Craig Bodzianowski did the unthinkable when he came back from a career-ending injury, and fought on.
From Vinny Pazienza winning a world title and beating Roberto Duran after breaking his neck, to ‘The Boston Bonecrusher’ Sam Langford fighting from lightweight to heavyweight despite being partially blind, the boxing world offers a great many tales of resilience, grit, and determination.
None of these are perhaps quite as shocking as that of Craig ‘Gator’ Bodzianowski, who was building a successful boxing career with 13 wins to his name before a motorcycle accident nearly ripped everything from him.
“Bones were everywhere” – Craig Bodzianowski fights on despite losing his foot in horror crash
Bodzianowski’s boxing career was interrupted when he was involved in a devastating motorcycle accident.
Bodzianowski said: “Bones were everywhere, like a turkey leg with all those little fibres sticking out.”
His foot was amputated, but he retained his drive, and also his humor, reportedly responding to someone who suggested he sue the drive responsible for his crash saying: “I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.”
Bodzianowski returned to his boxing gym without telling anyone he wore a prosthetic leg. In 1985 Bodzianowski fought again, stopping his opponent in two rounds, though the opponent later claimed they took a dive.
In a bid to prove the rumors wrong, and to prove to everyone that the injury would not hold him back, ‘Gator’ fought 23 more times in his career, winning 18 of them and drawing in one.
He won the Illinois State heavyweight title in 1986 but fell just shy of the cruiserweight state title against Alfonzo Ratliff, who he lost to twice on majority decision.
1990 even saw Bodzianowski challenge for the WBA cruiserweight world title, though once again he fell short.
Craig Bodzianowski became the ‘Gator’ after mocking rich kids at school
Bodzianowski’s nickname came not from fighting an actual alligator like Kid Violent, the man Joe Louis avoided, did, but from a joke he made in his youth.
He came from a low-income background, and, in a bid to mock the materialistic nature of the rich kids at school, tattooed an alligator in the fashion of the Lacoste logo on his chest.
He was said to wear t-shirts with holes ripped in the chest to show off the tattoo, mocking his peers’ need for designer clothing.
This earned him the nickname ‘Gator’, an alias he carried with him throughout his entire career.