Michalczewski: “For my 50th fight I want Roy Jones Jr.!”

Light heavyweight king Dariusz Michalczewski goes for Marciano's record when he defends in Hamburg on Oct 18.

11.08 - Press Release- Exciting long time undefeated light heavyweight world champion Dariusz Michalczewski will climb back into the ring on October 18.

The contest that will take place once again inside the huge Color Line Arena in Hamburg will be more than just Michalczewski’s 24th world title defense.

It will be the attempt of the merciless German based champion to catch up with the historic fight record of legendary former heavyweight world champion Rocky Marciano.

If Michalczewski is victorious on October 18 he will have scored 49 wins without a loss. The same that Marciano, heavyweight champ from 1952 to 1955, did almost 50 years ago.

Should Michalczewski win another title defense afterwards, he would break Marciano’s record and at the same time catch up with the record for number of consecutive world title defenses, held by the great Joe Louis who defended the heavyweight world title 25 times between 1937 and 1948.

„It’s a good thing that my next fight takes place in Hamburg again”, the 35-year-old Polish said. “I need the exciting atmosphere in Hamburg for my world record attempt.”

The name of Michalczewski’s challenger will be announced later. However, in one of his latest statements the “Tiger” made clear that for the rest of his career he wants only strong top opposition. Among Michalczewski’s last challengers in the past four years were Montell Griffin, Graciano Rocchigiani and Richard Hall (twice). Earlier in his title reign the Hamburg and Gdansk based fighter beat then unified light heavyweight king Virgil Hill.

He also captured the WBO world title at cruiserweight in 1994.

In his last world title fight Michalczewski defended the WBO 175 lb. crown with a ninth round technical knockout over American Derrick Harmon on March 29 in Hamburg.

One man missing on his list is former light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. who Michalczewski tries to get into the ring for many years and still would love to fight against.

Michalczewski has become famous for his action packed battles and his merciless fighting style. None of his last 14 opponents was able to reach the final bell. From his 25 world title contests (24 at light heavyweight, one at cruiserweight) Michalczewski won 21 inside the distance.

Especially three of Michalczewski’s last four fights all turned into bloody wars where the Polish inflicted as much damage to his opponents as his own face was suffering damage itself. During all of Michalczewski’s violent fights the crowd in the arena is going mad.

„The record of Rocky Marciano is a great motivation to me“, Michalczewski said. “I want to reach 50-0, break Marciano’s record and even the record of Joe Louis in title defenses.”

“And for my 50th fight I want Roy Jones Jr.!”

Live Webcam Chat with Luan Krasniqi on August 21

Boxing fans can be looking forward to another live chat with a prominent fighter. The Chat room of Boxing.de will host former European heavyweight champion Luan Kransiqi on August 21 in a live chat starting 19:00 German time.

Krasniqi who will step into the ring on August 30 for his 25th pro contest will reply to all fan questions in German or English language. During the whole chat the webcam will display his live picture.

The Boxing.de Chat room is now available in a new design with comfortable functions for all users and an attached webcam.

Chat with Luan Krasniqi
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Start: 19:00 Deutschland, 1pm US ET, 10am US PT
www.boxing.de

Next Boxing.de Live Broadcast on August 30

Don't miss the next Webcam Live Event on Boxing.de on August 30 from the Olympic Arena of Munich. Dr. Wladimir Klitschko will celebrate his comeback that night against Fabio Moli. Boxing.de will broadcast the whole undercard via webcam and a snapshot of the ring in a 10 seconds rythm. The Boxing.de Broadcast will include a total of 7 fights and will last approximately 4 hours. During the live broadcast of ZDF Boxing.de will complete the German TV broadcast with a live punchstat on the internet.

Start Webcam Broadcast on August 30:
19:00 Deutschland, 1pm New York, 10am Los Angeles
www.boxing.de/live

Next Events

August 30
Olympiahalle, München
WBA International Heavyweight Championship
Dr. Wladimir Klitschko vs. Fabio Moli

September 6
Uj-Szegedi-Sporthalle, Szegedi, Hungary
WBO Int. Light Heavyweight Championship
Zsolt Erdei vs. Juan Nelongo Perez

September 13
Estrel Convention Center, Berlin
WBO Middleweight Championship
Hector Velaczo vs. Bert Schenk

October 18
Color Line Arena, Hamburg
WBO Light Heavyweight Championship
Dariusz Michalczewski vs. TBA