Tiozzo Trounces The Tiger
Fabrice Tiozzo retained his WBA light heavyweight title Saturday, stopping Poland's Darius Michalczewski in the sixth round.
Tiozzo ran his record to 47-2 with 31 knockouts.
Michalczewski came out of a 16-month retirement, trying to restart a career in which he won four world titles and was unbeaten for almost a decade.
The 35-year-old Tiozzo landed a hard right to the temple, the first of three blows that sent Michalczewski to the canvas just over two minutes into the sixth round.
When Michalczewski climbed to his feet, Tiozzo hit him until the fight was stopped.
"I studied Michalczewski, I was 100 per cent prepared, and when you're that prepared you have to win," said Tizzo, who captured his third title 11 months ago.
Michalczewski's record fell to 49-2 with 42 knockouts after his first knockout loss - dashing the hopes of 17,000 spectators.
Michalczewski won the WBO title in 1994 and was unbeaten until he lost a split decision to Julio Cesar Gonzales in October 2003 while trying to match Rocky Maricano's record of not losing in 49 fights.
He beat Virgil Hill in 1997 to become the first man to hold the WBA, IBF and WBO titles at the same time. He also won the WBO cruiserweight crown.
Both of Tiozzo's losses were to Hill.