CZYZ, BOBBY SIGNED PHOTO (STINSON LOA)

JoSportsInc

Regular price $60.00

Robert Edward "Bobby" Czyz (/ˈtʃɛz/ CHEZ; born February 10, 1962) is a retired American boxer. A New Jersey native of Polish descent,[1] he is both a former world light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion. Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey. He lived in Wanaque, New Jersey and attended Lakeland Regional High School. Nicknamed "Matinee Idol", Czyz was a member of the United States amateur boxing team whose other members died in the LOT Polish Airlines plane crash in Poland in 1980. Because of an auto accident one week before the fatal trip, Czyz was not on the plane. Czyz had a quick start to his professional boxing career in the early 1980s, and he was soon in line for a shot against world middleweight champion Marvin Hagler. He had to start from scratch, however, after suffering a 10-round loss at the hands of veteran Mustafa Hamsho in November 1982. Czyz went up in weight, put another string of wins together, and in September 1986, he finally found himself in a ring with an undefeated world champion, IBF light heavyweight champion Slobodan Kacar (Olympic Gold medallist of 1980). Czyz beat him in five rounds. Czyz made three defenses - a one-round defeat of David Sears, a see-saw second-round KO of Willie Edwards, and a fifth-round TKO of Jim McDonald - before taking on 'Prince' Charles Williams in October 1987. Czyz scored an early knockdown of Williams, yet the challenger not only stayed in the fight, but also hammered shut Czyz' left eye en route to scoring a TKO victory and thus seizing the title after eight rounds of boxing. Czyz then lost a decision to Dennis Andries in May 1988, followed by a couple of victories, in turn followed by two cracks at the world title in 1989. Czyz, despite truly good efforts on his part in both challenges, lost both of them - a 12-round decision to Virgil Hill in North Dakota for the WBA version in March, and a 10th-round TKO loss to Williams in an IBF title rematch in June. Czyz went on to stop then-undefeated Andrew Maynard in seven rounds (the second undefeated Gold medallist he KO'd) in June 1990, then jumped up to cruiserweight. He challenged Robert Daniels for Daniels' WBA world cruiserweight championship in March 1991, and won a unanimous decision. Two defenses, against Bash Ali and Donny Lalonde, were made (both by unanimous decision) before Czyz vacated the title. Offered here is a signed promotional photo of Bobby Czyz. Comes with a LOA from Jim Stinson who did the signing with Czyz on December 12, 1992 in Las Vegas.
This is a black & white, 8" x 10" photo of Czyz in fight pose. Boldly signed in blue sharpie. Clean. Not creased or torn. Bold image.

Size: 8 x 10

Condition: near mint