Karl Mildenberger

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Karl Mildenberger
Karl Mildenberger 1966.jpg
Mildenberger in 1966
Statistics
Real nameKarl Mildenberger
Nickname(s)Milde
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height6 ft 1+12 in (1.87 m)
NationalityGerman
Born(1937-11-23)23 November 1937
Kaiserslautern, Germany
Died4 October 2018(2018-10-04) (aged 80)
Kaiserslautern, Germany
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights62
Wins53
Wins by KO19
Losses6
Draws3

Karl Mildenberger (23 November 1937 – 4 October 2018) was a German heavyweight boxer. He was the European Heavyweight Champion from 1964 to 1968, during which he retained the title six times. He unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the World Heavyweight title in September 1966.

Biography[]

Mildenberger learned the fight trade, growing up in Occupied Germany. A cousin of his father's, a former boxing champion during the Third Reich, began Karl's fistic education; he then joined the boxing program run by FC Kaiserslautern. He eventually displayed enough promise to be sent to Mannheim for training, as Mildenberger lived in the French Sector of the occupation, which forbade the practice of prizefighting; Mannheim, in the American Sector, had no such restriction.[1]

Mildenberger lost his first fight for the European Heavyweight title when he was knocked out by Welsh boxer Dick Richardson in one round in April 1962. Karl rebounded with wins over Joe Erskine, Archie McBride, Joe Bygraves and a knockout win over Billy Daniels. Mildenberger then got a draw with highly ranked Zora Folley in April 1964. Later that year, Mildenberger scored a first-round knockout over Sante Amonte to capture the European Heavyweight title.[2]

Mildenberger (right) fighting Ulrich Ritter in 1963

After defending his European title three times, Mildenberger fought Muhammad Ali for the World Heavyweight Title in September 1966. Mildenberger, the first southpaw to fight for the World Heavyweight title, frustrated the champ for most of the fight, but ultimately lost by TKO when the referee stopped the fight at 1:28 of the twelfth round following a flurry of punches by Ali. Years later, Angelo Dundee cited an eighth round punch to the liver area which hurt Ali, whose ability to withstand body blows was legendary.[3]

In 1967, Mildenberger participated in a tournament staged by the World Boxing Association to determine the new heavyweight champion after Ali was stripped of the title for refusing induction into the US military draft. In the first round of the tournament, getting off the deck, he lost to Oscar Bonavena by a clear twelve-round decision.[4]

Mildenberger was not the same afterwards, and was knocked out by contender Leotis Martin in seven rounds (April 1968). Subsequently, in September 1968, Mildenberger's career ended when he lost the European Heavyweight title to Henry Cooper by eighth round disqualification after headbutting his opponent. Mildenberger has said of his timing of retirement, "If I had retained the title, I would have relinquished it. Win, lose or draw, I would have retired, anyway. ...This was the end. I was unharmed. No terrible things had happened to me."[5]

Mildenberger worked as a lifeguard after his retirement from boxing. He died at the age of 80 on 4 October 2018.[6][7]

Professional boxing record[]

