Dariusz Michalczewski

Dariusz Michalczewski
Born	Dariusz Michalczewski 5 May 1968 (1968-05-05) (age 43) Gdańsk, Poland
Other names	Tiger
Nationality	Poland, Germany
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Division	Light heavyweight
Reach	70.0 in (178 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
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 career
Total	150
Wins	133
By knockout	83
Losses	15
By knockout	0
Draws	2
Other information
Website	http://www.dariusz-tiger.com/
Boxing record from Boxrec

Medal record
Competitor for  Poland
Men’s Boxing
European Amateur Championships
Gold	1991 Gothenburg	Light Heavyweight

Dariusz Michalczewski (born 5 May 1968, in Gdańsk, Poland) is a retired Polish- German boxer and 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

He won the German International Light Heavyweight (175-pound) title early 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 title 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 alphabet 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 and in 2000 he went 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. One of his motivations may have been the insistence the fight be held in Europe, where Jones feared he could only win by a knockout.

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, 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. He fought him but he lost, and then he 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.^[1] 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"^[2] 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)
Res.	Opponent	Type	Rd.,Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	Fabrice Tiozzo	TKO	6(12), 2:05	2005-02-26	Hamburg	Referee: Stanley Christodoulou Judges: Jesus Cova, Ove Ovesen, Guillermo Perez Pineda WBA World light heavyweight title Tiozzo floored Michalczewski in the 6th. Tiozzo's weight: 174.25 lbs Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs
Loss	Julio Cesar Gonzalez	SD	12(12)	2003-10-18	Hamburg	Referee: Joe Cortez Judge: Harry Davis 112–116 Judge: Mike Glienna 112–116 Judge: Joachim Jacobsen 115–113 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.25 lbs Gonzalez's weight: 174.25 lbs
Win	Derrick Harmon	KO	9(12)	2003-03-29	Hamburg	Referee: Eddie Cotton Judges: Frank Cairo, Joachim Jacobsen, Henk Adriaansen WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.5 lbs Harmon's weight: 174.75 lbs
Win	Richard Hall	TKO	10(12)	2002-09-14	Braunschweig	Referee: Rudy Battle WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.75 lbs Hall's weight: 174.75 lbs
Win	Joey DeGrandis	KO	2(12)	2002-04-20	Gdańsk	Referee: Joachim Jacobsen Judge: Luis Pabon 10–9 Judge: Manuel Oliver Palomo 10–9 Judge: Melvina Lathan 10–9 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.75 lbs DeGrandis's weight: 174 lbs
Win	Richard Hall	TKO	11(12), 1:50	2001-12-15	Berlin	Referee: Mark Nelson Judge: Manuel Oliver Palomo 98–93 Judge: Joachim Jacobsen 97–93 Judge: Valerie Dorsett 97–93 WBO light heavyweight title Fight stopped due to a huge swelling on Hall's eye Michalczewski's weight: 174.5 lbs Hall's weight: 173.5 lbs
Win	Alejandro Lakatos	KO	9(12), 1:35	2001-05-05	Braunschweig	Referee: Mike Ortega Judge: Mike Glienna 76–76 Judge: Luca Montella 76–76 Judge: Joachim Jacobsen 77–75 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Lakatus's weight: 174.5 lbs
Win	Ka Dy King	TKO	7(12), 0:28	2000-12-16	Essen	Referee: Genaro Rodriguez Judge: Larry Hazzard Jr. 59–55 Judge: Joachim Jacobsen 59–55 Judge: Henk Adriaansen 59–55 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174 lbs Ka Dy King's weight: 174 lbs
