Brian Nielsen (born 1 April 1965) is a Danish 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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

and Olympic bronze medalist. He held the IBO heavyweight title from 1996 to 1999 successfully defending it five times, including against

Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He is often considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. ...

and

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...

, the second highest number of defenses behind

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in , . (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships betwe ...

's record of 18. At one point of time, he equaled Rocky Marciano's record of 49 successive wins with no losses. While he never held a world title from any of the main four sanctioning bodies (WBC, IBF, WBA, WBO), he did defeat several former world champions who had, including James Smith,

Jeff Lampkin Jeff Lampkin (born September 21, 1961) is an American former professional boxer. During his 11-year professional career, Lampkin won the USBA cruiserweight title and IBF cruiserweight belt. Amateur career Lampkin had a stellar amateur care ...

, Tony Tubbs, Carlos De León,

Tim Witherspoon Tim Witherspoon (born December 27, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. He beat heavyweight ...

, Orlin Norris, and

Uriah Grant Uriah Grant (born January 20, 1961) is a Jamaican former professional boxer who held the IBF Cruiserweight Title. Professional career Grant turned pro in 1984 as a light heavyweight and lost to Henry Tillman in his second pro fight. In 1986 he ...

Amateur career

As an amateur, Nielsen won bronze medals in the super heavyweight division at the 1991

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

s and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Brian Nielsen was sent to Svendborg, where Johnny Antonsen had arranged a match against the local hero Carsten Dahl. Nielsen easily beat Dahl, winning the bout by knockout in the second round. Dahl later got the opportunity for revenge, but again Nielsen won by knockout. He was both Zealand champion and Danish champion for five consecutive years (1988-1992), and also won numerous international tournaments. His career as an amateur ended after the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 where he won the bronze. In the semifinals he lost to the powerful Cuban Roberto Balado. Balado won 15 to 1. In total, Nielsen boxed 111 fights as an amateur and won 104. He only took a count once in amateur career, and only once was he stopped before time - during the 1989 European Championship bout, where he suffered a cut near one of his eyes. His opponent at this match was the Greek boxer George Tsachakis who attended the final.

Professional career

After his win over 41-year-old ex-

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...

champion James 'Bonecrusher' Smith in October 1994, Nielsen began to attract attention. He went on to hold the minor IBO belt during an unbeaten streak equaling that of legend

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and re ...

. He later held the minor IBC belt.

Tyson fight

On 13 October 2001, Nielsen fought

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

at the

Parken Stadium Parken, currently known as Parken - Connected by 3 for sponsorship reasons, and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. After six rounds heavily in Tyson's favour, Nielsen quit on his stool citing an eye injury. Nielsen was knocked down once in the third round.

Announced comeback and Holyfield fight

On February 8, 2010, Brian Nielsen told reporters that he was prepared to return to the ring, after 8 years of absence, and that a proposed fight against

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion in the cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight division ...

had been met with interest by both sides. Though originally thought unrealistic by former promoter Mogens Palle, due to Nielsen's bad knee, Nielsen's comeback was confirmed by Nielsen's promoter Sauerland Event on June 1, 2010. Nielsen met Holyfield on May 7, 2011 in a World Boxing Federation (WBF) title bout, in Copenhagen. Holyfield won the fight, knocking Nielsen down in the 3rd with a left hook and stopping him by TKO in the 10th.

Match throwing incident

Controversy arose in early 2004, when journeyman heavyweight Thomas Williams stated that he had been bribed to throw his fight against Nielsen in March, 2000. Along with promoter Robert Mitchell, Williams was indicted by the

United States District Court for the District of Nevada The United States District Court for the District of Nevada (in case citations, D. Nev.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nevada. The court has locations in Las Vegas and Reno. Cases from the District of Nevada ...

