Former two-weight world champion Bobby Czyz has spent most of his life somehow surviving situations that could easily have killed him.
Now, at 63, Czyz is facing another brutal fight after being diagnosed with aggressive squamous cell carcinoma in his right nostril and neck.
The surgeries needed to remove the cancer left the former boxing star with severe facial disfigurement and extensive scarring across his face and nose.
Photos shared publicly by Czyz during recovery stunned many boxing fans who remembered him as one of the sport’s toughest champions during the 1980s and 1990s.
Yet even now, the New Jersey puncher still sounds like a fighter.
“Not as bad as it looks,” Czyz wrote alongside one recovery image. “We can all get back up.”
That mentality has followed him through almost every stage of his life.
Bobby Czyz escaped disaster again and again
Long before becoming a world champion, Czyz narrowly avoided one of boxing’s darkest tragedies.
In 1980, members of the United States amateur boxing team died aboard LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 when the plane crashed near Warsaw.
Czyz was supposed to be part of the trip. He only avoided boarding the flight because he was recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident.
The escape became one of the defining “what if?” moments of his life.
Czyz eventually turned professional and went on to become a two-weight world champion, winning the IBF light heavyweight title before later claiming the WBA cruiserweight crown.
Known as “The Matinee Idol,” Czyz (44-8, 28 KOs) shared the ring with names including Evander Holyfield, Virgil Hill, Charles Williams, and Corrie Sanders during an era packed with dangerous fighters.
But the punishment inside the ropes was not the only trauma he survived.
In 2007, Czyz was rescued from a burning vehicle following another horrific car crash that left him with severe facial injuries.
Now nearly two decades later, cancer has left him fighting all over again.
Boxing world rallies behind Bobby Czyz
Friends and figures from boxing have already started rallying around the former champion as he continues recovery.
Nick Furris wrote: “A good friend, a boxing icon and three-time champ, Bobby Czyz is in the biggest fight of his life.
“Out of nowhere, Bobby was diagnosed with nose and neck cancer.
“I spoke to him today and he is in good spirits post surgery but he has a long road ahead.
“Those who saw him fight or know him, take a moment and say a prayer. Knowing Bobby, if there is one SOB who can beat the ‘C’, it will be him.”
In 2026, Czyz explained the discovery of the cancer in an interview with The What’s Next Kid (thewhatsnextkid) on Instagram.
He said, “I woke up one morning with like a tumor in my nose. The doctors said it was a polyp with cancer in it.
“Now I have to have all these surgeries to try and look a little bit cute again.”
For many boxing fans, the images of Czyz now barely resemble the fighter they watched during his championship years.
But the mindset still does.
After surviving boxing, plane tragedy, devastating crashes and now cancer surgery, Bobby Czyz is still trying to get back up one more time.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a veteran boxing reporter with 15+ years of experience. He has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside since 2010. Read full bio.
