# Henry Maske

Henry Maske (German pronunciation:, audio; born 6 January 1964) is a German former professional boxer and one of Germany's most popular sports figures. He held the IBF light heavyweight title from 1993 until 1996.

## Amateur career

Maske was born in Treuenbrietzen, Bezirk Potsdam. He was an Olympic Gold medallist 1988 in Seoul (middleweight) for East Germany. His results were:

### Olympic results

Below is the record of Henry Maske, an East German middleweight boxer who competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics:
* Round of 64: bye
* Round of 32: Defeated Helman Palije (Malawi) by decision, 5–0
* Round of 16: Defeated Sello Mojela (Lesotho) by walkover
* Quarterfinal: Defeated Michele Mastrodonato (Italy) by decision, 5–0
* Semifinal: Defeated Chris Sande (Kenya) by decision, 5–0
* Final: Defeated Egerton Marcus (Canada) by decision, 5–0 (won gold medal)
Maske won the 1989 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Moscow and the silver medal at the 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Reno, Nevada. His toughest opponents were Cubans, particularly Angel Espinosa, whom he met three times in 1987–1988, losing all three by a 0–5 unanimous decision, and luckily for him, Maske didn't met Espinosa at Seoul as Cuba boycotted the 1988 Olympics.

## Professional career

During his career, Maske was a five-time boxing champion of East Germany. After reunification in 1990, he turned professional, and became the IBF world title holder in the light heavyweight category on 20 March 1993. Maske defended his title ten times between 1993 and 1996.
He retired in 1996 after suffering a split decision loss at the hands of Virgil Hill. In 2007, he won in a rematch.

## Post-boxing life

As of 2010, Maske owns ten McDonald's franchises in Germany. Maske works as a boxing commentator for the first German television channel (ARD).

## Comeback

After an 11-year retirement, he avenged his only defeat as a professional against Virgil Hill. The fight was held on 31 March 2007, in Munich; Maske won by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

## Professional boxing record

| 32 fights | 31 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 11 | 0 |
| By decision | 19 | 1 |
| By disqualification | 1 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 32 | Win | 31–1 | Virgil Hill | UD | 12 | 31 Mar 2007 | Munich, Germany | |
| 31 | Loss | 30–1 | Virgil Hill | SD | 12 | 23 Nov 1996 | Munich, Germany | Lost IBF light heavyweight title; For WBA light heavyweight title |
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | John Scully | UD | 12 | 25 May 1996 | Leipzig, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Duran Williams | UD | 12 | 17 Feb 1996 | Dortmund, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Graciano Rocchigiani | UD | 12 | 14 Oct 1995 | Munich, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Graciano Rocchigiani | UD | 12 | 27 May 1995 | Dortmund, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Egerton Marcus | UD | 12 | 11 Feb 1995 | Frankfurt, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Iran Barkley | RTD | 9 (12), 3:00 | 8 Oct 1994 | Halle, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Andrea Magi | UD | 12 | 4 Jun 1994 | Dortmund, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Ernesto Magdaleno | TKO | 9 (12) | 26 Mar 1994 | Dortmund, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | David Vedder | UD | 12 | 11 Dec 1993 | Düsseldorf, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Anthony Hembrick | UD | 12 | 18 Sep 1993 | Düsseldorf, Germany | Retained IBF light heavyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Charles Williams | UD | 12 | 20 Mar 1993 | Düsseldorf, Germany | Won IBF light heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Frank Minton | KO | 2 (?) | 2 Oct 1992 | Berlin, Germany | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Samson Cohen | RTD | 5 (8), 3:00 | 19 Sep 1992 | Kassel, Germany | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Lenzie Morgan | PTS | 10 | 27 Jun 1992 | Halle, Germany | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Steve McCarthy | DQ | 9 (10) | 4 Apr 1992 | Düsseldorf, Germany | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Leslie Stewart | KO | 7 (10) | 6 Mar 1992 | Berlin, Germany | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Tom Elton Collins | TKO | 8 (10), 1:35 | 6 Dec 1991 | Düsseldorf, Germany | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Darryl Fromm | KO | 2 (8) | 8 Nov 1991 | Paris, France | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Mike Peak | KO | 9 (?) | 12 Oct 1991 | Halle, Germany | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Rodrigo Benech | UD | 8 | 13 Sep 1991 | Düsseldorf, Germany | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Yawe Davis | PTS | 10 | 31 May 1991 | Berlin, Germany | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Miguel Angel Maldonado | PTS | 8 | 28 Feb 1991 | Düsseldorf, Germany | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Salim Muhammad | PTS | 8 | 25 Jan 1991 | Hollywood, Florida, U.S. | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Glazz Campbell | PTS | 8 | 7 Dec 1990 | Berlin, Germany | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Sean Mannion | PTS | 8 | 16 Nov 1990 | Hamburg, Germany | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Cordwell Hylton | TKO | 3 (6), 2:44 | 31 Oct 1990 | London, England | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Mike Brothers | KO | 2 (?) | 5 Oct 1990 | Düsseldorf, Germany | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Jorge Juan Salgado | PTS | 6 | 7 Sep 1990 | West Berlin, West Germany | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Mike Aubrey | PTS | 6 | 1 Jun 1990 | Düsseldorf, West Germany | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Antonio Arvizu | KO | 1 (6) | 9 May 1990 | London, England | |

## Television viewership
### Germany

| Date | Fight | Viewership (avg.) |
| 20 March 1993 | Henry Maske vs. Charles Williams | 3,100,000 |
| 11 February 1995 | Henry Maske vs. Egerton Marcus | 11,000,000 |
| 27 May 1995 | Henry Maske vs. Graciano Rocchigiani I | 13,180,000 |
| 14 October 1995 | Henry Maske vs. Graciano Rocchigiani II | 17,590,000 |
| 17 February 1996 | Henry Maske vs. Duran Williams | 15,030,000 |
| 25 May 1996 | Henry Maske vs. John Scully | 12,360,000 |
| 23 November 1996 | Henry Maske vs. Virgil Hill I | 17,500,000 |
| 31 March 2007 | Henry Maske vs. Virgil Hill II | 15,990,000 |
| | Total viewership | 105,750,000 |

## Acting

Maske played the lead role in the 2010 biopic Max Schmeling, for which he took several months of acting lessons. However, critique were largely negative on his performance in the film.