Post by pieter on May 19, 2014 13:10:21 GMT -7
Polish boxer who lost to Muhammad Ali dies
19.05.2014 15:18
Zbigniew (Zigzy) Pietrzykowski, the three-time Olympic medallist and the Polish boxer who lost to the then Cassius Clay in the 1960 Olympic light heavyweight final, has died aged 79
Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, Moscow 1963: photo - PAP / Zbigniew Matuszewski
Pietrzykowski was one of the most successful Polish amateur boxers in the history if the sport. He was eleven times national champion at different weights and four-time time European Champion.
After winning bronze at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the southpaw boxer from a small village in the Silesian province made it through to the final of the light heavyweight championship at the Rome 1960 Games. Between the Pole and a gold medal stood the brash 18 year-old Cassius Marcellus Clay who would later become Muhammad Ali.
The Pole put up a good fight but was outpointed by the lightening speed of Clay's regular onslaughts.
Ali would go on to beat Sonny Liston to lift the world heavyweight belt, while Pietrzykowski would win bronze at the 1964 Olympics and many other medals and awards, finishing his career with a record of 334 wins, 2 draws and 14 losses.
Between 1993 and 1997 the retired boxer was elected to the lower house of parliament; he also served on the Polish Olympic Committee.
Zbigniew Pietrzykowski died on May 19 in Bielsko-Biala after a long illness.
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) vs. Zigzy Pietrzykowski
