Henry Maske

Henry Maske was a boxing legend, firstly in East Germany, winning the middleweight gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and becoming light-heavyweight world champion the following year, having been a world champion runner-up in 1986. Masker also won at the European Championships in 1985, 1987, and 1989. As an amateur he won 163 out of 181 bouts and won national titles in 1983 and 1985-88. He also won the World Cup in 1985 and 1987.

Later, Maske became a well-known professional boxer in re-unified Germany, winning the International Boxing Federation (IBF) world title in 1993. He won his first World Championship against the American “Prince” Charles Williams and made successful defences against Anthony Hembrick, David Vedder, Ernesto Magdaleno (all USA), Italian Andrea Magi, Iran Barkley (USA), Canadian Egerton Marcus, German Graciano Rocchigiani (twice), Jamaican Duran Williams, and finally American John Scully until he lost the title against another US boxer, Virgil Hill in 1996. Maske won his comeback fight against Hill in 2007.

Maske was nicknamed “Gentleman” due to his very cultivated behavior and boxing style. His popularity triggered a boxing boom in Germany, thanks to his long-time coach Manfred Wolke, his promoter Wilfried Sauerland and German TV channel RTL who organized the fights of Maske and staged them with a boxing spectacles. This made professional boxing “socially acceptable, socially relevant and trendy” in Germany.

Maske was elected Sportsman of the Year in Germany in 1993. In 1995 and 1996, he was named Boxer of the Year by BoxSport. In 1995 and 2007 he was awarded the German media award Bambi, and in 1997 the Golden Camera. In 2001, he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany from the State President and, in 2012, was inducted into the German Sports Hall of Fame. Maske was engaged in numerous social events.

Maske later became a franchisee of McDonald’s in Germany, and owned 10 fast food restaurants. He then started a brief acting career in a 2008 biographic about the famous German boxer Max Schmeling, but the critics were not very positive about Maske’s performance. Since 2020 he has worked as a CEO of a company developing sports technologies.