Mariusz Wach

Mariusz Wach (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmariuʂ ˈvax]; born 14 December 1979) is a Polish professional boxer and world heavyweight title challenger. He is a former WBC International heavyweight champion and is best known for his 2012 world title challenge against Wladimir Klitschko, in which he lost a twelve-round decision.^[2]

Early life

Mariusz Wach was born 14 December 1979 in Krakow, Poland. He emigrated to North Bergen, New Jersey.^[1][3]

Amateur career

Wach was born in Kraków, Poland. He first became acquainted with boxing in 1990, amassing a 90-fight amateur career that saw him represent his native Poland in numerous amateur tournaments. Among his greatest achievements during that period were winning two gold medals and a bronze in the Individual Polish Championships and a silver in the 2004 European Union Championships. Wach later represented Poland in the 2004 Summer Olympics as an alternate.

Professional career

Early years

Wach turned pro in April 2005 and defeated Deniss Melniks by first round knockout in Świebodzice, Poland. He made his American debut in January 2006 by defeating Adele Olakanye by decision on the undercard of Arturo Gatti’s destruction of Thomas Damgaard at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. Wach won seven fights that year, including five in America which was highlighted by winning the Polish International heavyweight title by a ninth round knockout of Arthur Cook in Illinois. A few months later he won a belt in TWBA federation. On April 2009 in Jaroslaw, Poland Wach blasted out his American opponent Julius Long and defended his title of the World Champion in TWBA. Mariusz has also served as a sparring partner for several well-known boxers, including former heavyweight champion Samuel Peter. In 2010, after being sidelined for a year due to injury, Wach returned to the ring in great shape and turned in one of his best performances as a professional, knocking out Christian Hammer in six rounds in Germany.

Current

In September 2010, Wach was invited by Mariusz Kolodziej, CEO of Global Boxing Promotions, to move to the United States and train at Global Boxing Gym in North Bergen, NJ. Under the guidance of former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, Wach began his 2-month training camp in preparation for his matchup with Jonathan Haggler. In his first fight of 2011 – against Haggler in Newark, NJ – Wach scored a third round knockout to win the WBC Baltic heavyweight title. After this fight, Wach signed a promotional agreement with Mariusz Kolodziej of Global Boxing Promotions and Jimmy Burchfield of CES.^[4]

Wach’s first big test came in July 2011, when he faced off with Kevin McBride, who ended Mike Tyson’s career as a boxer. Wach was quicker and sharper, and with one right cross, knocked McBride out cold in the fourth round winning the WBC International heavyweight title.

Wach returned to the Mohegan Sun Arena just four months later with another statement-making performance, this time knocking out Jason Gavern in six rounds at the "November Reign" event.

On 24 March Wach showed that he is a force to be reckoned with after scoring a six-round TKO over another giant, Tye Fields (49–5, 44 KOS). The event took place at the Resorts Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey and got coverage form ESPN's Friday Night Fights.^[4]

Fight for world title

Wach fought Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on 10 November 2012, in Hamburg, Germany.^[5] 32-year-old Wach was the fourth Polish contender in history to try to win the world title in the heavyweight division.^[6] Wach said at the weigh-in "My fellow countrymen Adamek and Sosnowski did not have what it takes to beat a Klitschko. I am not a former cruiserweight (like Adamek) but a real heavyweight. Klitschko will take a lot of hard punches before I knock him out. I will be the first Polish world heavyweight champion."^[7] Wach went the distance, losing the fight by judges' decision (120–107, 120–107 and 119–109). He did manage to land a huge right hand to Klitschko's jaw in the last twenty seconds of the 5th round that temporarily stunned Klitschko, but was not able to knock his opponent down.

