Bobby Czyz

Bobby Czyz

Born: February 10, 1962
Age: 62
Popularity:
Biography

Robert Edward Czyz (/ˈtʃɛz/ CHEZ; born February 10, 1962) is a retired American boxer, commentator, and member of Mensa. A New Jersey native of Polish descent, he is both a former world light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion.

Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey. He lived in Wanaque, New Jersey and attended Lakeland Regional High School.

Nicknamed "Matinee Idol", Czyz was a member of the United States amateur boxing team whose other members died in the 1980 plane crash. Because of an auto accident one week before the fatal trip, Czyz was not on the plane.

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Professional career

Czyz had a quick start to his professional boxing career in the early 1980s, and he was soon in line for a shot against world middleweight champion Marvin Hagler. He had to start from scratch, however, after suffering a 10-round loss at the hands of veteran Mustafa Hamsho in November 1982.

Czyz went up in weight, put another string of wins together, and in September 1986, he finally found himself in a ring with an undefeated world champion, IBF light heavyweight champion Slobodan Kacar (Olympic Gold medallist of 1980). Czyz beat him in five rounds.

Czyz made three defenses - a one-round defeat of David Sears, a see-saw second-round KO of Willie Edwards, and a fifth-round TKO of Jim McDonald - before taking on 'Prince' Charles Williams in October 1987. Czyz scored an early knockdown of Williams, yet the challenger not only stayed in the fight, but also hammered shut Czyz' left eye en route to scoring a TKO victory and thus seizing the title after eight rounds of boxing.

Czyz then lost a decision to Dennis Andries in May 1988, followed by a couple of victories, in turn followed by two cracks at the world title in 1989. Czyz, despite truly good efforts on his part in both challenges, lost both of them - a 12-round decision to Virgil Hill in North Dakota for the WBA version in March, and a 10th-round TKO loss to Williams in an IBF title rematch in June.

Czyz went on to stop then-undefeated Andrew Maynard in seven rounds (the second undefeated Gold medallist he KO'd) in June 1990, then jumped up to cruiserweight. He challenged Robert Daniels for Daniels' WBA world cruiserweight championship in March 1991, and won a unanimous decision. Two defenses, against Bash Ali and Donny Lalonde, were made (both by unanimous decision) before Czyz vacated the title.

In 1994, Czyz became a television boxing analyst working alongside Steve Albert and Ferdie Pacheco whilst continuing his boxing career.The trio covered fights in many locations worldwide. In December 1994, he covered the first world title fight ever held in Ecuador as a member of Showtime's crew.

In 1996, he stepped up to the heavyweight division, but lost by knockout in five rounds to Evander Holyfield and quickly retired. Czyz fought one last time in 1998, losing by second round TKO to South African Corrie Sanders. Czyz continued doing color commentary for Showtime, but was let go after pleading guilty to his fourth drunken-driving offense in six years after being caught speeding in Readington Township, New Jersey. Czyz's case received a lot of attention as he was a multiple repeat DUI case, and was a driver behind the NJ Assembly revisiting its legislation. Czyz, who was a Raritan Township, New Jersey resident at the time, was given a six-month license suspension for each of his three drunken driving convictions in 1998, 1999 and 2000. It was discovered that he was sentenced improperly as a first-time offender after his fourth arrest, which occurred in February 2003 in Readington Township, where he was caught driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 percent. The state limit at that time was 0.10 percent.

Preceded by
Slobodan Kačar
IBF Light Heavyweight Champion
6 September 1986-29 October 1987
Succeeded by
Charles Williams
Preceded by
Robert Daniels
WBA Cruiserweight Champion
8 March 1991-1992
Vacates
Succeeded by
Orlin Norris

Professional boxing record

44 Wins (28 knockouts, 16 decisions), 8 Losses (5 knockouts, 3 decisions)
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss Corrie Sanders TKO 2 12/06/1998 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Loss Evander Holyfield RTD 5 10/05/1996 New York City, United States
Win Richard Jackson TKO 6 05/12/1995 Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
Win Jeff Williams UD 10 22/09/1995 West Orange, New Jersey, United States
Win Tim Tomashek TKO 5 24/03/1995 West Orange, New Jersey, United States
Loss David Izeqwire RTD 4 04/08/1994 Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States
Win George O'Mara UD 10 19/02/1994 Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Win Donny Lalonde UD 12 08/05/1992 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win Bash Ali UD 12 09/08/1991 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Robert Daniels SD 12 08/03/1991 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Horacio Rene Brandan TKO 6 21/09/1990 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Andrew Maynard KO 7 24/06/1990 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Uriah Grant UD 10 23/03/1990 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss Charles Williams RTD 10 25/06/1989 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss Virgil Hill UD 12 04/03/1989 Bismarck, North Dakota, United States
Win Mike DeVito TKO 7 27/12/1988 Fort Myers, Florida, United States
Win Leslie Stewart SD 10 25/10/1988 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss Dennis Andries MD 10 22/05/1988 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss Charles Williams RTD 9 29/10/1987 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win Jim MacDonald TKO 6 03/05/1987 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Willie Edwards KO 2 21/02/1987 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win David Sears TKO 1 26/12/1986 West Orange, New Jersey, United States
Win Slobodan Kacar TKO 5 06/09/1986 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win Murray Sutherland UD 10 26/07/1985 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Mike Fischer UD 10 09/05/1985 West Orange, New Jersey, United States
Win Tim Broady TKO 4 18/01/1985 Houston, Texas, United States
Win Marvin Mack UD 10 23/10/1984 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Mark Frazie UD 10 30/05/1984 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Jimmy Baker TKO 1 15/02/1984 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Bill Medei TKO 4 25/10/1983 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Bert Lee TKO 3 09/09/1983 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss Mustafa Hamsho UD 10 20/11/1982 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Chris Linson TKO 2 25/09/1982 McAfee, New Jersey, United States
Win Manuel Melon TKO 2 03/07/1982 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Bobby Coolidge TKO 5 23/05/1982 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Robbie Sims UD 10 17/01/1982 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Elisha Obed DQ 6 12/11/1981 East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States
Win Dan Snyder TKO 2 08/10/1981 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Rick Noggle TKO 7 26/07/1981 Tampa, Florida, United States
Win Reggie Jones TKO 7 18/06/1981 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Oscar Albarado TKO 3 21/05/1981 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Teddy Mann UD 8 23/02/1981 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Danny Long TKO 5 08/02/1981 McAfee, New Jersey, United States
Win Skipper Jones TKO 7 18/12/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Tommy Merola TKO 2 16/10/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Johnny Davis TKO 1 18/09/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Leo Ferro UD 8 21/08/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Bruce Strauss KO 4 17/07/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Ronald Cousins TKO 1 19/06/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Dalton Swift KO 2 22/05/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States
Win Jamal Arbubakar PTS 4 08/05/1980 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win Hank Whitmore KO 1 24/04/1980 Totowa, New Jersey, United States

Outside of the ring

Czyz married actress and photographer Kimberly Ross (born October 8, 1959) on October 27, 1992. Their daughter, Mercedes Czyz, was born September 27, 1993. They were divorced by the time Kimberly died, after a long battle with breast cancer, on December 19, 2006, aged 47.

He has since been inducted into the Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

Czyz is a member of Mensa, the organization for people who have scored in the highest 2% of takers in an IQ test. He even wore a shirt with "MENSA" on it while walking to the ring to fight Evander Holyfield.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]

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