Željko Mavrović

Željko Mavrović
Željko Mavrović
	Mavrović in 2008
Born	Željko Mavrović; 17 February 1969 (age 55); Zagreb, SR Croatia
Nationality	Croatian
Other names	Zed; Šaka sa Srednjaka (Fist from Srednjaci); Irokez (Iroquois)
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Reach	77 in (196 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
	Boxing record
Total fights	28
Wins	27
Wins by KO	22
Losses	1
Men's amateur boxing
Representing Yugoslavia
Mediterranean Games

Željko Mavrović (pronounced [ˈʒěːʎko ˈmɑːvroʋitɕ]; born 17 February 1969) is a Croatian former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 1998. In 1998, as an undefeated challenger, he faced Lennox Lewis for the WBC heavyweight title, but lost in what would be his final fight. After retiring from boxing, Mavrović became an entrepreneur. Željko Mavrović was the first vegetarian in the history of world boxing who fought for the title of world champion.

Early years

Mavrović was born in Zagreb. He was raised in the neighborhood Srednjaci (which is the source of his nickname Šaka sa Srednjaka or Fist from Srednjaci).^[1]

Amateur career

As an amateur boxer, Mavrović was the Mediterranean champion in 1991 and Croatian champion in 1991 and 1992. He quickly progressed from the 75 to the 91 kg weight class.

Highlights

European Junior Championships (Middleweight), Copenhagen, Denmark, September 1986:

1/8: Lost to Mario Nesemann (East Germany) by unanimous decision, 0–5

Balkan Junior Championships (Light heavyweight), Patras, Greece, November 1987:

Finals: Defeated Petru Ohaci (Romania)

Usti Grand Prix (Light heavyweight), Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, March 1988:

1/4: Lost to Daniel Stantien (Czechoslovakia) by majority decision, 1–4

USA–Europe Duals (Heavyweight), Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 1988:

Lost to Ray Mercer (United States) RSC 1 (2:00)

XXIV Summer Olympics (Heavyweight), Seoul, South Korea, September 1988:

1/8: Lost to Baik Hyun-Man (South Korea) by unanimous decision, 0–5

Trofeo Italia (Heavyweight), Mestre, Venice, Italy, March 1989:

1/8: Defeated Hamayak Shabazian (Sweden) by unanimous decision, 5–0
1/4: Defeated Salih Ozkaraaslan (Turkey) by unanimous decision, 5–0
1/2: Defeated Bert Teuchert (West Germany) by unanimous decision, 5–0
Finals: Lost to Axel Schulz (East Germany) by majority decision, 1–4

Intercup (Heavyweight), Cologne, West Germany, April 1989:

Finals: Lost to Peter Stettinger (West Germany) by majority decision, 1–4

European Championships (Heavyweight), Athens, Greece, May 1989:

1/8: Lost to Axel Schulz (East Germany) by split decision, 2–3

World Championships (Heavyweight), Moscow, Soviet Union, September 1989:

1/8: Lost to Yevgeny Sudakov (Soviet Union) on points, 4–18

Goodwill Games (Heavyweight), Seattle, Washington, July 1990:

1/4: Lost to Yevgeny Sudakov (Soviet Union) by split decision, 2–3

USA–Yugoslavia Duals (Heavyweight), Rapid City, South Dakota, January 1990:

Defeated John Bray (United States) by unanimous decision, 3–0

Trofeo Italia (Heavyweight), Mestre, Venice, Italy, March 1990:

1/2: Defeated José Ortega (Spain) RSCI 3
Finals: Defeated Marcelino Filho (Brazil) by unanimous decision, 5–0

Yugoslavia–USA Duals (Heavyweight), Umag, Yugoslavia, July 1990:

Defeated James Johnson (United States) by unanimous decision, 3–0

Copenhagen Cup (Heavyweight), Copenhagen, Denmark, November 1990:

Finals: Defeated Tom Glesby (Canada) by unanimous decision, 5–0

European Championships (Heavyweight), Stockholm, Sweden, May 1991:

1/8: Defeated Vasile Adumitroaie (Romania) on points, 31–8
1/4: Lost to Arnold Vanderlijde (Netherlands) on points, 17–20

Trofeo Italia (Heavyweight), Mestre, Venice, Italy, March 1991:

