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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.
Thadzi scored his career best win in 1997, when he upset three-time world champion James Toney via majority decision at the Foxwoods Casino. 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 | |||||||
| 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
- "Hill cruises to victory over Thadzi". The Bismarck Tribune. September 3, 1995. p. 13. Retrieved February 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Price, Terry (May 15, 1997). "Thadzi defeats overweight Toney". Hartford Courant. p. 163. Retrieved February 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Drake Thadzi at BoxRec (registration required)
- Drake Thadzi at Olympedia
- Boxing-Records
- sports-reference