Drake Thadzi

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.^[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

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