1/4: Defeated Mikael Lindblad (Sweden) RET 1
1/2: Defeated Vasile Adumitroaie (Romania) RET 3
Finals: Defeated Peter Stettinger (Germany) by unanimous decision, 5–0

Box-Am Tournament (Heavyweight), Almeria, Spain, March 1991:

Finals: Defeated Freddy Rojas (Cuba) on points

XI Mediterranean Games (Heavyweight), Athens, Greece, July 1991:

1/2: Defeated M. A. Ibrahim Mohamed (Egypt)
Finals: Defeated Georgios Stefanopoulos (Greece) on points, 20–17

Chemistry Cup (Heavyweight), Halle, Germany, March 1992:

1/8: Defeated Peter Hart (Hungary) RET 2
1/4: Defeated Paul Douglas (Ireland) on points, 17–5
1/2: Defeated Paul Lawson (England) by walkover
Finals: Lost to Bert Teuchert (Germany) on points, 7–8

XXV Summer Olympics (Heavyweight), Barcelona, Spain, July 1992:

1/16: Defeated Mark Hulstrøm (Denmark) on points, 8–2
1/8: Lost to Danell Nicholson (United States) on points, 6–9

Mavrović had 140 fights as an amateur, compiling an amateur record of 124 wins, 16 losses.^[2]

Professional career

Upon turning professional, he won the EBU Champion of Europe title in 1995 and kept his title in 1996 and 1997 defending it seven times.

In 1998, he went up against Lennox Lewis for the world heavyweight champion title, but lost after twelve rounds via unanimous decision 119–109, 117–112, and 117–111. Although he was outclassed by Lewis in the fight, his daring performance pulled appreciative comments from boxing insiders. Lewis' manager Frank Maloney said that "Mavrović must have 240lb of steel in his chin" after the fight.^[3] Lewis described the fight as the most awkward win of his career, citing sauna-like conditions in the ring, as well as Mavrović's agility, motivation and preparedness.^[4]

Mavrović never fought again after this bout. In the next years, he was a few times scheduled against quality opposition (like for example against Hasim Rahman in 1999 where his late replacement Oleg Maskaev then knocked Rahman out of the ring in a well-remembered fight), but he always had to pull out due to injuries and he ultimately had to finish his career due to an undisclosed illness.

In December 2012 Mavrović announced his return to professional boxing. A match with Serbian Cruiserweight boxer Enad Ličina was scheduled for April 2013, but after breaking a rib during training just a few weeks before the scheduled match his return was first delayed^[5] and then canceled.^[6]

Mavrović served as a boxing director for the Croatian Boxing Federation during the 2014 European Youth Boxing Championships in Zagreb. He was quoted after the incident where Croatian boxer Vido Loncar assaulted and seriously injured a referee after a loss, excusing Loncar with the argument "I believe that he is not a butcher or as bad as this act makes him look. This was part of his excessive ambition in that moment".^[7] Loncar was subsequently banned from boxing for life.

Honors

His Golden Glove remains the biggest trophy in the history of Croatian heavyweight boxing, and he was named the Croatian sportsperson of the year twice. He was also distinctive for his Mohawk hairstyle, which led to a later nickname Irokez (Croatian for Iroquois).

