Henry Maske (, ; born 6 January 1964) is a German former professional boxer and one of Germany's most popular sports figures. He held the IBF light heavyweight title from 1993 until 1996.
Amateur career
Maske was born in Treuenbrietzen, Bezirk Potsdam. He was an Olympic Gold medallist 1988 in Seoul (middleweight) for East Germany. His results were:
Olympic results Below is the record of Henry Maske, an East German middleweight boxer who competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics:
Round of 64: bye Round of 32: Defeated Helman Palije (Malawi) by decision, 5–0 Round of 16: Defeated Sello Mojela (Lesotho) by walkover Quarterfinal: Defeated Michele Mastrodonato (Italy) by decision, 5–0 Semifinal: Defeated Chris Sande (Kenya) by decision, 5–0 Final: Defeated Egerton Marcus (Canada) by decision, 5–0 (won gold medal)
Maske won the 1989 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Moscow and the silver medal at the 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Reno, Nevada. His toughest opponents were Cubans, particularly Angel Espinosa, whom he met three times in 1987–1988, losing all three by a 0–5 unanimous decision, and luckily for him, Maske didn't met Espinosa at Seoul as Cuba boycotted the 1988 Olympics.
Professional career
During his career, Maske was a five-time boxing champion of East Germany. After reunification in 1990, he turned professional, and became the IBF world title holder in the light heavyweight category on 20 March 1993. Maske defended his title ten times between 1993 and 1996.Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Pretoria. German Sporting Icons; accessed 8 September 2011.
He retired in 1996 after suffering a split decision loss at the hands of Virgil Hill.Kammerer, Roy. "After decade of retirement, Henry Maske is back", USAToday.com, 31 March 2007; accessed 1 January 2016. In 2007, he won in a rematch.Brichzi, Dirk. "Maske-Erfolg gegen Hill: Seelenfrieden für den Gentleman", Spiegel.de; accessed 1 April 2007.
Post-boxing life
As of 2010, Maske owns ten McDonald's franchises in Germany.Öchsner, Thomas; Uhlmann, Steffen (27 August 2010). "Reden wir über Geld: Henry Maske 'Es war klasse, die Rechnung zu schreiben'", Süddeutsche Zeitung; retrieved 22 December 2011. Maske works as a boxing commentator for the first German television channel (ARD).
Comeback After an 11-year retirement, he avenged his only defeat as a professional against Virgil Hill. The fight was held on 31 March 2007, in Munich; Maske won by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes32Win31–1Virgil HillUD1231 Mar 200731Loss30–1Virgil HillSD1223 Nov 199630Win30–0John ScullyUD1225 May 199629Win29–0Duran WilliamsUD1217 Feb 199628Win28–0Graciano RocchigianiUD1214 Oct 199527Win27–0Graciano RocchigianiUD1227 May 199526Win26–0Egerton MarcusUD1211 Feb 199525Win25–0Iran BarkleyRTD9 (12), 8 Oct 199424Win24–0Andrea MagiUD124 Jun 199423Win23–0Ernesto MagdalenoTKO9 (12)26 Mar 199422Win22–0David VedderUD1211 Dec 199321Win21–0Anthony HembrickUD1218 Sep 199320Win20–0Charles WilliamsUD1220 Mar 199319Win19–0Frank MintonKO2 (?)2 Oct 199218Win18–0Samson CohenRTD5 (8), 19 Sep 199217Win17–0Lenzie MorganPTS1027 Jun 199216Win16–0Steve McCarthyDQ9 (10)4 Apr 199215Win15–0Leslie StewartKO7 (10)6 Mar 199214Win14–0Tom Elton CollinsTKO8 (10), 6 Dec 199113Win13–0Darryl FrommKO2 (8)8 Nov 199112Win12–0Mike PeakKO9 (?)12 Oct 199111Win11–0Rodrigo BenechUD813 Sep 199110Win10–0Yawe DavisPTS1031 May 19919Win9–0Miguel Angel MaldonadoPTS828 Feb 19918Win8–0Salim MuhammadPTS825 Jan 19917Win7–0Glazz CampbellPTS87 Dec 19906Win6–0Sean MannionPTS816 Nov 19905Win5–0Cordwell HyltonTKO3 (6), 31 Oct 19904Win4–0Mike BrothersKO2 (?)5 Oct 19903Win3–0Jorge Juan SalgadoPTS67 Sep 19902Win2–0Mike AubreyPTS61 Jun 19901Win1–0Antonio ArvizuKO1 (6)9 May 1990
Television viewership
Germany
Date Fight Viewership () Source(s) Henry Maske vs. Charles Williams Henry Maske vs. Egerton Marcus Henry Maske vs. Graciano Rocchigiani I Henry Maske vs. Graciano Rocchigiani II Henry Maske vs. Duran Williams Henry Maske vs. John Scully Henry Maske vs. Virgil Hill I Henry Maske vs. Virgil Hill II Total viewership 105,750,000
Acting Maske played the lead role in the 2010 biopic Max Schmeling, for which he took several months of acting lessons. However, critique were largely negative on his performance in the film.
References
External links Official webpage; accessed 1 January 2016.
Profile, Leverkusen.com