Romania’s first professional box world champion Michael Löwe is dead. He died late Tuesday evening at the age of 56 in Bucharest, as his family announced on his Facebook profile.
He succumbed to his cancer after a decade of the fight against the disease. President Nicusor Dan praised Löwe in his condolences as a “true legend and a yardstick for dignity in sport and life”.
Löwe, who was called Mihai Leu, became WBO world champion in the world weight in 1997. His trainer was Fritz Sdunek, who made several boxers a world maker.
In 1987, Löwe had settled at a tournament in Greek Patras from the Romanian team because a regular emigration from the then communist Romania was difficult. He came to Germany and trained at Bayer 04 Leverkusen from February 1988.