The Most Famous

BOXERS from Poland

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This page contains a list of the greatest Polish Boxers. The pantheon dataset contains 496 Boxers, 5 of which were born in Poland. This makes Poland the birth place of the 18th most number of Boxers behind Azerbaijan, and China.

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Polish Boxers of all time. This list of famous Polish Boxers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Janusz Gortat

1. Janusz Gortat (1948 - 2023)

With an HPI of 49.85, Janusz Gortat is the most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Janusz Kazimierz Gortat (5 November 1948 – 19 December 2023) was a Polish boxer, who represented his native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, in 1972 and 1976. In both tournaments he won the bronze medal in the light heavyweight division (up to 81 kg) after being defeated in the semifinals by the eventual winners (Leon Spinks of the United States in 1976 and Mate Parlov of Yugoslavia in 1972). Born in Brzozów, he was the father of NBA basketball player Marcin Gortat and boxer Robert Gortat. He died on 19 December 2023, at the age of 75.

Photo of Andrew Golota

2. Andrew Golota (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 48.60, Andrew Golota is the 2nd most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Andrzej Jan Gołota (Polish: [ˈandʐɛj ɡɔˈwɔta]; born 5 January 1968), best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as an amateur won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympics. Despite his accomplishments and more than 40 professional wins, Golota is perhaps best known for twice being disqualified against Riddick Bowe for repeated low blows in fights that Golota was winning. On October 4, 1997, he became the first Pole to challenge for a heavyweight boxing crown when he fought WBC champion Lennox Lewis at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. He had a bout with Mike Tyson in 2000, which he first withdrew from, but afterward was ruled no-contest. In November 2016, Golota was inducted into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame.

Photo of Willy Kaiser

3. Willy Kaiser (1912 - 1986)

With an HPI of 47.56, Willy Kaiser is the 3rd most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Willy Kaiser (16 January 1912 – 24 July 1986) was a German boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. Kaiser was born in Pudewitz, Province of Posen, German Empire. He won the gold medal in the flyweight class after winning the final against Gavino Matta in 1936.

Photo of Jerzy Kulej

4. Jerzy Kulej (1940 - 2012)

With an HPI of 46.31, Jerzy Kulej is the 4th most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Jerzy Zdzisław Kulej (19 October 1940 – 13 July 2012) was a Polish boxer, politician and sports commentator. He was a two-time Olympic and two-time European Champion.

Photo of Dariusz Michalczewski

5. Dariusz Michalczewski (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 45.00, Dariusz Michalczewski is the 5th most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Dariusz Tomasz Michalczewski (born 5 May 1968) is a Polish-German professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2005. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA, IBF, WBO and lineal light heavyweight titles between 1994 and 2003, and the WBO junior-heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995. Michalczewski is regarded by many as the greatest light-heavyweight boxer of all time.

Photo of Jan Szczepański

6. Jan Szczepański (1939 - 2017)

With an HPI of 43.38, Jan Szczepański is the 6th most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Jan Antoni Szczepański (20 November 1939 in Małecz – 15 January 2017 in Warsaw) was a Polish boxer, who won the gold medal in the lightweight division (– 60 kg) at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. In the final he defeated Hungary's László Orbán on points (5:0). Szczepański died on 15 January 2017, after a long illness.

Photo of Hans Ziglarski

7. Hans Ziglarski (1905 - 1975)

With an HPI of 41.20, Hans Ziglarski is the 7th most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Hans Ziglarski (Polish: Jan Żyglarski, 16 October 1905 in Białystok, Russian Empire – 12 February 1975) was a Polish-German boxer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and in the 1932 Summer Olympics. In 1928 he lost his first fight against Vince Glionna and was eliminated in the first round of the bantamweight competition. Four years later he won the silver medal in the bantamweight class after losing the final against Horace Gwynne. After World War II, Ziglarski went to Tehran and coached the Iranian boxer Emmanuel Agassi, the father of tennis player Andre Agassi.

Photo of Tomasz Adamek

8. Tomasz Adamek (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 39.12, Tomasz Adamek is the 8th most famous Polish Boxer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek (Polish pronunciation: [ˈtɔmaʂ aˈdamɛk]; born 1 December 1976) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF and The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles from 2008 to 2009. He also held the IBO cruiserweight title in 2007, and challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2011. BoxRec ranks Adamek as the third greatest Polish boxer of all time, pound for pound. He is the first Polish boxer to win The Ring title.

People

Pantheon has 8 people classified as Polish boxers born between 1905 and 1976. Of these 8, 3 (37.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Polish boxers include Andrew Golota, Dariusz Michalczewski, and Tomasz Adamek. The most famous deceased Polish boxers include Janusz Gortat, Willy Kaiser, and Jerzy Kulej. As of April 2024, 3 new Polish boxers have been added to Pantheon including Janusz Gortat, Willy Kaiser, and Hans Ziglarski.

Living Polish Boxers

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Deceased Polish Boxers

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Newly Added Polish Boxers (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Boxers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Boxers since 1700.