Bobby Czyz


Robert Edward Czyz is an American retired boxer, commentator. Czyz was a two-division world titlist at light heavyweight and cruiserweight.
Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey. He lived in Wanaque, New Jersey and attended Lakeland Regional High School. He is three quarters Italian and one quarter Polish.
Nicknamed "the 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.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Czyz was doing his best to secure his spot at the U.S. Olympic team for the eventually boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics. He was one of a few boxers who survived the LOT Flight 7 crash by staying at home in the United States. He finished his amateur career having 26 fights under his belt, with a record of 24 wins, 2 losses.
Czyz was injured in a car accident the week before LOT Polish Airlines Flight 7, where several of his teammates were killed, and did not make the trip.

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 one-sided, 10-round loss at the hands of veteran Mustafa Hamsho on November 20, 1982 in a bout that was nationally televised.
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 Kačar. 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 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 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.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
52Loss44–8 Corrie SandersTKO2, 1:4312 Jun 1998Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut.png" />For WBU Heavyweight title
51Loss44–7 Evander HolyfieldRTD5, 3:0010 May 1996Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York.png" />
50Win44–6 Richard JacksonTKO6, 1:245 Dec 1995Grand Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi.png" />Won WBU Super Cruiserweight title
49Win43–6 Jeff WilliamsUD1022 Sep 1995South Mountain Arena, West Orange, New Jersey.png" />
48Win42–6 Tim TomashekTKO5, 1:2424 Mar 1995
47Loss41–6 David IzeqwireRTD4, 3:004 Aug 1994Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, Connecticut.png" />For IBO Cruiserweight title
46Win41–5 George O'MaraUD1019 Feb 1994
45Win40–5 Donny LalondeUD128 May 1992Las Vegas, Nevada.png" />Retained WBA Cruiserweight title
44Win39–5 Bash AliUD129 Aug 1991Atlantic City, New Jersey.png" />Retained WBA Cruiserweight title
43Win38–5 Robert DanielsSD128 Mar 1991Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey.png" />Won WBA Cruiserweight title
42Win37–5 Horacio Rene BrandanTKO6, 2:0521 Sep 1990
41Win36–5 Andrew MaynardKO7, 0:4224 Jun 1990
40Win35–5 Uriah GrantUD1023 Mar 1990Showboat Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey.png" />
39Loss34–5 Charles WilliamsRTD10, 3:0025 Jun 1989For IBF Light Heavyweight title
38Loss34–4 Virgil HillUD124 Mar 1989For WBA Light Heavyweight Title
37Win34–3 Mike DeVitoTKO7, 1:1827 Dec 1988Lee County Civic Center, Fort Myers, Florida.png" />
36Win33–3 Leslie StewartSD1025 Oct 1988
35Loss32–3 Dennis AndriesMD1022 May 1988Park Place Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey.png" />
34Loss32–2 Charles WilliamsRTD9, 3:0029 Oct 1987Las Vegas Hilton, Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.png" />Lost IBF Light Heavyweight title
33Win32–1 Jim MacDonaldTKO6, 0:373 May 1987Retained IBF Light Heavyweight title
32Win31–1 Willie EdwardsKO2, 2:1621 Feb 1987Retained IBF Light Heavyweight title
31Win30–1 David SearsTKO1, 1:0126 Dec 1986Retained IBF Light Heavyweight title
30Win29–1 Slobodan KačarTKO5, 1:106 Sep 1986Won IBF Light Heavyweight title
29Win28–1 Murray SutherlandUD1026 Jul 1985
28Win27–1 Mike FischerUD109 May 1985
27Win26–1 Tim BroadyTKO4, 1:4118 Jan 1985
26Win25–1 Marvin MackUD1023 Oct 1984
25Win24–1 Mark FrazieUD1030 May 1984
24Win23–1 Jimmy BakerTKO1, 0:3015 Feb 1984
23Win22–1 Bill MedeiTKO4, 2:0425 Oct 1983
22Win21–1 Bert LeeRTD2, 3:009 Sep 1983
21Loss20–1 Mustafa HamshoUD1020 Nov 1982
20Win20–0 Chris LinsonTKO2 25 Sep 1982
19Win19–0 Manuel MelonTKO2, 1:243 Jul 1982
18Win18–0 Bobby CoolidgeTKO4, 3:0023 Mar 1982Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey.png" />
17Win17–0 Robbie SimsUD1017 Jan 1982
16Win16–0 Elisha ObedDQ6 12 Nov 1981Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey.png" />Obed disqualified for holding
15Win15–0 Dan SnyderTKO2, 2:228 Nov 1981
14Win14–0 Rick NoggleTKO7, 1:5926 Jun 1981Sun Dome, Tampa, Florida.png" />
13Win13–0 Reggie JonesRTD6, 3:0018 Jun 1981Won New Jersey Middleweight title
12Win12–0 Oscar AlbaradoTKO3, 2:3021 May 1981
11Win11–0 Teddy MannUD823 Feb 1981
10Win10–0 Danny LongTKO5, 2:058 Feb 1981
9Win9–0 Skipper JonesTKO7 18 Dec 1980
8Win8–0 Tommy MerolaTKO2, 2:4916 Oct 1980
7Win7–0 Johnny DavisTKO1, 1:4018 Sep 1980
6Win6–0 Leo FerroUD821 Aug 1980
5Win5–0 Bruce StraussKO4 17 Jul 1980
4Win4–0 Ronald CousinsTKO119 Jun 1980
3Win3–0 Dalton SwiftKO222 May 1980
2Win2–0 Jamal ArbubakarPTS48 May 1980
1Win1–0 Hank WhitmoreKO1 24 Apr 1980Professional debut

Outside the ring

Czyz married actress and photographer Kimberly Ross 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, 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.