- Karl Mildenberger
Karl Mildenberger (born
Kaiserslautern ,23 November 1937 ) is a retired Germanheavyweight boxer. He was the European Heavyweight Champion from 1964 to 1968 (retained the Title 6 times). Mildenberger foughtMuhammad Ali for theWorld Heavyweight Title in September 1966. Mildenberger, a lefthander, 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.Karl 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 and
Archie McBride and got a draw with highly rankedZora Folley in April 1964. Later that year Mildenberger scored a first round knockout overSante Amonte to capture the European title. He defeatedEddie Machen over ten rounds in 1966. In 1967, Mildenberger participated in a tournament staged by theWorld Boxing Association to determine the new heavyweight champion after Ali was stripped of the title for refusing induction into the draft. In the first round, he lost toOscar Bonavena in what was proclaimed theRing Magazine upset of the year . Mildenberger was not the same afterwards, and subsequently lost the European Heavyweigh title toHenry Cooper on an eight round disqualification.Mildenberger was the first
southpaw to fight for the Heavyweight World Title since James J. Corbett in 1892.External links
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