Professional boxing record

27 Wins (22 knockouts, 5 decisions), 1 Loss (0 knockouts, 1 decision)[1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	27–1	Lennox Lewis	UD	12	26 Sep 1998	Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.	For WBC heavyweight title
Win	27–0	Vincenzo Cantatore	TKO	4 (12)	18 Oct 1997	Vienna, Austria	Defended European heavyweight title
Win	26–0	Lajos Eros	TKO	5 (12), 2:42	12 Jul 1997	Olympia, London, England	Defended European heavyweight title
Win	25–0	Julius Francis	TKO	8 (12)	15 Feb 1997	Kurhalle Oberlaa, Vienna, Austria	Defended European heavyweight title
Win	24–0	Clifton Mitchell	TKO	2	2 Nov 1996	Olympia Eisstadion, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	Defended European heavyweight title
Win	23–0	Mark Anthony Wills	RTD	8 (10)	22 Jun 1996	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany
Win	22–0	Christophe Bizot	UD	12	20 Apr 1996	Düsseldorf, Germany	Defended European heavyweight title
Win	21–0	Przemyslaw Saleta	KO	1 (12), 2:58	9 Dec 1995	Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany	Defended European heavyweight title.
Win	20–0	Michael Murray	KO	4 (8)	14 Oct 1995	Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany
Win	19–0	Ken Smith	KO	2 (10), 2:55	17 Jun 1995	Aladdin Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	18–0	Christophe Bizot	TKO	11	11 Apr 1995	Palais des sports Marcel-Cerdan, Levallois-Perret, France	Won vacant European heavyweight title
Win	17–0	Mark Young	RTD	5 (8), 3:00	25 Mar 1995	Düsseldorf, Germany
Win	16–0	Nathaniel Fitch	KO	1	11 Feb 1995	Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Win	15–0	Oleg Savenko	KO	3	26 Nov 1994	Wuppertal, Germany	Won vacant German International (BDB) heavyweight title
Win	14–0	Marion Wilson	PTS	8	8 Oct 1994	Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Germany
Win	13–0	Jerry Jones	PTS	10	17 Sep 1994	Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle, Leverkusen, Germany
Win	12–0	James Pritchard	UD	10	18 Jun 1994	Bismark Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	11–0	Marshall Tillman	TKO	1	4 Jun 1994	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany
Win	10–0	Jimmy Bills	KO	1	7 May 1994	Oberwerth Halle, Koblenz, Germany
Win	9–0	Mike Dixon	TKO	4 (?), 1:25	26 Mar 1994	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany
Win	8–0	Will Hinton	TKO	4 (6), 1:37	5 Feb 1994	Aladdin Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	7–0	Kimmuel Odum	PTS	8	11 Dec 1993	Philips Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany
Win	6–0	David Bey	TKO	4	16 Oct 1993	Koblenz, Germany
Win	5–0	Marco van Spaendonck	TKO	1 (?), 1:37	18 Sep 1993	Philips Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany
Win	4–0	Webster Vinson	KO	2	7 Aug 1993	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	3–0	John Morton	KO	3	26 Jun 1993	Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Win	2–0	Chris Harbourne	TKO	1	1 May 1993	Sporthalle Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
Win	1–0	Bruno Podgorny	TKO	3	20 Mar 1993	Philips Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany

Retirement and later years

After retirement, he went into agricultural business. He opened "Eko-centar Mavrović" in Sloboština near Požega where he produces his line of eco-friendly food.^[8] After initial success his business fell into financial problems in the early 2010s.

References

^ "Željko Mavrović progovoriti o obitelji, boksu i nadimku" [Željko Mavrović spekas about family, boxing and his nickname] (in Croatian). tportal.hr. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
^ Željko Mavrović Amateur Record at the BoxingRecords. Last updated : 12 April 2006.
^ Boxing: Lewis less than a knockout in the US
^ "Lennox Lewis: Consummate Cool". Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
^ "Mavrović u Nu2: Puklo mi je rebro, odgađam povratak!" (in Croatian). tportal. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
^ "ISPOVIJEST ŽELJKA MAVROVIĆA 'Nisam samoubojica! Odustajem. Imam ženu i djecu!'" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
^ "Boxer banned after brutal attack on referee". Sky Sports. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
^ Eko-Mavrović homepage

External links

Boxing record for Željko Mavrović from BoxRec (registration required)
Nedjeljom u dva – Željko Mavrović (07.04.2013)

[1] "Željko Mavrović progovoriti o obitelji, boksu i nadimku" [Željko Mavrović spekas about family, boxing and his nickname] (in Croatian). tportal.hr. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2023.

[2] Željko Mavrović Amateur Record at the BoxingRecords. Last updated : 12 April 2006.

[3] Boxing: Lewis less than a knockout in the US

[4] "Lennox Lewis: Consummate Cool". Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.

[5] "Mavrović u Nu2: Puklo mi je rebro, odgađam povratak!" (in Croatian). tportal. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.

[6] "ISPOVIJEST ŽELJKA MAVROVIĆA 'Nisam samoubojica! Odustajem. Imam ženu i djecu!'" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.

[7] "Boxer banned after brutal attack on referee". Sky Sports. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.

[8] Eko-Mavrović homepage

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