Win	Graciano Rocchigiani	TKO	10(12), 3:00	2000-04-15	Hannover	Referee: Rudy Battle Judge: Levi Martinez 89–81 Judge: Victor Salomon 89–81 Judge: Joachim Jacobsen 87–83 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Rocchigiani's weight: 175 lbs Rocchigiani failed to answer the bell for the 10th round.
Win	Montell Griffin	TKO	4(12), 2:59	1999-08-28	Bremen	Referee: Joe Cortez Judge: Dave Hess 27–30 Judge: Manuel Oliver Maritxalar 27–30 Judge: Joachim Jacobsen 27–30 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Griffin's weight: 175 lbs
Win	Muslim Biarslanov	TKO	7(12), 1:41	1999-04-03	Bremen	Referee: Mike Ortega Judge: Larry Hazzard Jr. 60–54 Judge: Luis Pabon 60–54 Judge: Joachim Jacobsen 60–54 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.25 lbs Biarslanov's weight: 174.75 lbs
Win	Drake Thadzi	TKO	9(12)	1998-12-12	Frankfurt	WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174 lbs
Win	Mark Prince	KO	8(12)	1998-09-19	Oberhausen	Referee: Rudy Battle Judge: Roberto Ramirez WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.75 lbs Prince's weight: 173.75 lbs
Win	Andrea Magi	TKO	4(12)	1998-03-20	Frankfurt	WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.25 lbs Magi's weight: 175 lbs
Win	Darren Zenner	RTD	6(12), 3:00	1997-12-13	Hamburg	Referee: Raul Caiz Sr Judge: Manuel Oliver Palomo 60–54 Judge: Dave Hess 60–54 Judge: Luca Montella 60–54 WBO light heavyweight title The bout was stopped after the 6th round due to cuts. Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Zenner's weight: 175 lbs
Win	Nicky Piper	TKO	7(12), 3:00	1997-10-04	Hannover	Referee: Raul Caiz Sr Judge: Andre Van Grootenbruel 69–61 Judge: Jose Hiram Rivera 68–62 Judge: Cornelio Stucchi 69–61 WBO light heavyweight title Corner retirement after the 7th round. Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Piper's weight: 174.5 lbs
Win	Virgil Hill	UD	12(12)	1997-06-13	Oberhausen	Referee: John Coyle Judge: Marcel Roloux 118–110 Judge: Rogelio Perez 117–112 Judge: Samuel Conde Lopez 116–113 WBA World light heavyweight title IBF light heavyweight title WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.5 lbs Hill's weight: 173.75 lbs
Win	Christophe Girard	TKO	8(12), 2:35	1996-12-13	Hannover	Referee: Joe Cortez Judges: Mark Nelson, Tomas Vasquez, Victor Salomon WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Girard's weight: 175 lbs Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs
Win	Graciano Rocchigiani	DQ	7(12), 2:35	1996-08-10	Hamburg	Referee: Joe O'Neil Judge: Jose Hiram Rivera 56–58 Judge: Aaron Kizer 56–58 Judge: Harold Gomes 58–58 WBO light heavyweight title Originally ruled a Technical Draw, the decision was changed because Michalczewski was KO'd after the referee's "Break-command". Michalczewski's weight: 174 lbs Rocchigiani's weight: 173.5 lbs
Win	Christophe Girard	UD	12(12)	1996-06-08	Cologne	Referee: Andre Van Grootenbruel Judge: Cornelio Stucchi 117–112 Judge: Dave Parris 117–112 Judge: Henk Adriaansen 117–111 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Girard's weight: 175 lbs
Win	Asluddin Umarov	TKO	5(12), 2:30	1996-04-06	Hannover	Referee: Ismael W. Fernandez Judge: Henk Adriaansen 40–35 Judge: Frank Cairo 40–35 Judge: John Stewart 40–36 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174.75 lbs Umarov's weight: 174.25 lbs
Win	Philippe Michel	UD	12(12)	1995-10-07	Frankfurt	Referee: Jose Hiram Rivera Judge: Jose Roman 117–109 Judge: Andre Van Grootenbruel 120–107 Judge: Dave Parris 120–107 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174 lbs Michel's weight: 173 lbs
