Axel Schulz (boxer)

Axel Schulz
Axel Schulz on August 11, 2007 at the Schlecker Cup in Ehingen
Data
Birth Name	Axel Schulz
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	German
birthday	November 9, 1968
place of birth	Bad Saarow-Pieskow
style	Left delivery
size	1.91 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	33
Victories	26th
Knockout victories	11
Defeats	5
draw	1
No value	1

Axel Schulz (born November 9, 1968 in Bad Saarow-Pieskow ) is a former German boxer .

Amateur career

Axel Schulz (back left) in 1989 at the 18th Chemistry Cup in Halle

At the age of eleven, Axel Schulz came to the boxing department of Fürstenwalder BSG Gaselan . Under Manfred Gehrke he trained the basics of boxing until 1982 and was finally discovered by the talent scouting of the children's and youth sports school of the ASK Vorwärts Frankfurt (Oder) . He then boxed for ASK Frankfurt (Oder) from 1982 . The training paid off, from 1982 onwards, Schulz won the GDR championship title in his age group for five years. In 1986, the only 17-year-old Schulz qualified for the European Junior Championships in Copenhagen , Denmark , which he won in the light heavyweight division under coach Ulli Wegner .

By winning the GDR heavyweight championship in the senior division in 1988 , Schulz also became known nationally and the master trainer Manfred Wolke began to train him. In 1989 he started his international amateur career. After winning the chemistry cup in Halle in February, he qualified for the following European championships in Athens . He made it to the final again, like three years before in Copenhagen, but was ultimately defeated by the Dutchman Arnold Vanderlyde . At the World Cup in Moscow in the same year, Schulz injured himself in the quarterfinals, so he did not play against the Cuban Félix Savón in the semifinals and won the bronze medal.

Professional career

Beginnings

After his subsequent ligament operation and the resulting compulsory break of more than six months, he signed a professional contract with Wilfried Sauerland together with Wolke and Henry Maske . On October 5, 1990, Schulz made his debut in Düsseldorf as a heavyweight professional against George Ajio from Uganda . After his points victory and three other construction battles he was by the magazine boxing named the junior boxer of 1990 levels.

Schulz only had an average punching power at best, but paired with solid taker skills and a good basic speed. His fighting style was characterized by defensive work with the leading hand in order to initially keep the opponent at a distance and then to attack him with assault-like attacks.

In 1992 he prevailed against Bernd Friedrich (at that time five wins, one defeat) in Kassel and became German heavyweight champion.

In 1992 and 1993 he boxed twice against the slightly favored Henry Akinwande for the European Championship. If Schulz defied Akinwande in the first fight, he did not know how to compensate the greater range of his opponent with sufficient speed and agility in the rematch and had to accept his first defeat as a professional.

In September 1994 in Leverkusen , Axel Schulz defeated the 41-year-old James “Bonecrusher” Smith , who weighs 122 kilograms and is only 193 cm tall, just on points over 10 rounds best of times, in the 1980s, prior to the rise of Tysons, had briefly been WBA world champion. Still, Smith broke Schulz's nose in front of just 2,000 spectators. Some of the spectators acknowledged the unanimous decision (99:94, 98:95, 99:95) of the three judges with whistles. With this victory, Schulz slipped into the top 12 of the IBF rankings for the first time .

Schulz - Foreman

With the good ranking position, he had the opportunity to be accepted as a challenger by the reigning world champion of this association. In the spring of 1995, Schulz unexpectedly got this chance. The background was the fact that the 45-year-old ex-world champion George Foreman had surprisingly made a comeback on November 5, 1994 against the WBA and IBF world champion Michael Moorer . The hard-hitting old master managed a victory in the tenth round, clearly lagging behind in points. In order to prevent that he would have to give up the two belts he had won the first time he voluntarily defended his title, the IBF rankings looked for a relatively harmless opponent. Ultimately, it was decided with Axel Schulz for the worst-placed boxer among the possible challengers.

As it turned out in retrospect, Schulz only got this good ranking position and thus also this World Cup fight through massive bribery. Foreman's promoter Bob Arum declared that he had paid the IBF $ 100,000 to sanction the fight between Foreman and the hitherto completely unknown Schulz. Arum added that Foreman himself paid $ 250,000 in bribes to the IBF for this purpose.

