Mike Mollo (born February 11, 1980) is an American 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 ...

. A fan favorite for his aggressive style in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Mollo is perhaps best known for his bouts with

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

fighters

Art Binkowski Artur "Art" Binkowski (; born February 19, 1975) is a Polish-born Canadian heavyweight boxer who competed for his adoptive country Canada at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Background Binkowski came to Canada from Poland at the ...

, Artur Szpilka,

Andrew Golota Andrzej Jan Gołota (; born 5 January 1968), best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as a ...

, and Krzysztof Zimnoch. He was managed by Darnell Nicholson.

Background

Born into a working class Italian family in

's south suburbs, Mollo got into numerous scuffles on the streets of his neighborhood. Already 230 pounds as a 14-year-old, he was quickly taken to the local boxing club to hone his skills, and apply his energy in a more constructive manner.

Professional career

After a brief amateur career, "Merciless" Mike Mollo made his professional debut on June 25, 2000, scoring a first-round knockout over Terry Coffin in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Kane County, Illinois, Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located northwest of Chicago along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River. As of the 2020 United Stat ...

. Over the following years, Mollo built his professional record while also working full-time as a bricklayer and tuckpointer. Wildly popular with Chicago fight fans, Mollo used his hard-punching, aggressive style to win 19 of his first 20 professional bouts. His first loss was to heavyweight contender

DaVarryl Williamson DaVarryl Jerome Williamson (born July 25, 1968) is an American former professional boxer. A highly-touted amateur, he challenged once for the IBF world heavyweight title in 2005. Early and personal life Williamson was raised in poverty in the ...

. On October 7, 2006, Mollo scored his biggest win, knocking out Kevin McBride (best known for defeating

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 ...

) by a TKO 30 seconds into the second round. After a second-round TKO of

, Mollo faced 40-year old former world title challenger

. Mollo lost via unanimous decision. One of Mollo's more high-profile matchups was his two bouts against then-undefeated and future WBC world title challenger Artur Szpilka. Despite being a heavy underdog in the first fight and not having competed for two years prior to the bout, Mollo was able to knock down Szpilka before being knocked out in the sixth round. The two faced off again six months later, with Mollo again knocking Szpilka down early in the match before being finished in the fifth round via TKO. Three years after his second loss to Szpilka, Mollo faced another

fighter, Krzysztof Zimnoch. In a significant upset, Mollo knocked out the 18-0-1 Zimnoch in the first round to win the vacant Republic of Poland International Heavyweight title. From this win, Mollo earned a shot at Andriy Rudenko's WBC Silver International Heavyweight title. Mollo was defeated via unanimous decision. Mollo then faced off against Krzysztof Zimnoch in a rematch from the year before. Mollo lost the rematch via corner stoppage. On March 1, 2017, Mollo officially announced his retirement from professional boxing.

Influences

Early in his career, Mollo gained the support of

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 ...

's family. "I understand that Mike wants to emulate Rocky both in and out of the ring", noted Peter Marciano, younger brother of the "Brockton Blockbuster". Mollo remembers Marciano well. "I grew up watching fight films of Rocky Marciano. Both of our families came from

Naples, Italy Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, so Rocky was a hero to my family. My strength and conditioning coach Joe Wright gave me a rare book written by Rocky called 'The Use of the Body'. Joe found this book in 1967 while he was somewhere in England. I've been reading it and it's a masterpiece." Mollo continued, "I can't be Rocky, but I'm truly honored to have the support of the Marciano family. I hope to make them proud."Mike Mollo Signs With DKP
East Side Boxing, April 20, 2006.

Personal life

Mollo is married with children and resides in the

, South Suburbs,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

area. He currently works in a variety of jobs, including running a boxing course and gym.

Professional boxing record

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="9", 29 fights, 21 wins (13 knockouts), 7 losses (4 knockouts), 1 draw , - style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;" , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Result , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Record , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Type , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Round, time , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Location , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes , -align=center , 29 , Loss , 21-7-1 , align=left, Krzysztof Zimnoch , TKO , (7) 10, 3:00 , 25 Feb 2017 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 28 , Loss , 21-6-1 , align=left, Andriy Rudenko , TD , (7) 12 , 6 May 2016 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 27 , Win , 21-5-1 , align=left, Krzysztof Zimnoch , KO , 1 (10), 2:08 , 20 Feb 2016 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 26 , Loss , 20-5-1 , align=left, Artur Szpilka , TKO , 5 (10), 1:41 , 13 Aug 2013 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 25 , Loss , 20-4-1 , align=left, Artur Szpilka , KO , 6 (8), 2:45 , 01 Feb 2013 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 24 , style="background:#abcdef;", Draw , 20-3-1 , align=left, Gary Gomez , MD , 8 , 06 Aug 2010 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 23 , Win , 20–3 , align=left, Billy Zumbrun , UD , 8 , 26 Mar 2010 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 22 , Loss , 19–3 , align=left,

Jameel McCline Jameel McCline (born May 20, 1970) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged for the world heavyweight title on an unprecedented four occasions, losing all four attempts to Wladimir Klitschko, Chris Byrd, Nikolai Valuev and Samuel P ...

, UD , 12 , 07 Nov 2008 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 21 , Loss , 19–2 , align=left,

, UD , 12 , 19 Jan 2008 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 20 , Win , 19–1 , align=left,

, TKO , 2 (10), 1:25 , 13 Oct 2007 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 19 , Win , 18–1 , align=left, Zack Page , UD , 8 , 02 Mar 2007 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 18 , Win , 17–1 , align=left, Kevin McBride , TKO , 2 (12), 0:44 , 08 Oct 2006 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 17 , Win , 16–1 , align=left, Willie Walker , KO , 1 (6), 0:25 , 25 Aug 2006 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 16 , Loss , 15–1 , align=left,

, TKO , 4 (10), 2:59 , 6 May 2006 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 15 , Win , 15–0 , align=left, Rogerio Lobo , KO , 6 (12), 2:48 , 04 Nov 2005 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 14 , Win , 14–0 , align=left, Troy Weida , TKO , 1 (10), 1:31 , 13 Jul 2005 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 13 , Win , 13–0 , align=left, Shawn Robinson , TKO , 1 (6), 2:51 , 27 Apr 2005 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 12 , Win , 12–0 , align=left, Eric French , UD , 4 , 15 Jun 2004 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 11 , Win , 11–0 , align=left, Siarhei Dychkou , , , 28 Mar 2003 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 10 , Win , 10–0 , align=left, Brian McIntyre , KO , 1 (4), 1:55 , 15 Mar 2003 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 9 , Win , 9–0 , align=left, Jessie Tucker , UD , 6 , 27 Nov 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 8 , Win , 8–0 , align=left, Marcelo Aravena , UD , 4 , 17 Nov 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 7 , Win , 7–0 , align=left, Louis Parker , KO , 1 (4), 0:36 , 27 Sep 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 6 , Win , 6–0 , align=left, John Clark , UD , 4 , 10 Aug 2002 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 5 , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Donnie Penelton , UD , 4 , 21 Nov 2001 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 4 , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Nathan Crawford , KO , 1 (4), 1:00 , 17 Oct 2001 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 3 , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Calvin Miller , KO , 1 (4), 0:38 , 16 Feb 2001 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 2 , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Joe Helton , KO , 1 (4), 0:19 , 20 Aug 2000 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 1 , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Terrence Coffin , KO , 1 (4), 2:03 , 25 Jun 2000 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center

References

External links

*
Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mollo, Mike 1980 births Living people Heavyweight boxers Boxers from Chicago American male boxers American people of Italian descent