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Dariusz Tomasz Michalczewski (born 5 May 1968) is a Polish-German
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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
who competed from 1991 to 2005. He held multiple world championships in two
weight classes Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports including Rowing (sport), rowing, Weightlifting#Weightlifting sports, weight lifting, and especi ...
, including the WBA, IBF,
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
and lineal
light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...
titles between 1994 and 2003, and the WBO
junior-heavyweight Cruiserweight, also referred to as junior heavyweight, is a weight class in professional boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometime ...
title from 1994 to 1995. Michalczewski is regarded by many as the greatest light-heavyweight boxer of all time.


Early life and amateur career

He was born in 1968 in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
to father Bogusław Michalczewski, a radio technician working for the
Polish State Railways The Polish State Railways ( , abbr.: PKP S.A.) is a Polish state-owned holding company (legally a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury) comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway oper ...
and mother Maria, an accountant. In his youth, before turning to boxing, he initially practiced
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
and
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. 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 Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...
division, defeating Fabrice Tiozzo but losing to Ray Close *1990 – German National Champion in
light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...
division *
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
– European Champion in light heavyweight division


Defection to Germany

On 24 April 1988, while competing beyond the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...
in
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
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 Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. His aggressive style earned him the nickname "Tiger".


Professional career

Michalczewski turned professional in September 1991. He won the German International
light-heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...
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 The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
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 against 20 different boxers, 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 WBA, IBF and Lineal light-heavyweight titles to his own. However, Michalczewski soon lost both alphabet titles; Scandalously, the WBA immediately stripped him for displaying its belt along with that of the WBO. 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 In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight (in a mandatory defence) or be forced to vacate their title as champion. The opposite of a mandatory defence is a ''volunt ...
William Guthrie within a little over a month after the bout with Hill. 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.


Going for Marciano's record

Michalczewski had a perfect record of 48-0 when he faced Julio César González of
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in defense of his title on 18 October 2003. Coming into the fight, he was within one victory of tying
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. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and re ...
's record of 49 wins with no losses. A win also would have put him just one victory short of
Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed "the Brown Bomber", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He r ...
' 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 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 round, then he announced his retirement in May 2005. Michalczewski was to come out of retirement to fight German boxing icon but suspected cheat 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. *Dariusz Michalczewski struck a friendship with performer
Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), formerly known by his stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, producer, and former rapper. Mark Wahlberg filmography, His work as a leading actor, leading man spans the Comedy film, come ...
, 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 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 Joseph Paquette (May 5, 1963 – May 16, 2001), better known by his stage name Prince Ital Joe, was a Dominican reggae and ragga singer and actor best known for his collaborations with Marky Mark and Death Row Records artists. Prince Ital Joe al ...
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"'' 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. Since 2014 he supports the social campaign for civil union and the right for adoption by homosexual couples.


Professional boxing record


Titles in boxing


Major world titles

* WBA light heavyweight champion (175 lbs) * IBF light heavyweight champion (175 lbs) * WBO light heavyweight champion (175 lbs) * WBO cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)


Regional/International titles

* IBF Inter-Continental
light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...
champion (175 lbs) *
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
International light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)


Television viewership


Germany


Poland


See also

*
List of light heavyweight boxing champions This is a chronological list of world light heavyweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations: Championship recognition 1903–1910 The light-heavyweight division was created in 1903, the brainc ...
*
List of WBA world champions This is a list of WBA world champions, showing every world champion certified by the World Boxing Association (WBA). The list also includes champions certified by the National Boxing Association (NBA), the predecessor to the WBA. Boxers who won t ...
*
List of IBF world champions This is a list of IBF world champions, showing every world champion recognized by the International Boxing Federation (IBF). The IBF is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and has awarded world champions in 17 different ...
*
List of WBO world champions This is a list of WBO world champions, showing every world champion certified by the World Boxing Organization (WBO). The WBO is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and has awarded world championships in 17 different we ...


References


External links

*
Dariusz Michalczewski profile
at Cyber Boxing Zone {{DEFAULTSORT:Michalczewski, Dariusz 1968 births Living people German male boxers International Boxing Federation champions Middleweight boxers Polish defectors Polish emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany Polish male boxers Boxers from Gdańsk World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Organization champions World cruiserweight boxing champions World light-heavyweight boxing champions 20th-century Polish sportsmen 20th-century German sportsmen