Until then, Schulz was hardly known to anyone in the USA; He was therefore in the US media as a blatant outsider. A comparison with Max Schmeling was sought to better market the German . While the main focus in Germany was the fact that after Schmeling there could finally be a German heavyweight world champion again, the US media saw Schulz primarily as “Schmeling's grandchildren”. Foreman went with his decision to compete against Axel Schulz, at the same time the mandatory challenger of the WBA, Tony Tucker , out of the way, which is why the WBA stripped his title. Therefore, at the time of the fight against Schulz, he only held the IBF title.

On April 22nd, 1995, the two opponents met in Las Vegas and for many a big surprise. Contrary to many predictions, Axel Schulz not only gave the defending champion a courageous fight, he also succeeded in repeatedly confronting the American with unexpected problems. With the exception of a few dicey situations, he skillfully avoided the dreaded wrestlers of the world champion in order to then score points in the half-distance. The outsider from Germany was ultimately unable to give George Foreman a "boxing lesson", which Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison had previously achieved when they won points over the old masters in 1991 and 1993, respectively, but he was at least the more active boxer for long stretches of the fight. When he shook the “rock” Foreman on the last lap with a clean four-way combination to the chin, most believed in a new world champion. But in the end, with strong expressions of displeasure from the audience, a narrow point victory for the defending champion was announced.

After the fight, almost all experts were of the opinion that Axel Schulz had won the fight. Though deprived of the reward for his efforts, this defeat ultimately made Schulz famous overnight. With his courageous demeanor, he secured a lot of sympathy worldwide. To calm the waves of outrage, the IBF ordered an immediate rematch. Since George Foreman wanted to avoid another duel against Schulz and did not comply with the request for a rematch, he was also stripped of the IBF title.

Schulz - Botha

Now Schulz got another chance against the undefeated but not particularly respected South African Francois Botha to fight for the now vacant IBF title. The German media, especially the TV broadcaster RTL , which owned the broadcasting rights to his fights, never tired of celebrating a supposed German world-class boxer in the premier class with Axel Schulz. It was easy to overlook the fact that George Foreman had a big name, but was already 46 years old, not exactly slim and agile and had won his world title not least through fortunate circumstances. In addition, many Germans were not even aware of the importance of the various world associations in professional boxing. Overall, Axel Schulz was seen by large parts of the German public as a legitimate contender for the world championship throne and the fight against Botha, who was completely unknown in Germany, was seen as a formality. This huge expectation left its mark on Schulz.

When the fight finally took place in Stuttgart on December 9, 1995, nothing was left of the recklessness with which Schulz had delivered Foreman a great fight eight months earlier; on the contrary, he looked tense and self-conscious. Botha took the initiative from the start, although most of his blows ended up on the cover of the German. The latter, in turn, showed his actions far too seldom and when he did, he often did not seem determined enough in his attack efforts. Although many experts had stated that Schulz had physical advantages over Botha and that he did not look physically well trained, the South African remained the more active man until the end of the fight. Accordingly, many were disillusioned when Axel Schulz again lost a world championship fight through a majority decision. Nevertheless, many viewers, also due to the personal presence of the bustling boxing promoter Don King , once again sensed cheating on their own husband. As a result, there were tumults around the ring, in the course of which, in addition to glasses, whole champagne bottles were thrown into the ring. Several front row spectators were slightly injured in these riots, including the wives of Henry Maske and Bernie Ecclestone . It was only thanks to fortunate circumstances that nothing worse happened. As a consequence of these events, no more glass bottles or glasses have been given out at boxing events in Germany.

The television broadcast of the fight was a great success for the broadcasting station RTL : with an average of 17.96 million and occasionally 18.52 million, the station achieved its best value, which is still in place almost twenty years later.

When the victor Francois Botha was convicted of taking illicit funds after the fight, the decision was annulled. Thus the IBF World Championship title was vacant again.

Schulz - Moorer

After Botha's suspension, Axel Schulz fought for the third time for the world title on June 22, 1996 in Dortmund. The opponent this time was ex-world champion Michael Moorer . In contrast to the two previous fights, there were no scandals this time. Axel Schulz could not win the world championship crown on the third attempt either, but he sold himself within the limits of his possibilities and was defeated by Moorer, a boxer who was definitely among the best in the world at the time.

