Bobby Czyz


Robert Edward Czyz is an American commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the International Boxing Federation light heavyweight title from 1986 to 1987 and the World Boxing Association cruiserweight title from 1991 to 1993.
Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey. He grew up in Wanaque, New Jersey and attended Lakeland Regional High School. He is three quarters Italian and one quarter Polish. His younger brother is avant-garde fiction writer Vincent Czyz.
Nicknamed "the Matinee Idol", Czyz was a member of the United States amateur boxing team whose other members died aboard LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 when it crashed in 1980. Czyz did not make the trip, as he was recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Czyz was doing his best to secure his spot at the U.S. Olympic team for the eventually missed 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.

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 nine 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
52Loss44–8Corrie SandersTKO2, 1:4312 Jun 1998Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, ConnecticutFor WBU heavyweight title
51Loss44–7Evander HolyfieldRTD5, 3:0010 May 1996Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
50Win44–6Richard JacksonTKO6, 1:245 Dec 1995Grand Casino, Biloxi, MississippiWon WBU super cruiserweight title
49Win43–6Jeff WilliamsUD1022 Sep 1995South Mountain Arena, West Orange, New Jersey
48Win42–6Tim TomashekTKO5, 1:2424 Mar 1995South Mountain Arena, West Orange, New Jersey
47Loss41–6David IzeqwireRTD4, 3:004 Aug 1994Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, ConnecticutFor IBO cruiserweight title
46Win41–5George O'MaraUD1019 Feb 1994Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
45Win40–5Donny LalondeUD128 May 1992Riviera Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NevadaRetained WBA cruiserweight title
44Win39–5Bash AliUD129 Aug 1991Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New JerseyRetained WBA cruiserweight title
43Win38–5Robert DanielsSD128 Mar 1991Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New JerseyWon WBA cruiserweight title
42Win37–5Horacio Rene BrandanTKO6, 2:0521 Sep 1990Taj Mahal's Mark G Etess Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey
41Win36–5Andrew MaynardKO7, 0:4224 Jun 1990Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey
40Win35–5Uriah GrantUD1023 Mar 1990Showboat Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
39Loss34–5Charles WilliamsRTD10, 3:0025 Jun 1989Convention Center, Atlantic City, New JerseyFor IBF light heavyweight title
38Loss34–4Virgil HillUD124 Mar 1989Civic Center, Bismarck, North DakotaFor WBA light heavyweight title
37Win34–3Mike DeVitoTKO7, 1:1827 Dec 1988Lee County Civic Center, Fort Myers, Florida
36Win33–3Leslie StewartSD1025 Oct 1988Resorts International, Atlantic City, New Jersey
35Loss32–3Dennis AndriesMD1022 May 1988Ballys Park Place Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
34Loss32–2Charles WilliamsRTD9, 3:0029 Oct 1987Las Vegas Hilton, Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas, NevadaLost IBF light heavyweight title
33Win32–1Jim MacDonaldTKO6, 0:373 May 1987Convention Center, Atlantic City, New JerseyRetained IBF light heavyweight title
32Win31–1Willie EdwardsKO2, 2:1621 Feb 1987Trump Plaza Hotel, Atlantic City, New JerseyRetained IBF light heavyweight title
31Win30–1David SearsTKO1, 1:0126 Dec 1986South Mountain Arena, West Orange, New JerseyRetained IBF light heavyweight title
30Win29–1Slobodan KačarTKO5, 1:106 Sep 1986Las Vegas Hilton, Hilton Center, Las Vegas, NevadaWon IBF light heavyweight title
29Win28–1Murray SutherlandUD1026 Jul 1985Atlantis Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
28Win27–1Mike FischerUD109 May 1985South Mountain Arena, West Orange, New Jersey
27Win26–1Tim BroadyTKO4, 1:4118 Jan 1985Summit, Houston, Texas
26Win25–1Marvin MackUD1023 Oct 1984Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
25Win24–1Mark FrazieUD1030 May 1984Atlantic City, New Jersey
24Win23–1Jimmy BakerTKO1, 0:3015 Feb 1984Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
23Win22–1Bill MedeiTKO4, 2:0425 Oct 1983Playboy Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
22Win21–1Bert LeeRTD2, 3:009 Sep 1983Caesars Palace, Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
21Loss20–1Mustafa HamshoUD1020 Nov 1982Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
20Win20–0Chris LinsonTKO2 25 Sep 1982Americana Great Gorge Resort, McAfee, New Jersey
19Win19–0Manuel MelonTKO2, 1:243 Jul 1982Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
18Win18–0Bobby CoolidgeTKO4, 3:0023 Mar 1982Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
17Win17–0Robbie SimsUD1017 Jan 1982Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
16Win16–0Elisha ObedDQ6 12 Nov 1981Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New JerseyObed disqualified for holding
15Win15–0Dan SnyderTKO2, 2:228 Nov 1981Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
14Win14–0Rick NoggleTKO7, 1:5926 Jun 1981Sun Dome, Tampa, Florida
13Win13–0Reggie JonesRTD6, 3:0018 Jun 1981Ice World, Totowa, New JerseyWon New Jersey middleweight title
12Win12–0Oscar AlbaradoTKO3, 2:3021 May 1981Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
11Win11–0Teddy MannUD823 Feb 1981Caesars Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
10Win10–0Danny LongTKO5, 2:058 Feb 1981Playboy Club, McAfee, New Jersey
9Win9–0Skipper JonesTKO7 18 Dec 1980Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
8Win8–0Tommy MerolaTKO2, 2:4916 Oct 1980Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
7Win7–0Johnny DavisTKO1, 1:4018 Sep 1980Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
6Win6–0Leo FerroUD821 Aug 1980Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
5Win5–0Bruce StraussKO4 17 Jul 1980Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
4Win4–0Ronald CousinsTKO119 Jun 1980Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
3Win3–0Dalton SwiftKO222 May 1980Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey
2Win2–0Jamal ArbubakarPTS48 May 1980Resorts International, Atlantic City, New Jersey
1Win1–0Hank WhitmoreKO1 24 Apr 1980Ice World, Totowa, New JerseyProfessional debut