Drzewicki: ‘My father beat Ricky Hatton!’

Marcel Drzewicki roars to his first win. Picture: Inga Zulyte

MARCEL Drzewicki – the boxer who brought a barmy army of Burton-on-Trent fans to his debut – has been forced to withdraw from his next fight.

The Polish born junior-lightweight has been KOd by a respiratory tract infection. He is “gutted”.

So too, I’d image, is manager and promoter Anthony Manning who had put Drzewicki on his December 15 Eastside Rooms, Birmingham, title show.

That’s a lot of ticket sales out of the window. Marcel has a very, very big following.

Such was the noise created during his first fight – at the same venue last month – I wrote that a sizeable proportion of Burton’s population appeared to have upped sticks to Birmingham.

Marcel, an apprentice electrician, rewarded the faithful with a high voltage points win over Tony Morton.

The difficult decision to pull out of next month’s fight – scheduled on the date of his 23rd birthday - was made today. “I’ve been ill for three weeks and we made the decision it’s not worth it (the risk). When I’m in the ring I want to be 100 per cent.

“I’m gutted. I’m in camp 24/7, I was at the top of my game, it’s a lot hard work for nothing. As soon as I’m well, I’m back in camp. If it’s Christmas Day, I’m back in camp. It’s one of those things. It’s a minor setback and it’ll be a major comeback.”

I was a little wrong footed during my first encounter with Marcel. Much was made of his Polish heritage for that first fight. He wore the country’s colours, the nation’s white eagle symbol was displayed on his gown.

Throughout the bout, instructions were bellowed in Polish.

I, therefore, expected to interview a young man whose English was fractured, if not broken. Instead, Marcel spoke with an East Midlands, rather than East European, accent.

“I’ve even had people come up and say, ‘you don’t look Polish’,” he laughed. “I was born in Poland and moved to England in 2005,” he explained. “I don’t remember much about the country, but I speak the language fluently.”

The Polish corner instruction came from dad and trainer Lukasz – a man with a formidable boxing CV. He was a world class amateur.

“He was five times national champion in Poland,” said Marcel. “He actually holds a win over Ricky Hatton – how’s that for a claim to fame? He was on the Olympic team for Sydney 2000 but suffered an accident and couldn’t go.

“He has a very high boxing IQ, he sees everything.”

After savouring that initial win, Marcel wants more – much more.

“To do something you’ve always dreamed of doing…,” he said. “And my supporters gave me that extra strength.

“All I want to do is keep climbing the rankings and get to the top. Some people say I’m crazy, but I’m in this to win a world title. I want to get to the very top.”

That ambitious journey has been temporarily stalled. Marcel has a virus to beat first.