Quitting is easy: amputee boxer

Press, 16 December 1985, Page 44

Quitting is easy: amputee boxer

NZPA-AP Chicago Craig Bodzianowski isn’t just a boxer, he’s a fighter, and he doesn’t do anything half-way. When he lost his right foot and part of his leg in a motorcycle accident 18 months ago, he was fitted with a prosthesis and went on with his boxing career. “Quitting is easy. Anybody can do that,” said Bodzianowski, a 24-year-old cruiserweight. “It surprises people when they hear about it, but people who know me are anything but surprised.” But he managed to startle even his staunchest supporters by scheduling a rugged journeyman, Francis Sargent, as his first step on the comeback trail.

Sargent provided Bodzianowski with the toughest opposition in his 13 earlier professional fights, all of them victories. That was a month before the accident. “We didn’t want somebody who would just fall down,” said Jerry Lenza, Bodzianowski’s manager. “That wouldn’t have proved anything. We don’t want to fool Craig or anyone else.” The two will fight on Saturday in an eight-round bout fully sanctioned by the State of Illinois Boxing Commission.

A fight historian, Hub Goldman, of “Ring” magazine said it would be the first professional boxing match in the United States involving a man with a missing limb. “I’ve heard of guys without toes or fingers, but missing a leg, arm, foot — it’s unheard of,” Goldman said.