This 1982 10 round middleweight boxing match between Mustafa Hamsho verses Bobby Czyz featured two really good fighters during The Golden Age of Boxing….with one in Hamsho who fought for the world middleweight boxing championship on three different occasions…..and the other who won the IBF light heavyweight title and the WBC cruiserweight title.
Mustafa Hamsho is a retired Assyrian/Syriac boxer who never won a world title….but fought some big names in his career to include Marvin Hagler, Wilfred Benetiz, Alan Minter and Bobby Czyz (as seen in this video herewith) as each of these fighters won world titles. Though he was not a winner in all of those fights…. he did some things to make every one of his fights interesting and controversial in some regard. The Syrian Slugger racked up a winning record in the late 1970’s by defeating Wilford Scypion on June 15th, 1980….and former world middleweight champion Alan Minter on June 6th,1981 to get a shot at then champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler in October of that year….where Hamsho showed no respect for the champion during their matchup….or at least for the time it lasted. Hagler methodically used right jabs and right crosses to bust up Hamsho’s face (which needed 55 stitches) until the fight was stopped on cuts in the 11th.
Hamsho continued to fight, defeating Curtis Parker….future world champion Bobby Czyz, and former three-division world champion Wilfred Benítez during 1982 and 1983…..then received a return visit to take on Hagler in a rematch in October 1984 in NYC’s Madison Square Garden. After Hamsho tried to play rough in the early going, Hagler ended things early this time by flooring Hamsho twice in the third round….with the second knockdown produced by a Floyd Patterson-like hook….thus forcing Hamsho’s trainer to jump in and stop the fight. Hamsho would continue to fight, with the biggest name on his list being Donny Lalonde….who decisioned Hamsho in the spring of 1987 and would then go on to become light heavyweight champion later that year…..as his career would then peter out over the next few years.
Hamsho’s opponent in this video was Bobby Czyz….who is a retired American boxer and commentator. Czyz is both a former world light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion….who was nicknamed “Matinee Idol”….who was a member of the United States amateur boxing team whose other members died in the 1980 plane crash…..but 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 1980’s….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 as seen below….that is when Czyz went up in weight….followed by putting 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 Kačar (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…..when 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….which was followed by a couple of victories….then followed by two cracks at the world title in 1989…..when despite truly good efforts on his part in both challenges….would lose 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 medalist he KO’d) in June 1990….then he jumped up to cruiserweight….and promptly challenged Robert Daniels for Daniels’ WBA world cruiserweight championship in March 1991….and winning a unanimous decision. Two defenses, against Bash Ali and Donny Lalonde, were made (both by unanimous decision) before Czyz vacated the title.
In 1994, Czyz became a television boxing analyst working alongside Steve Albert and Ferdie Pacheco whilst continuing his boxing career….as the trio covered fights in many locations worldwide. In December 1994, he covered the first world title fight ever held in Ecuador as a member of Showtime’s crew. In 1996, he stepped up to the heavyweight division….but lost by knockout in five rounds to Evander Holyfield and quickly retired.
These two outstanding fighters ended their careers with similar records….as Czyz finishes with 44 wins and 8 losses with 28 KO’s…..while Hamsho finished with 44 wins and 5 losses with 2 draws and 28 KO’s.
