butler Lionel Butler (born July 25, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2010. He is best known for his 1995 fight with Lennox Lewis, but also faced world champions Tony Tubbs, James Smith (boxer), James Smith, Chri ...

, KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 44–0 , Garing Lane , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 43–0 , Terry Ray , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 42–0 , George Linberger , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 41–0 , Joey Guy , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 40–0 , Donnell Wingfield , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 39–0 , Don Steele , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 38–0 ,

Crawford Grimsley Crawford Grimsley (born October 1, 1967) is a retired professional heavyweight boxer and kickboxer, who fought several significant fighters of his era. He challenged once for the lineal, WBU and vacant IBA heavyweight titles in 1996, and onc ...

, TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 37–0 , Bruce Douglas , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 36–0 , Marcos Gonzales , TKO , 4 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 35–0 , James Pritchard , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 34–0 , Damon Reed , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 33–0 , Pedro Daniel Franco , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 32–0 ,

, SD , 12 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 31–0 , Marcus Rhode , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 30–0 , Andrew Maynard , TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 29–0 , Jerry Halstead , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 28–0 , Mike Hunter , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 27–0 , Salvador Maciel , TKO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 26–0 ,

, TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 25–0 , Jeff Lally , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 24–0 , Tony LaRosa , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 23–0 , Carlos De Leon , TKO , 3 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 22–0 ,

, TKO , 4 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 21–0 , Terry Davis , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 20–0 , Jim Huffman , DQ , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 19–0 , Jason Waller , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 18–0 , Tim Noble , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 17–0 , Doug Davis , TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 16–0 , Matt Green , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 15–0 ,

, UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 14–0 , Terry Anderson , KO , 5 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 13–0 , James Smith , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 12–0 , George Stephens , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 11–0 , Ken Merritt , KO , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 10–0 , Ron Gullette , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 9–0 ,

Ross Puritty Ross Puritty (born December 18, 1966) is an American former professional boxer. A high-level journeyman and occasional heavyweight contender, Puritty is best remembered for his shocking upset of Wladimir Klitschko in 1998 that won him the WBC in ...

, UD , 4 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 8–0 , Mike Acey , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 7–0 , Mike Dixon , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 6–0 , Jean Chanet , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 5–0 , Roger McKenzie , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 4–0 , Jean Weiss , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 3–0 , Carl Gaffney , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 2–0 , Steve Gee , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 1–0 , Terry Armstrong , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left,

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Brian 1965 births Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Heavyweight boxers Living people Olympic boxers of Denmark Olympic bronze medalists for Denmark Olympic medalists in boxing People from Korsør Danish male boxers Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Region Zealand