After the defeat against Moorer, the time of lucrative fights was over for Axel Schulz. In a series of build-up fights, he won victories against mediocre opponents, including a knockout victory against Kevin McBride , who caused a sensation eight years later with a surprising win against the aged Mike Tyson. Gradually, Axel Schulz also struggled more and more with numerous injuries, which forced him to take longer breaks. He used this time to try his hand at acting, among other things. But the ambition to win a big boxing title did not let go of him. Even an operation on the intervertebral disc changed nothing in his plan. On March 30, 1999, three weeks after the operation, Axel Schulz gave a press conference in Riesa . There he declared that he was only available for major fights, otherwise he would end his career. He demanded from his promoter Wilfried Sauerland either a fight for an internationally recognized title or a comparison with one of the Klitschko brothers. The latter was probably the more attractive option for the public, as the Ukrainians had recently pushed themselves into the limelight with spectacular performances.

Schulz - Klitschko

Axel Schulz finally got the chance in September 1999 against Wladimir Klitschko to box a third time for the European championship and accepted the challenge. Although his last appearance in the ring was more than a year ago and Wilfried Sauerland and trainer Manfred Wolke urgently advised him against the fight, Schulz refrained from some development fights in preparation. In the end, however, his willingness to take risks did not pay off. When the meeting took place on September 25, 1999 in Cologne in front of 18,000 spectators, Axel Schulz's case, despite a tough seven-week preparation in South Africa, the clear traces of the ring break could not be overlooked. From the first stroke of the gong he had to take hard hits. In addition, Schulz, as so often before, missed his offensive urge, instead he remained static in his double cover and swallowed one stiff left hand after the other. The lack of a sense of distance turned out to be particularly fatal, as a result of which he constantly built himself up in the half-distance in front of his opponent, which was optimal for the Ukrainian, considering Klitschko's range advantages. In the eighth round, the referee had some understanding and took the badly marked German out of the fight. Axel Schulz then drew the consequences and announced his retirement from active boxing while still in the ring. Despite three world and three European championship fights, he ultimately failed to win an international title.

Comeback attempt against Brian Minto

Since the end of his career, Schulz has also worked as a sports presenter and commentator. In December 2005 he got an offer from promoter Don King for a comeback. After a successful sports medical examination, Axel Schulz trained for a fight against the Italian-American Brian Minto . His preferred trainer Ulli Wegner had to turn him down after his employer Wilfried Sauerland forbade a cooperation. Instead, it was prepared by Richard Conti from the USA . Schulz trained a. a. in Cape Coral / Florida , where the former Lord Mayor Riesas Wolfram Köhler acted as manager.

In the fight on November 25, 2006 in the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle (Westphalia) against Minto, who was in 26th place in the independent computer ranking, Axel Schulz went down for the first time in the fourth round and lost after a poor performance in the sixth Round by technical knockout. Axel Schulz was never able to use his economies of scale and hardly land any impact hits, on the other hand Minto was more aggressive and active. After this defeat, Axel Schulz announced his definitive retirement from active boxing.

The broadcast of the boxing match was a success for the private broadcaster RTL, which had previously secured the rights to the broadcast. During the fight, which began at 11:07 p.m., an average of 11.53 million people watched. This enabled RTL to achieve a market share of 48.1 percent both in the target group (14–49 years) and among viewers aged three and over.

