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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

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

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

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

References

  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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