Karl Mildenberger

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.

Karl Mildenberger
Mildenberger in 1966
Statistics
Real nameKarl Mildenberger
Nickname(s)Milde
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height6 ft 1 1⁄2 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

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

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