Zeljko 'Zed' Mavrovic

[HomicideHenry]

Whatever happened to him? His last bout was against Lennox Lewis for the world title and he gave a damn good effort, losing a decision, giving Lewis a few problems along the way. Why did his career come to a hault? He seemed to be an accomplished amateur who was 27-0 as a professional before facing the champion of the world.

[zojo]

I think he had some rare illness. Not sure what it was or what it effected, but I believe after the Lewis fight he lost lots of weight due to the illness.

[Goodnight, Irene]

I heard somewhere that, had he won, Mavrovic would've become the inaugural vegetarian Heavyweight champ.

Enough motivation for Lewis not to lose, right there D

[Flump]

I remember hearing that his unconventional dietry beliefs somehow affected the recovery from his illness. Last I heard he was several pounds under his fighting weight, shame, he had good skills and a solid chin.

[overhand_right]

He was scheduled to fight Tyson in 99, and was later the original opponent for Rahman before pulling out (and Maskaev famously stepped in and knocked Rahman out of the ring)

At some point, maybe in 2000, he developed a strange wasting disease and dropped about 100 lbs.

I hope he's better. What a tough & scary looking geezer!!