Most likely, no one will argue that the greatest great heavyweight boxers of our time were Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, the Klitschko brothers. Undoubtedly, these fighters are the personification of boxing, however, it is quite possible to enlist another person in their cohort, whose name is Ray Mercer. His difficult fate will be discussed in this article.
Brief curriculum vitae
The future world boxing champion was born on April 4, 1961 in the state of Florida, USA. Boxer's hometown is Jacksonville. Ray Mercer won the gold at the 24th Olympic Games in the 91kg category, won the U.S. Amateurs Championship in 1987, and was able to become the North American champion in 1990 and the 1991 WBO World Professional Champion. In addition, the athlete took part in fights according to the rules of kickboxing and mixed fights.
The first fights in professionals
Ray made his debut in the pro ring in early 1989. Six months later, he was able to knock out Dino Homsi, who had no defeat at that time. A month later, Mercer triumphs by technical knockout over Eddie Richardson. In November 1989, the Merciless (the sports nickname of our hero) wins again, and again ahead of schedule. This time, Jerry Jones suffered from his fists. December 1989 was marked by an extremely unconvincing victory by a separate judicial decision by Ray over Ossi Ocacio.
WBO title
In January 1991, Ray Mercer met in the square of the ring with the then-current holder of the belt, Francesco Damiani.
The fight took place under the confident dictation of the champion. Francesco worked from a long distance and after eight rounds won on the cards of all the judges. However, in the end of the ninth three-minute event, a rather rare event for boxing matches took place. Ray threw out his left uppercut and hit tangentially in Damiani's nose. This blow in itself was not a knockout, but the severe pain accompanying a broken nose prevented Francesco from continuing the fight. Thus, Mercer won the world champion belt, which once again confirmed that professional boxing fights are quite tough and not always predictable.
The Fight with Morrison
October 1991 was marked for Ray by a meeting with Tommy Morrison, who had previously lost to Mercer during the selection for the Seoul Olympics.
From the very beginning, Tommy went ahead and literally pressed the champion. However, later Morrison's poor endurance came to the fore, and he was exhausted. At the beginning of the fifth round, Mercer knocked him out with a short blow to his left temple.
Offensive defeat
In February 1992, there was a duel Ray Mercer - Larry Holmes. The winner of this fight became a mandatory contender for the title of absolute world champion, which was owned at that time by Evander Holyfield. Bookmakers considered Ray's favorite. Holmes, who at that time was already 42 years old, no one gave a chance. Nevertheless, according to the results of the battle, Larry won by a unanimous decision.
Confrontation with the Briton
In May 1996, Ray Mercer, whose biography then had many hardest fights, fought Lennox Lewis. Opponents fought without sparing each other and inflicting many blows on the opponent. After ten allotted rounds, victory was awarded to the representative of Misty Albion. And not all judges gave the championship to Lennox. This decision was booed by the public, who believed that Ray should be the winner. The HBO channel represented by Harold Lederman awarded a draw with a score of 95-95. And the publishing house Associated Press did consider Mercer to be the winner, showing a score of 97-93.
Career continuation
In late 1996, Ray boxed with Tim Witherspoon. Despite the fact that Tim was already 39 years old, he was able to interrupt Mercer. Witherspoon hit more often, but the judges gave Ray a victory. The battle itself took place as part of a show organized by the HBO television channel, the main event of which was the duel of Riddick Bowe against Andrzej Golota.
The battle with the Ukrainian giant
In 1997, Mercer was forced to leave boxing for a while. Fights were impossible for him because of a neck injury that caused the athlete to stay out of the ring for about 14 months.
But Ray is a man with a steel will and therefore returned to the sport. And already in June 2002 he went out to fight with Vladimir Klitschko.
The fight was dramatic. Already at the end of the first three-minute period, the Ukrainian got two lateral in Mercer's jaw. After that, Vladimir again added a side impact, because of which the American's legs became naughty, and he began to fall on the canvas. Klitschko again hit, and Ray was on the floor. Mercer had the strength to rise and even hold out until the sixth round, but in the end Klitschko clamped him near the ropes and began methodically beating him with crosses, which the American had no strength to answer. The referee stopped the fight and awarded the victory to Vladimir.
Ray Mercer's professional career includes one fight according to the rules of MMA. In June 2009, he managed to defeat the well-known fighter Tim Sylvia, and by knockout already in the ninth second of the match.