# 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.
Thadzi scored his career best win in 1997, when he upset three-time world champion James Toney via majority decision at the Foxwoods Casino. 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 | |