On March 14, 1980...

[Boxfan83]

On March 14, 1980, the sport of amateur boxing and the world tragically lost 22 members to a plane crash near Warsaw, Poland. The fourteen boxers and eight staff members aboard the flight, which killed a total of 77 people, were en route to an international event in Poland at the time of the crash.

The team was traveling from New York to Warsaw to compete in two dual events in Cracow and Katowice when the Polish IL-62 jetliner went down just a half a mile from Warsaw's Okecie Airport.

Today marks the 39th anniversary of the tragic accident and USA Boxing would like to acknowledge those team members and the sacrifice they made for their country and the love of the sport. Those lost on March 14, 1980 will never be forgotten.

[Boxfan83]

Im not old enough to have been around at this time but I can only imagine the "what ifs" boxing as a sport had.

[clemenza]

Future 2 time world Champion Bobby Czyz was supposed to be on that flight. Bobby was part of that team but was in a car accident a few weeks previous to the teams traveling overseas and didn’t make the trip.

[Boxfan83]

Future 2 time world Champion Bobby Czyz was supposed to be on that flight. Bobby was part of that team but was in a car accident a few weeks previous to the teams traveling overseas and didn’t make the trip.

Crazy! Thanks for sharing. I just read this story bcuz it was emailed from USAboxing.