for

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

in order to promote the career of Richie Melito, and it was during the FBI's investigation of that case that Williams admitted to intentionally losing to Nielsen. The fix was arranged by promoter Robert Mittleman, a frequent associate of Nielsen's promoter Mogens Palle, who later confessed that he had been paid $1,000, while Williams had received "up to $40,000" from Palle in order to lose the fight. Williams, Mitchell and Mittleman were all found guilty of sports bribery by the court in November and December, 2004. The Nielsen vs. Williams fight was the 57th of Nielsen's career. Nielsen and Mogens Palle denied any knowledge of the match fixing, and were not charged of any wrongdoing by American or Danish authorities.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" , - !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , -align=center , Loss , 64–3 ,

, TKO , 10 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 64–2 ,

, UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 63–2 , Ken Murphy , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Loss , 62–2 ,

, RTD , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 62–1 , Orlin Norris , UD , 12 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 61–1 , Benji Baker , TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 60–1 , Dicky Ryan , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 59–1 , Andy Sample , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 58–1 , Kevin Cook , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 57–1 , Jeremy Williams , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 56–1 , Thomas Williams , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 55–1 , Jeff Pegues , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 54–1 , Troy Weida , KO , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 53–1 , Frank Wood , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 52–1 , Don Normand , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 51–1 , Dale Crowe , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 50–1 , Shane Sutcliffe , KO , 5 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Loss , 49–1 , Dicky Ryan , TKO , 10 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 49–0 ,

, TKO , 4 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 48–0 , Paul Phillips , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 47–0 ,

Peter McNeeley Peter McNeeley (born 6 October 1968) is an American former heavyweight boxer best known for his 1995 fight with Mike Tyson, Tyson’s first fight after being released from prison. McNeeley was disqualified after his manager Vinnie Vecchione s ...

, KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 46–0 , Dan Murphy , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 45–0 , Lionel Butler , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 44–0 , Garing Lane , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 43–0 , Terry Ray , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 42–0 , George Linberger , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 41–0 , Joey Guy , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 40–0 , Donnell Wingfield , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 39–0 , Don Steele , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 38–0 , Crawford Grimsley , TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 37–0 , Bruce Douglas , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 36–0 , Marcos Gonzales , TKO , 4 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 35–0 , James Pritchard , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 34–0 , Damon Reed , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 33–0 , Pedro Daniel Franco , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 32–0 ,

, SD , 12 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 31–0 , Marcus Rhode , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 30–0 , Andrew Maynard , TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 29–0 , Jerry Halstead , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 28–0 , Mike Hunter , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 27–0 , Salvador Maciel , TKO , 3 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 26–0 ,

, TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 25–0 , Jeff Lally , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 24–0 , Tony LaRosa , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , Align=left, , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 23–0 , Carlos De Leon , TKO , 3 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 22–0 , Tony Tubbs , TKO , 4 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 21–0 , Terry Davis , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 20–0 , Jim Huffman , DQ , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 19–0 , Jason Waller , TKO , 2 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 18–0 , Tim Noble , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 17–0 , Doug Davis , TKO , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 16–0 , Matt Green , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 15–0 ,

, UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 14–0 , Terry Anderson , KO , 5 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 13–0 , James Smith , TKO , 5 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 12–0 , George Stephens , KO , 1 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 11–0 , Ken Merritt , KO , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 10–0 , Ron Gullette , KO , 3 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 9–0 , Ross Puritty , UD , 4 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 8–0 , Mike Acey , KO , 2 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 7–0 , Mike Dixon , UD , 8 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 6–0 , Jean Chanet , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 5–0 , Roger McKenzie , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 4–0 , Jean Weiss , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 3–0 , Carl Gaffney , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 2–0 , Steve Gee , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , , - style="text-align:center;" , Win , 1–0 , Terry Armstrong , UD , 6 , , Align=left, , Align=left,

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Brian 1965 births Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Heavyweight boxers Living people Olympic boxers for Denmark Olympic bronze medalists for Denmark Olympic medalists in boxing People from Korsør Danish male boxers Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Boxers from Region Zealand 20th-century Danish sportsmen