It is generally accepted that all professional fighters are people with a fairly low level of intellectual development, unable to do anything in their lives except to beat other people. But fortunately, in fact, this is far from the case. A striking example of this is a boxer named Lamon Brewster, whose fate and sports career will be discussed in this article.
Birth and childhood
One of the most outstanding athletes of our time was born on June 5, 1973 in Indiana, Indianapolis. According to the recollections of his mother, Lamon Brewster grew up a rather assiduous and calm child, who at four years old played chess very decently, and at the age of seven he mastered playing the drum set.
However, at the age of seven, the guy’s life changed because his parents moved to California, settling in a suburb of Los Angeles. This is where the turn in the fate of the future champion took place.
Start boxing
At the dawn of the 1980s, films featuring Bruce Lee were very popular. Therefore, many boys began to get carried away kung fu. Our hero, who quit drums and began to fight with his brothers, was no exception. In this regard, the guy’s father decided to take his son to where the fight is normal, that is, in the boxing section. The first training room in which Lamon Brewster was engaged was Riverside Gym, where the leader was Billy Brown, who is a friend and partner of the legendary Jack Dempsey.
It is worth noting that the athlete immediately completely devoted himself to boxing. He had good performance in swimming, karate and even chess. Anyway, the guy associated his future with a good education, which, as he believed, could provide him with a decent life.
A sharp turn in life
But fate decreed in its own way. During the celebration of the fifteenth anniversary, the former professional basketball player Joe Long visited the Brewster family, who said: "A person can achieve serious success in only one direction, fully concentrating on it." This phrase of a very respected Lamon man impressed the young man, and from that day he completely concentrated on boxing.
Moving to Los Angeles
At the age of 18, Lamon Brewster settled in Beverly Hills and began training under the direction of Bill Slayton. The young boxer was very diligent and stubborn, and this led to the fact that at the end of 1991 he became the strongest among his peers. He also quite often conducted training with professionals, among whom were leading US boxers.
Success in lovers
In 1992, Lamon won the Golden Gloves tournament in California. The same success awaits him next year. And already in March 1995, he won the American title. Six months later, the boxer becomes the silver medalist of the Pan American Games.
In early 1996, Lamon won the Western Regional Trials, thanks to which he received an invitation to become a member of the US Olympic team. But the athlete decided to go into professionals, because it was there, in his opinion, that he was waiting for big fees, significantly exceeding the price of Olympic gold.
Pro debut
November 8, 1996 Brewster for the first time performs in the pro-ring. The first fight was successful, because Lamon defeated his opponent by knockout in the first round. Until the end of the calendar year, Lamon had three more fights, and he won all of them ahead of schedule in the first three minutes.
Top-Rank Contract
Such a powerful start was noticeable for promoter Bob Arum, who signed a contract with Brewster. Largely due to this, the young American professional boxer issued a series of 20 victorious fights, after which the contract with him was extended. After a while, Lamon becomes stronger and more experienced. This meant that it was time to fight with significant fighters.
First defeat
May 6, 2000 in Pittsburgh, a duel took place between two invincible at that time fighters: Brewster and Clifford Etienne.
Etienne from the very beginning of the battle did not give Lamon the opportunity to use strength and speed, since he himself had excellent indicators in shock technique and endurance. As a result, already in the final rounds, Clifford pushed Brewster into a corner without any problems and beat him with short side blows to the body and head. As a result, the unanimous decision of the judges was in favor of Etienne.
Return to the ring
Six months later, Lamon holds the battle again. This time he beats Vela Smith. After this battle, he was waiting for a fight with Charles Schafford. But on October 21, Brewster once again loses. Charles made him work number one and successfully counterattacked. As a result, after 10 rounds, Shafford celebrated the victory.
This defeat not only caused Brewster psychological trauma, but also deprived him of a contract with Arum. However, talents such as Lamon do not remain ownerless, and he signs a contract with Don King, thanks to which he regains success.
A new round in a career
After a series of successful battles, in early 2003, Lamon took second place in the WBO rating list. This meant that soon he was waiting for the title fight.
The first battle with the Ukrainian
In the spring of 2004 there was a battle for the world champion. The boxing of the highest level in this fight was shown by two strong and smart boxers: American Brewster and Ukrainian Klitschko Jr.
In the first four rounds, Lamon lost, and once even knocked down. However, in the fifth three-minute period, Vladimir Klitschko sharply began to slow down - it was evident that he was very tired. After the end of the round, the Ukrainian fell to the floor without strength, and the referee was forced to stop the match, thereby awarding the victory to the American.
After this fight, Brewster defeated Albanian Luan Krasnichi, Kali Mien and Andrzej Golota. But in April 2006, he lost to Belarus Sergey Lyakhovich on points.
A rematch
In the summer of 2007, Wladimir Klitschko conducted a voluntary defense of the IBF title. It was a re-meeting of the Ukrainian and Lamon. This time, Vladimir led the fight under his dictation, and therefore, in the interval between the seventh and eighth rounds, the American refused to continue the fight.
The last match in his professional career, Brewster spent January 30, 2010 in Germany, where he lost by technical knockout to Finn Robert Helenius.