Drake Thadzi

Drake Thadzi (born November 23, 1964, in Lilongwe) is a Malawian former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1998, twice challenging for a light heavyweight world title in 1995 and 1998. As am amateur, he competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Amateur career

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Thadzi represented Malawi at the 1984 Olympics; he was decisioned in the second round of competition in the light heavyweight division (– 81 kg) by Algeria's eventual bronze medalist Mustapha Moussa.

Professional career

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Soon afterwards Thadzi turned professional. He challenged Virgil Hill for the WBA light heavyweight title in 1995 but lost a decision.[1]

Thadzi scored his career best win in 1997, when he upset three-time world champion James Toney via majority decision at the Foxwoods Casino.[2] At that point Thadzi appeared primed to fight for a title but manager Goody Petronelli inexplicably failed to get him a fight during the next 15 months. Thadzi finished out with only two more fights after the Toney win – a technical knockout victory over "Iceman" John Scully and a title loss to Dariusz Michalczewski – before retiring in 1998 with a record of 30 wins (25 KO's), 1 draw and 9 losses.

Professional boxing record

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30 Wins (25 KOs), 9 Losses (4 KOs), 1 Draw [1]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 38-0 Poland Dariusz Michalczewski TKO 9 12/12/1998 Germany Frankfurt, Germany For Lineal/WBO light-heavyweight titles.
Win 37-8 United States Iceman John Scully TKO 7 02/08/1998 United States Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win 54-3-2 United States James Toney MD 12 14/05/1997 United States Mashantucket, Connecticut, U.S.
Win 11-7-1 Canada Darrell Flint TKO 9 19/10/1996 Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Loss 40-1 United States Virgil Hill UD 12 02/09/1995 United Kingdom Wembley, London, England For WBA light-heavyweight title.
Win 9-24-1 United States Jose Hiram Torres KO 2 19/05/1995 United States New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win 5-14 United States Joe Harris KO 2 04/03/1995 United States Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win 13-13 United States Willie Kemp PTS 8 01/10/1994 United States Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win 3-3 Hungary Zoltan Fuzesy TKO 3 04/06/1994 Germany Dortmund, Germany
Loss 16-0-1 United States Ernest Mateen MD 10 13/05/1993 United States Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Loss 18-1-1 United States Adolpho Washington UD 10 16/01/1993 United States San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Win 7-19 United States Jose Vera PTS 8 08/05/1992 United States Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Loss 7-4 United States Art Bayliss KO 8 28/02/1992 United States Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win 15-22 United States Danny Chapman TKO 3 12/12/1991 United States Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win 6-24-4 United States Jimmy Harrison TKO 5 23/08/1991 United States Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. New England light-heavyweight title.
Win 11-5-2 United States Danny Stonewalker TKO 8 04/08/1991 Canada Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada Canada light-heavyweight title.
Win 19-27 United States Robert Curry TKO 3 31/05/1991 Canada Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada
Loss 27-6 Trinidad and Tobago Leslie Stewart UD 10 28/02/1991 Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Win 7-11-1 United States Melvin Ricks KO 6 14/09/1990 Canada Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada
Win 6-9-1 Jamaica Wesley Reid KO 3 22/06/1990 United States Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S. New England light-heavyweight title.
Win 0-7-2 United States Ruben Cardona KO 5 23/02/1990 United States Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.
Loss 5-8-1 United States Wesley Reid KO 4 19/01/1990 United States Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S. New England light-heavyweight title.
Win 22-11 United Kingdom Keith Bristol UD 6 20/10/1989 United States Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Loss 5-0 United States Al Cole PTS 6 12/09/1989 United States Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 22-10 United Kingdom Keith Bristol KO 5 09/06/1989 United States Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win -- United States Rodney Jones TKO 1 28/04/1989 United States Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Win 10-2 Canada Terry Francis KO 5 30/03/1989 Canada Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Win -- United States Dennis Burley TKO 2 10/12/1988 United States Salem, New Hampshire, U.S.
Win 0-1 United States Angel Colon TKO 1 22/10/1988 United States Salem, New Hampshire, U.S.
Win 2-5 United States Andy Gordon TKO 2 30/07/1988 United States Brockton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Loss 11-1 Ghana Sadik Sulemana TKO 4 24/11/1987 Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Draw 3-2 Canada Darrell Flint PTS 6 29/09/1987 Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Win 0-1 Canada Ken Barlow TKO 3 20/09/1987 Canada Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada
Win -- Canada Ken Barlow TKO 2 07/07/1987 Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Win 1-2 Zimbabwe Gilbert Mwambo KO 8 09/03/1986 Malawi Lilongwe, Malawi
Win -- Ben Chitenje KO 3 09/02/1986 Malawi Malawi
Win -- Zambia Joseph Poto KO 5 02/11/1985 Malawi Malawi
Win 0-1 Justice Mahilasi PTS 6 29/06/1985 Malawi Malawi
Win -- Titus Kanyanji KO 3 24/02/1985 Malawi Malawi
Win -- Justice Mahilasi KO 2 28/12/1984 Malawi Malawi

References

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  1. ^ "Hill cruises to victory over Thadzi". The Bismarck Tribune. September 3, 1995. p. 13. Retrieved February 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Price, Terry (May 15, 1997). "Thadzi defeats overweight Toney". Hartford Courant. p. 163. Retrieved February 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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