Win	Everardo Armenta Jr	KO	5(12), 2:59	1995-08-19	Düsseldorf	Referee: Ismael W. Fernandez Judge: Nelson Vazquez 40–36 Judge: Cornelio Stucchi 40–36 Judge: Andre Van Grootenbruel 40–36 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 175 lbs Armenta's weight: 174.5 lbs
Win	Paul Carlo	KO	4(12), 2:46	1995-05-20	Hamburg	Referee: Genaro Rodriguez Judge: Denny Nelson 29–28 Judge: Cornelio Stucchi 29–28 Judge: Harold Gomes 29–28 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 172.75 lbs Carlo's weight: 174.25 lbs
Win	Roberto Dominguez Perez	KO	2(12), 1:05	1995-03-11	Cologne	Referee: Genaro Rodriguez Judge: Gordon Volkman 8–10 Judge: Mike Glienna 8–10 Judge: Andre Van Grootenbruel 8–10 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski was down in the 1st. Michalczewski staggered in the 2nd before ending the fight with a single left hook. Michalczewski's weight: 174.75 lbs Perez's weight: 173 lbs
Win	Nestor Hipolito Giovannini	KO	10(12), 1:25	1994-12-17	Hamburg	Referee: Genaro Rodriguez Judge: Ruben Garcia Dr. 89–79 Judge: Jose L. Sousa 88–81 Judge: Jose Hiram Rivera 87–81 WBO cruiserweight title Giovannini down in 9th round. Giovannini's weight: 182 lbs Michalczewski's weight: 181 lbs
Win	Leeonzer Barber	UD	12(12)	1994-09-10	Hamburg	Referee: Raul Caiz Sr Judge: Horacio Bakemon 117–109 Judge: Jose L. Sousa 116–111 Judge: Cornelio Stucchi 116–111 WBO light heavyweight title Michalczewski's weight: 174 lbs Barber's weight: 174 lbs
Win	Melvin Wynn	KO	2, 3:05	1994-05-28	Aachen
Win	David Davis	KO	7(10)	1994-04-23	Halle
Win	David Vedder	DQ	1	1994-02-19	Hamburg
Win	Sergio Daniel Merani	TD	9(12)	1993-11-20	Hamburg	IBF Inter-Continental light heavyweight title
Win	Mwehu Beya	PTS	12(12)	1993-09-11	Aachen	IBF Inter-Continental light heavyweight title
Win	Juan Alberto Barrero	KO	5(10)	1993-06-26	Hamburg
Win	Noel Magee	TKO	8(12)	1993-05-22	Aachen	Vacant IBF Inter-Continental light heavyweight title
Win	Pat Alley	KO	4	1993-04-03	Hamburg	Michalczewski down in 3rd round.
Win	Ali Saidi	KO	10(10)	1993-02-13	Hamburg	German International light heavyweight title
Win	Willie McDonald	KO	3	1993-01-12	Aachen	McDonald was knocked down twice in the 2nd.
Win	Mike Peak	PTS	8(8)	1992-12-08	Berlin
Win	Keith Williams	TKO	2	1992-11-17	Luebeck
Win	Cecil Simms	KO	2	1992-11-07	Cologne
Win	Steve McCarthy	DQ	3(10)	1992-09-29	Berlin	McCarthy penalized a point in the 2nd round for holding. McCarthy had one point deducted in the 3rd for headbutt. McCarthy got DQ'd for intentional headbutting.
Win	Sylvester White	TKO	5	1992-08-28	Aachen
Win	Richard Bustin	KO	4(8)	1992-06-27	Quinta do Lago
Win	Terrence Wright	TKO	2	1992-05-22	Dinslaken
Win	Robert Johnson	TKO	2	1992-04-04	Düsseldorf
Win	Sean Mannion	TKO	3	1992-02-21	Berlin
Win	Yves Monsieur	TKO	4(8)	1992-01-28	Berlin
Win	Zoltan Habda	TKO	2	1992-01-10	Aachen
Win	Peter Cenki	TKO	2	1991-10-15	Berlin	Cenki down once in the 2nd. Cenki corner throws in the towel.
Win	Frederic Porter	TKO	2	1991-09-16	Berlin

References

1. ^ Video clip of No Mercy by Marky Mark about Dariusz Michalczewski
2. ^ Official website of Polish P.M.Starost documentary on Dariusz Michalczewski

External links

• Professional boxing record for Dariusz Michalczewski from BoxRec
• Tiger – A Film By Pawel M Starost

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
	IBF light heavyweight champion 13 June 1997 – 16 June 1997 Vacated	Succeeded by William Guthrie
	Lineal light heavyweight champion 13 June 1997 – 18 October 2003	Succeeded by Julio César González

Persondata
Name	Michalczewski, Dariusz
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 May 1968
Place of birth	Gdańsk, Poland
Date of death
Place of death