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Drake Thadzi (born November 23, 1964, inLilongwe) is a Malawian formerprofessional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1998, twice challenging for alight heavyweight world title in 1995 and 1998. As am amateur, he competed at the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles.
Thadzi representedMalawi at the 1984 Olympics; he was decisioned in the second round of competition in thelight heavyweight division (– 81 kg) byAlgeria's eventual bronze medalistMustapha Moussa.
Soon afterwards Thadzi turned professional. He challengedVirgil 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 championJames Toney viamajority decision at the Foxwoods Casino.[2] At that point Thadzi appeared primed to fight for a title but managerGoody 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 toDariusz Michalczewski – before retiring in 1998 with a record of 30 wins (25 KO's), 1 draw and 9 losses.
| 30 Wins (25 KOs),9 Losses (4 KOs),1 Draw[1] | |||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 38-0 |  Dariusz Michalczewski | TKO | 9 | 12/12/1998 |  Frankfurt, Germany | ForLineal/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 | ForWBA 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 | |
