Zsolt Erdei (born 31 May 1974) is a Hungarian former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO and lineal light-heavyweight titles from 2004 to 2009 (making eleven consecutive defences against ten different opponents), and the WBC cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2010. Erdei is the first boxer from Hungary to win world titles in two weight divisions. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2000 Olympics. He also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Zsolt Erdei
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Erdei in 2009
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| Born | (1974-05-31) 31 May 1974 (age 50) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Hungarian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Madár ("Bird") | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight(s) |
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| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach | 72 in (183 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stance | Orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 34 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Losses | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Erdei turned professional in December 2000 and won the WBO Inter-Continental light heavyweight title in October 2002. On 17 January 2004 Erdei won the Lineal and WBO light heavyweight titles from Julio César González by unanimous decision,[1] and successfully defended the titles eleven times.
On 13 November 2009 he relinquished his WBO light heavyweight title and moved up to cruiserweight.[2] Erdei defeated Giacobbe Fragomeni on 21 November 2009 for the WBC cruiserweight title. Most of Erdei's matches during his professional career were promoted by Universum boxing.
After announcing his retirement in January 2010 and thus relinquishing his claim as Lineal light heavyweight champion, Erdei decided to have more matches in 2011 in the US and fought Samson Onyango and Byron Mitchell as his first opponents there. The Mitchell fight which was set up by Lou DiBella ended with Erdei knocking Mitchell out in the 6th round (TKO).[3]
Erdei finally returned on 30 March 2013, losing a 10-round split decision to Denis Grachev.[4]
| 35 fights | 34 wins | 1 loss |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 18 | 0 |
| By decision | 16 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Win | 34–1 | Shalva Jomardashvili | UD | 10 | 9 Mar 2014 | Messzi István Sportcsarnok, Kecskemét, Hungary | Won vacant WBO European light-heavyweight title |
| 34 | Loss | 33–1 | Denis Grachev | SD | 10 | 30 Mar 2013 | Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| 33 | Win | 33–0 | Byron Mitchell | TKO | 6 (10), 1:58 | 4 Jun 2011 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
| 32 | Win | 32–0 | Samson Onyango | UD | 8 | 20 Nov 2010 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
| 31 | Win | 31–0 | Giacobbe Fragomeni | MD | 12 | 21 Nov 2009 | Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, Germany | Won WBC cruiserweight title |
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Yuri Barashian | UD | 12 | 10 Jan 2009 | Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | DeAndrey Abron | UD | 12 | 26 Apr 2008 | Freiberger Arena, Dresden, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Tito Mendoza | SD | 12 | 24 Nov 2007 | Freiberger Arena, Dresden, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | George Blades | TKO | 11 (12), 2:27 | 16 Jun 2007 | SYMA Sports and Conference Centre, Budapest, Hungary | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Danny Santiago | TKO | 8 (12), 1:55 | 27 Jan 2007 | Burg-Wächter Castello, Düsseldorf, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Thomas Ulrich | UD | 12 | 29 Jul 2006 | König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Paul Murdoch | TKO | 10 (12), 0:19 | 6 May 2006 | Burg-Wächter Castello, Düsseldorf, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Mehdi Sahnoune | TKO | 12 (12), 2:17 | 22 Oct 2005 | Brandberge Arena, Halle, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Hugo Garay | SD | 12 | 26 Feb 2005 | Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Alejandro Lakatos | UD | 12 | 11 Sep 2004 | Kisstadion, Budapest, Hungary | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Hugo Garay | MD | 12 | 8 May 2004 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany | Retained WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Julio César González | UD | 12 | 17 Jan 2004 | Dm-Arena, Karlsruhe, Germany | Won WBO light-heavyweight title |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Ramdane Serdjane | KO | 1 (8) | 15 Nov 2003 | Oberfrankenhalle, Bayreuth, Germany | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Juan Nelongo | UD | 12 | 6 Sep 2003 | Újszeged Sports Hall, Szeged, Hungary | Retained WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Massimiliano Saiani | TKO | 7 (12), 2:43 | 12 Jul 2003 | Wilhelm Dopatka Halle, Leverkusen, Germany | Retained WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Jose Hilton Dos Santos | TKO | 10 (12), 2:45 | 29 Mar 2003 | Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany | Retained WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Juan Carlos Giménez | TKO | 8 (12) | 23 Nov 2002 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany | Retained WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Jim Murray | KO | 5 (12), 1:58 | 5 Oct 2002 | Főnix Aréna, Debrecen, Hungary | Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Roberto Coelho | UD | 8 | 17 Aug 2002 | Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Daren Whitley | UD | 6 | 29 Jun 2002 | Etess Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Anthony Stephens | KO | 2 (8) | 16 Mar 2002 | Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Jesse Corona | TKO | 4 (8) | 15 Dec 2001 | Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Alban Girouard | KO | 2 (8), 0:55 | 3 Nov 2001 | Hansehalle, Lübeck, Germany | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Julius Gal | TKO | 2 (4) | 1 Sep 2001 | Berlin, Germany | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Dennis Matthews | TKO | 3 (4), 1:18 | 4 Aug 2001 | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, US | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Oleksandr Garashchenko | UD | 4 | 16 Jun 2001 | Kisstadion, Budapest, Hungary | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Henry Mobio | KO | 4 (4) | 7 Apr 2001 | Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Dennis McKinney | UD | 4 | 27 Jan 2001 | Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, Munich, Germany | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Willie McDonald | TKO | 2 (4) | 16 Dec 2000 | Grugahalle, Essen, Germany | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Philip Houthoofdt | TKO | 1 (4) | 5 Dec 2000 | Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany |
| Sporting positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Glen Johnson |
WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight champion 5 October 2002 – 17 January 2004 Won world title |
Vacant Title next held by Tomasz Adamek | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Jonathan Profichet |
WBO European light heavyweight champion 8 March 2014 – November 2014 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Umar Salamov | ||
| World boxing titles | ||||
| Preceded by | WBO light heavyweight champion 17 January 2004 – 13 November 2009 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Jürgen Brähmer | ||
| Preceded by | WBC cruiserweight champion 21 November 2009 – 22 January 2010 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Krzysztof Wlodarczyk | ||
