Jerzy Kulej

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Jerzy Kulej
Jerzy Kulej 2.jpg
Jerzy Kulej in 2011
Personal information
Born(1940-10-19)19 October 1940
Częstochowa, Śląskie, Poland
Died13 July 2012(2012-07-13) (aged 71)
Warsaw, Poland
Height1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
SportBoxing
Weight classLight welterweight
ClubStart Częstochowa
Gwardia Warszawa
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Medal record
Men's boxing
Representing  Poland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Light welterweight
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City Light welterweight
European Amateur Championships
Gold medal – first place 1963 Moscow Light welterweight
Gold medal – first place 1965 East Berlin Light welterweight
Silver medal – second place 1967 Rome Light welterweight
Copy of J. Kulej medal and autograph in Sports Star Avenue in Dziwnów
Jerzy Kulej featured on a 1971 stamp

Jerzy Zdzisław Kulej (Polish: [ˈjɛʐɨ ˈkulɛj]; 19 October 1940 – 13 July 2012) was a Polish boxer, politician and sports commentator.[1][2] He was a double Olympic and World Champion.

Life and career[]

He was born in 1940 in Częstochowa, Poland. He started his boxing career in 1955 in the Start Częstochowa club. In 1958, he joined Poland's national team coached by Feliks Stamm. At the 1964 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the light welterweight division (<63.5 kg) defeating Yevgeny Frolov. In 1968,[3] he defended his title in a close match against a Cuban boxer Enrique Regüeiferos becoming the only Polish boxer to ever win two Olympic gold medals. He also twice won a gold medal at the European Amateur Championships in 1963 and 1965, and won a silver medal in 1967.[4] He had a record of 317 wins, 6 draws and 25 losses.

In 1976, he made an appearance in a movie Przepraszam, czy tu biją? directed by Marek Piwowski.[5] In 1995, he received the Aleksander Reksza Boxing Award.[6]

In 1998, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski for his "outstanding contributions to the Olympic movement, the development and popularization of physical culture as well as sporting achievements".[7]

In his later years, he became a politician representing various parties over the time. In 2001, as a member of Democratic Left Alliance for electoral district of Warsaw he became a member of the Polish parliament (the Sejm) and server to 2005. He was a boxing commentator for Polish TV station Polsat Sport.

Death[]

In December 2011, he suffered a massive heart attack. While in recovery, he learned that he suffered from an eye melanoma that was, in the end, the direct cause of his death in Warsaw on 13 July 2012 at the age of 71. He was buried on 20 July at the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.

Olympic results[]

1964 - Tokyo

  • Round of 64 – bye
  • Round of 32 – Defeated Roberto Amaya (Argentina) by decision, 5–0
  • Round of 16 – Defeated Richard McTaggart (Great Britain) by decision, 4–1
  • Quarterfinal – Defeated Iosif Mihalic (Romania) by decision, 4–1
  • Semifinal – Defeated Eddie Blay (Ghana) by decision, 5–0
  • Final – Defeated Yevgeny Frolov (Soviet Union) by decision, 5–0

1968 - Mexico City

  • Round of 64 – bye
  • Round of 32 – Defeated János Kajdi (Hungary) by decision, 3–2
  • Round of 16 – Defeated Giambattista Capretti (Italy) by decision, 4–1
  • Quarterfinals – Defeated Peter Tiepold (East Germany) by decision, 3–2
  • Semifinals – Defeated Arto Nilsson (Finland) by decision, 5–0
  • Final – Defeated Enrique Requeiferos (Cuba) by decision, 3–2

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Aneta Hołówek (13 July 2012). "Nie żyje Jerzy Kulej – najbardziej utytułowany polski bokser". Polskie Radio. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  2. ^ Jerzy Kulej Archived 20 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
  3. ^ "Olympic Games Boxing Results 1904 to 2000". Archived from the original on 23 February 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2010.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). sasktelwebsite.net
  4. ^ European Championships. Amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved on 6 August 2014.
  5. ^ Excuse Me, Is It Here They Beat Up People? (1976). IMDb
  6. ^ Nagroda Im. Aleksandra Rekszy. Bokser.org (13 November 2009). Retrieved on 6 August 2014.
  7. ^ "M.P. 1999 nr 6 poz. 68". Retrieved 21 November 2020.

External links[]

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