List of professional fights

26 wins (11 knockout wins), 5 losses (2 knockout losses), 1 draw , 1 no rating
year	Day	place	opponent	Result for Schulz
1990	5th October	Philipshalle , Düsseldorf, Germany	George Ajio	Points victory (unanimous) / 6 rounds
	November 16	Sports hall Hamburg , Hamburg, Germany	Jens Ploesser	Victory / TKO 1st round
	December 7th	Berlin National Arena, Berlin, Germany	Barry Ellis	Points win / 6 rounds
	December 14th	Europahalle Karlsruhe , Karlsruhe, Germany	Ramon Voorn	Points win / 6 rounds
1991	February 28	Philipshalle , Düsseldorf, Germany	Ramon Voorn	Victory / TKO 5th round
	31. May	Berlin National Arena, Berlin, Germany	Steve Garber	Victory / KO 5th round
	June 28th	Burgtheater Dinslaken , Dinslaken, Germany	Laszlo Virag	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	13.september	Burg-Wächter Castello , Düsseldorf, Germany	Steve Gee	Victory / KO 2nd round
	October 2nd	Steintor-Varieté , Halle, Germany	David Muhammed	Points win / 8 rounds
	6th of December	Burg-Wächter Castello , Düsseldorf, Germany	Charles Dixon	Victory / KO 2nd round
1992	January 28th	Legien Center, Berlin-Mitte, Germany	Ricardo Spain	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	6th March	National Bank Arena, Berlin, Germany	Gary McCrory	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	April 25	National Bank Arena, Berlin, Germany	Laszlo Pasterko	Points win / 8 rounds
	September 19th	Stadthalle Kassel , Kassel, Germany	Bernd Friedrich vacant German championship (BDB)	Points win / 10 rounds
	October 2nd	Deutschlandhalle , Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany	Ricky Parkey	Points win / 8 rounds
	19. December	National Bank Arena, Berlin, Germany	Henry Akinwande EBU European Championship	Draw (point decision) / 12 rounds
1993	1st of May	National Bank Arena, Berlin, Germany	Henry Akinwande EBU European Championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
	August 7th	Resorts International, Atlantic City (New Jersey), USA	Kimmuel Odum	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	October, 16th	Oberwerth Halle, Koblenz, Germany	Carlton West	Victory / KO 2nd round
1994	May 7th	Oberwerth Halle, Koblenz, Germany	Al Evans	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	June 4th	Westfalenhallen , Dortmund, Germany	Troy Jefferson	Points win / 8 rounds
	18th of June	Bismark Hotel, Chicago, USA	Jack Basting	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	17th of September	Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle , Leverkusen, Germany	James Smith (boxer)	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1995	April 22	MGM Grand Hotel , Las Vegas, USA	George Foreman IBF / WBU World Championship	Point loss (majority decision) / 12 rounds
	9th of December	Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle , Stuttgart, Germany	Francois Botha vacant IBF World Championship	Invalid (“No Contest”) / 12 rounds
1996	June 22	Westfalenstadion , Dortmund, Germany	Michael Moorer vacant IBF World Championship	Point defeat (polyphonic) / 12 rounds
	December 7th	Kurhalle Oberlaa , Vienna, Austria	Jose Ribalta	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1997	26th of April	Leipziger Messe , Leipzig, Germany	Jorge Valdes	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	August 30th	Max-Schmeling-Halle , Berlin, Germany	Kevin McBride	Victory / TKO 9th round
1998	February 28	Westfalenhallen , Dortmund, Germany	Julius Francis EBU eliminator	Points victory (unanimous) / 12 rounds
	August 22nd	Leipziger Messe , Leipzig, Germany	Richard Mason	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1999	25th of September	Kölnarena , Cologne, Germany	Wladimir Klitschko EBU European Championship	Loss / TKO 8th round
2006	25. November	Gerry Weber Stadium , Halle (Westf.), Germany	Brian Minto	Loss / TKO 6th round
Source: Axel Schulz in the BoxRec database

Honor

• 1997 Sportsman of the Year of Brandenburg

Volunteering

Since the end of 2016, Schulz, together with the Ulm basketball player Tim Ohlbrecht and the Berlin ice hockey national player Marcel Noebels, has been volunteering as "ambassadors" for the Ernst Prost Foundation founded by the former Liqui Moly boss . He supports the foundation through charity campaigns such as jersey auctions and increases their profile and donations through his prominence.

Since 2018 Schulz has also been the patron of the “Grasbeißerbande e. V. “, which wants to raise awareness of the issue of dying and supports children's hospice work.

Others

Axel Schulz, 2009

Axel Schulz has been married since March 2006 and has two daughters.

During the Germany tour of the US WCW ( World Championship Wrestling ) he was used as the villain, but refused to comply with the organizers' requests and to perform risky maneuvers. Schulz is also occasionally active in supporting roles in film and television and is a regular guest on German talk shows .