Failed drug test

Wach failed a doping test after losing a world heavyweight title fight against Wladimir Klitschko. He admitted to doping in bout against Klitschko and is now awaiting sanctions from the Federation of German Professional Boxing, but said that he plans to continue his career no matter how harsh the penalties are.^[8][9]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
34	Win	32–2	Marcelo Luiz Nascimento	UD	10	14 May 2016	Hala Azoty, Kędzierzyn-Koźle
33	Loss	31–2	Alexander Povetkin	TKO	12 (12), 0:50	04 Nov 2015	Tatneft Arena, Kazan	For WBC Silver Heavyweight title.
32	Win	31–1	Konstantin Airich	TKO	6 (10), 2:39	19 Jun 2015	Sport Hall, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski
31	Win	30–1	Gbenga Oloukun	UD	10	14 Mar 2015	Sport Hall, Lubin
30	Win	29–1	Travis Walker	KO	6 (10), 2:30	12 Dec 2014	MOSiR, Radom
29	Win	28–1	Samir Kurtagic	UD	8	07 Oct 2014	Sport Hall, Dzierżoniów
28	Loss	27–1	Wladimir Klitschko	UD	12	10 Nov 2012	02 World, Hamburg	For WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO & The Ring Heavyweight titles.
27	Win	27–0	Tye Fields	TKO	6 (12), 1:44	24 Mar 2012	Resorts Hotel & Casino, New Jersey	Retained WBC International Heavyweight title
26	Win	26–0	Jason Gavern	TKO	6 (12), 1:03	06 Nov 2011	Mohegan Sun Casino, Connecticut	Retained WBC International Heavyweight title
25	Win	25–0	Kevin McBride	KO	4 (12), 2:25	29 Jul 2011	Mohegan Sun Casino, Connecticut	Win WBC International Heavyweight title
24	Win	24–0	Jonathan Haggler	KO	3 (10), 1:22	29 Feb 2011	Essex County Colleqe, New Jersey
23	Win	23–0	Galen Brown	TKO	4 (6), 2:48	12 Nov 2010	Twin River Event Center, Rhode Island
22	Win	22–0	Christian Hammer	KO	6 (8), 1:56	17 Jul 2010	Sport Center, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
21	Win	21–0	Julius Long	TKO	7 (10), 2:17	24 Apr 2009	Sport Hall, Jarosław
20	Win	20–0	Remigijus Ziausys	UD	6	07 Feb 2009	Stadthalle, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
19	Win	19–0	Evgeny Orlov	PTS	10	21 Nov 2008	City Sport Hall, Grodzisk Mazowiecki
18	Win	18–0	Daniil Peretyatko	UD	8	07 Aug 2008	Sport Hall, Świebodzice
17	Win	17–0	Eric Boose	TKO	7 (8), 1:53	11 Jul 2008	Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
16	Win	16–0	Eduardo Franca	KO	1 (8), 2:57	13 Mar 2008	Sport Hall, Dzierżoniów
15	Win	15–0	Yavor Marinchev	UD	4	15 Dec 2007	MOSiR Hall, Ożarów Mazowiecki
14	Win	14–0	Andriy Kyndrych	UD	6	16 Nov 2007	Sport Hall, Tarnów
13	Win	13–0	Zoltan Beres	TKO	4 (12), 1:58	16 Dec 2006	Sport Hall, Poznań
12	Win	12–0	Alexandrs Borhovs	RTD	5 (6), 3:00	20 Oct 2006	Hall City, Włocławek
11	Win	11–0	Arthur Cook	RTD	9 (10), 0:01	23 Jun 2006	The Odeum, Illinois
10	Win	10–0	Raman Sukhaterin	UD	6	03 Jun 2006	City Hall, Ostrołęka
9	Win	9–0	Oleg Belykov	TKO	2 (6), 1:34	06 Apr 2006	OSiR, Grodzisk Mazowiecki
8	Win	8–0	Earl Ladson	UD	6	10 Mar 2006	Schuetzen Park, New Jersey
7	Win	7–0	Adele Olakanye	UD	4	28 Jan 2006	Boardwalk Hall, New Jersey
6	Win	6–0	Oleksandr Subin	UD	6	17 Dec 2005	Sport Hall, Żyrardów
5	Win	5–0	Tomas Mrazek	UD	4	01 Dec 2005	Sport Hall, Ostrołęka
4	Win	4–0	Sedrak Agagulyan	UD	4	27 Oct 2005	OSiR, Grodzisk Mazowiecki
3	Win	3–0	Aleksandrs Borhovs	UD	4	01 Oct 2005	EWE-Arena, Niedersachsen
2	Win	2–0	Milan Becak	TKO	2 (4)	05 Aug 2005	OSiR, Warsaw
1	Win	1–0	Deniss Melniks	TKO	1 (4)	29 Apr 2005	OSiR, Świebodzice

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mariusz Wach.

• Professional boxing record for Mariusz Wach from BoxRec