Drake Thadzi
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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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "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
[edit]- Drake Thadzi at BoxRec (registration required)
- Drake Thadzi at Olympedia
- Boxing-Records
- sports-reference