The media satirist Oliver Kalkofe occasionally poked fun at Schulz in “Kalkofes Mattscheibe”. Unlike other “victims”, Schulz reported to Kalkofe and said that he was very happy and amused every time. Axel Schulz wears the hat of his sponsor Fackelmann GmbH & Co KG at every public appearance (including at his wedding) . As of December 31, 2017, the collaboration was ended by mutual agreement. Schulz then wore a cap with the words "01.03.2018". On February 26, 2018 he announced his new advertising partner "sportstrom.de".

In mid-February 2007, it was revealed that Schulz had suffered a stroke just a week after fighting Brian Minto . The reason for this was a five-fold increase in the concentration of platelets . Schulz is said to have been diagnosed with a stroke as early as September 2006, but this did not prevent him from competing against Brian Minto.

On June 23, 2012 it became known that there had been a surprising meeting between Schulz and his former opponent Botha. He had used the opportunity to make a fair gesture by handing Schulz the controversial world championship belt (see above).

In 1986, as a minor, Axel Schulz had been recruited as an unofficial employee by the GDR Ministry for State Security under the code name "Markus" . After Schulz did not provide the desired information on people and incidents in his reports, the MfS terminated the cooperation of its own accord.

In May 2017 he was named the first Brandenburg beer ambassador.

On October 6, 2017, Schulz had a guest appearance on the comedy show heute-show with Oliver Welke .

While reporting on the 2018 Olympic Winter Games , Schulz was a guest on the show zwanzig18 on Eurosport 1 and TLC .

On the occasion of Schulz's 50th birthday on November 9, 2018, Spiegel Online paid tribute to him : “He has lost all major fights. Nevertheless, Axel Schulz became the most popular German heavyweight boxer since Max Schmeling. ”One reason for this is his“ contagious cheerfulness ”. Schulz has mastered the "two most beautiful forms of laughter": with others and about himself.

On August 16, 2019, the band Knorkator released their music video "Save yourself who can", in which Schulz has a guest appearance alongside Eric Fish and Hans Werner Olm.

Web links

Commons : Axel Schulz  - Collection of Images

• Axel Schulz's website
• Axel Schulz in the BoxRec database
• Axel Schulz in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Literature by and about Axel Schulz in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bonebreaker was serious. In: Berliner Zeitung . September 19, 1994, accessed August 14, 2015 . 
2. ↑ http://www.rp-online.de/sport/ermittlungen-im-korruptionsskandal-lieferten-erste-beweise-aid-1.1543553
3. ↑ TV audience numbers for the fight between Schulz and Botha. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, December 11, 1995, p. 28
4. ↑ Cool tactician wins over 1.5 million
5. ↑ Andreas Lorenz: My hell camp in paradise. The heavyweight in Florida toiled at 60 degrees for his comeback in the boxing ring. In: Berliner Kurier . August 2, 2006, accessed August 14, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Märkische Allgemeine , December 16, 2013, p. 18
7. ↑ Oliver Helmstädter: Axel Schulz is now fighting for the Ernst Prost Foundation. In: augsburger-allgemeine.de. November 23, 2016, accessed February 16, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Strong support for the Ernst Prost Foundation. (No longer available online.) In: liqui-moly.de. November 23, 2016, archived from the original on February 16, 2018 ; accessed on February 15, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ http://www.sport1.de/de/boxen/newspage_577218.html
10. ↑ Axel Schulz admits Stasi work . Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. October 26, 1995. Archived from the original on January 1, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
11. ↑ Giselher Spitzer : "Security process sport" The Ministry for State Security and top-class sport in the GDR, 1st edition, Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 2005, ISBN 3-7780-8971-4 , p. 212
12. ↑ http://www.berliner-kurier.de/berlin/brandenburg/vom-hobby-zur-berendung-axel-schulz-ist-bierbotschafter-26949536
13. ↑ "twenty18": Great evening entertainment for the very hungry Olympian . In: quota meter . February 11, 2018 ( quotenmeter.de [accessed February 11, 2018]).
14. ↑ Eckhard Klein / Malte Müller-Michaelis: Axel Schulz is 50: "Not a bad kid". In: Spiegel Online . November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018 .