53 wins (19 knockouts, 34 decisions), 6 losses (4 knockouts, 1 decision, 1 DQ), 3 draws[8]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 53–6–3 United Kingdom Henry Cooper DQ 8 18 September 1968 United Kingdom Empire Pool, Wembley, London EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss 53–5–3 United States Leotis Martin KO 7 5 April 1968 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 53–4–3 Germany Gerhard Zech PTS 15 30 December 1967 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss 52–4–3 Argentina Oscar Bonavena UD 12 16 September 1967 Germany Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Hesse WBA World Heavyweight Title Eliminator Semi-Final. 47–56, 53–57, 53–58
Win 52–3–3 United States Amos Lincoln TKO 6 6 May 1967 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 51–3–3 United Kingdom Billy Walker TKO 8 21 March 1967 United Kingdom Empire Pool, Wembley, London EBU Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:43 of the eighth round.
Win 50–3–3 Italy Piero Tomasoni PTS 15 1 February 1967 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss 49–3–3 United States Muhammad Ali TKO 12 10 September 1966 Germany Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Hesse For WBC, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles.
Win 49–2–3 Croatia Ivan Prebeg PTS 15 15 June 1966 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 48–2–3 United States Eddie Machen PTS 10 3 February 1966 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 47–2–3 Germany Gerhard Zech PTS 15 26 November 1965 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 46–2–3 United States David E. Bailey PTS 10 10 September 1965 Germany Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win 45–2–3 Italy Piero Tomasoni PTS 15 14 May 1965 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 44–2–3 United States Kirk Barrow KO 5 9 April 1965 Germany Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win 43–2–3 United States Jefferson Davis PTS 10 22 January 1965 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 42–2–3 United States Ollie Wilson TKO 4 4 December 1964 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Draw 41–2–3 United States Amos Johnson PTS 10 20 November 1964 Germany Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin
Win 41–2–2 Italy Santo Amonti KO 1 17 October 1964 Germany Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin EBU Heavyweight Title.
Draw 40–2–2 United States Zora Folley PTS 10 17 April 1964 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 40–2–1 United States Archie McBride PTS 10 25 January 1964 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 39–2–1 United States Billy Daniels KO 3 29 November 1963 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 38–2–1 Wales Joe Erskine PTS 10 13 October 1963 Germany Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 37–2–1 United States Wayne Bethea PTS 10 6 July 1963 Germany Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin
Win 36–2–1 United States Von Clay PTS 10 10 May 1963 Germany Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin
Win 35–2–1 Germany Ulli Ritter PTS 10 20 April 1963 Germany Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Draw 34–2–1 United States Archie McBride PTS 10 26 January 1963 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 34–2 Jamaica Joe Bygraves PTS 3 30 November 1962 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 33–2 United States Alonzo Johnson PTS 10 17 November 1962 Germany Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 32–2 Sweden John Robert Henry PTS 8 6 October 1962 Germany Messesporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 31–2 Italy Federico Friso PTS 10 1 September 1962 Germany Messesporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Loss 30–2 Wales Dick Richardson KO 1 24 February 1962 Germany Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia EBU Heavyweight Title. Karl knocked out at 2:35 of the first round.
Win 30–1 United States Pete Rademacher PTS 10 20 January 1962 Germany Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 29–1 United States Howard "Honeyboy" King PTS 10 24 November 1961 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 28–1 United States Wayne Bethea PTS 10 3 November 1961 Germany Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win 27–1 United States Young Jack Johnson PTS 10 29 September 1961 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 26–1 Spain José González Sales KO 2 10 September 1961 Germany Eisstadion, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 25–1 Germany Walter Haufft TKO 2 3 June 1961 Germany Eisstadion, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 24–1 United States Frankie Daniels PTS 10 28 April 1961 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 23–1 Sweden Thoerner Ahsman TKO 4 17 March 1961 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 22–1 United States Hal Carter TKO 8 20 January 1961 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 21–1 Italy Franco Cavicchi PTS 10 7 December 1960 Italy Bologna, Emilia Romagna
Win 20–1 Germany Hans Friedrich TKO 3 26 November 1960 Germany Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win 19–1 Ghana Robert Archie Moore PTS 8 29 October 1960 Germany Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Win 18–1 Belgium Alain Cherville TKO 4 1 October 1960 Germany Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 17–1 United Kingdom Alex Buxton PTS 8 6 May 1960 Germany Ernst Merck Halle, Mitte, Berlin
Win 16–1 France Francois Kania KO 3 22 April 1960 Germany Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Win 15–1 Nigeria Sammy Langford TKO 3 8 April 1960 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 14–1 United Kingdom Ron Redrup TKO 7 13 February 1960 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Win 13–1 United States Jimmy "The Spoiler" Slade PTS 8 30 December 1959 Germany Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win 12–1 Netherlands Wim Snoek PTS 8 12 December 1959 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Loss 11–1 Germany Helmut Ball KO 7 7 November 1959 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg Germany Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator.
Win 11–0 United Kingdom Arthur Howard PTS 8 4 July 1959 Germany Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin
Win 10–0 Netherlands Wim Snoek PTS 8 6 June 1959 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Win 9–0 France Jacques Bro KO 5 9 May 1959 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Win 8–0 Netherlands Pedro Klijssen PTS 8 24 April 1959 Germany Grugahalle, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win 7–0 Belgium Alain Cherville PTS 8 14 March 1959 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Win 6–0 Belgium Louis DeBolster KO 3 14 February 1959 Germany Landwirtschaftshalle, Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate
Win 5–0 Belgium Andre Wyns PTS 8 13 December 1958 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Win 4–0 Spain Jose Mariano Moracia Ibanes PTS 8 5 December 1958 Germany Bayernhalle, Munich, Bavaria
Win 3–0 France Andre Oueille TKO 5 15 November 1958 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Win 2–0 Germany Guenter Huber PTS 4 9 November 1958 Germany Schwarzwaldhalle, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg
Win 1–0 Germany Manfred Striemer KO 1 15 October 1958 Germany Killesbergpark, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg

Bibliography[]

  • Brunt, Stephen (2002). Facing Ali. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-829-3.

References[]

  1. ^ Brunt, p. 84
  2. ^ Brunt, p. 85
  3. ^ Brunt, pp. 92–93
  4. ^ Kram, Mark (25 September 1967). "A BEAN-CAN BOUT IN FRANKFURT". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  5. ^ Brunt, p. 95
  6. ^ "Boxlegende: Karl Mildenberger ist tot". Spiegel Online (in German). 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Box-Legende: Karl Mildenberger gestorben". FAZ.NET (in German). Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  8. ^ Karl Mildenberger Archived 21 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine. BoxRec. Retrieved on 11 September 2017.
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