Andrej Csemez

Csemez started boxing at the age of 12 when a boxing gym, KO Box Club, was opened up in Galanta near his village by legendary boxer and former world lightweight title challenger Tomáš Kovács. Although he had also showed interest in football and judo, he began personally training under Kovács soon thereafter.[3] [4]

In 2015, he won a gold medal at the Julius Torma Youth Memorial in Prague,[5] and was presented an award by the Czech Olympic Committee for his performance.[6][7] The following week he placed first in the welterweight event at the Slovakian National Youth Championships, and was subsequently given the most technical boxer award.[6] At the end of the year Csemez competed at his first European Youth Championships, where he won his first bout before falling to Bibert Tumenov of Russia.

The following year he repeated his gold medal-winning performance at the Julius Torma Youth Memorial.[8][9] At the 2016 European Youth Championships in Russia that summer, he won three matches before losing a decision to Englishman Harris Akbar in the semi-finals, taking home a bronze medal.[10][11] For this achievement he was officially recognized by the president of the Slovak Boxing Federation Peter Bodoki, along with national teammates Filip Meszáros and Dávid Michálek.[12] Csemez began his campaign at that year's World Youth Championships, also in Russia, with a controversial[13][14] decision victory over medal favorite Brett McGinty.[15] He was eliminated by Isami Mesa of Cuba in the next round.[16] He closed out the year by moving up to middleweight and competing at the National Championships, where he won a gold medal in the senior division.[17] He was also named the co-Slovak boxer of the year by the National Sports Center (NŠC),[18] a recognition he received the following year as well.[19]

In 2017, at his new weight class, he boxed at the European U-22 Championships in Romania, but lost his second fight to former European Youth champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak.[20] He decisioned two fighters before losing to two-time Olympian Zoltán Harcsa in the quarterfinals of the European Championships in Ukraine.[21][22] This qualified him for the World Championships in Hamburg at the age of 19; he exited with another second-round loss to Oleksandr Khyzhniak.[23] After winning a tournament in Budapest in October 2017,[24] Csemez was involved in a serious car accident that broke two of his cervical vertebrae and kept him out of the ring for eight months.[25] He was knocked out by Andrej Merzlyakov in the first round of the prestigious Chemistry Cup in Germany in June 2018,[26] then lost by referee stoppage to Nicoleto Grdovič at an international tournament in Slovakia in what was his light heavyweight debut.[27] After this rough return, he then won a gold medal in the middleweight event at the European Union Championships in November, winning all four bouts by unanimous decision.[28] His year ended with his second gold medal at the national championships in December.[29]

Csemez was scheduled to compete at the 2019 European U-22 Championships in Russia, but failed a medical exam that kept him out of the ring and awarded his opponent a walkover victory.[30] However a few weeks later he won a gold medal at the second Euro Cup in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina in his return to light heavyweight, and was given the best boxer award.[31][32] Back at middleweight, he won a bronze at the 2019 European Games, which doubled as that year's European Championships.[33] He lost his semi-final bout to rival Oleksandr Khyzhniak – his third defeat to Khyzhniak in as many match-ups.[34] He then had an early exit at the World Championships, losing in his second fight.[35]

In an attempt to qualify for Tokyo 2020 he competed at the 2020 European Olympic Qualification Tournament in London. He defeated Ryszard Lewicki in the opening round and was scheduled to face Miguel Cuadrado of Spain next, but the competition was postponed after three days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Returning from England he tested positive for the virus, becoming the first Slovak athlete to do so, and had to go into quarantine with the entire Slovak team.[36]

Csemez has a tattoo of his inspiration Muhammad Ali on the inner forearm of his left arm, and he is called Slovak Muhammad Ali by other boxers and the Slovakian media alike.[3][25][63] He also lists Tyson Fury as a role model.[25]

• Andrej Csemez at Olympic.sk (in Slovak)
• Andrej Csemez at Olympics.com
• Andrej Csemez at Olympedia