Albert Syben (born 1 July 1952) is a Belgian former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1977 to 1986. He challenged for the European

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

title twice between 1982 and 1983, and held the Belgian heavyweight title twice between 1979 and 1982.

Biography

Albert Syben was born and grew up in Cheratte, Liège, Belgium. He fought for his first title in 1979, facing

Rudy Gauwe Rudy Gauwe (born 14 June 1951) is a Belgian former professional boxer. As an amateur, he competed in the men's heavyweight event at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Socia ...

Lokeren Lokeren () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second most important city after Sint-Niklaas. The city, located on the river D ...

, his opponent's hometown, in front of 6,000 people. He defeated Gauwe to become the new

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

champion. Syben successfully defended the title against Robert Desnouck on 13 October 1979. On 14 December 1979, he lost his title in a rematch against Gauwe in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Syben regained the Belgium heavyweight title by defeating Gauwe in their third bout on 17 April 1981. He later challenged two times for the European heavyweight title, being defeated twice by Lucien Rodriguez, in 1982 and 1983. On 1 June 1979, Syben faced

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

in a 6 round exhibition bout.

Professional boxing record

Exhibition boxing record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syben, Albert 1952 births Living people Belgian male boxers Sportspeople from Liège Heavyweight boxers