27 Years Ago, Ray Mercer was `Army Strong’ in Rallying Past Tommy Morrison

Published

6 years ago

October 13, 2018

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe lasted just 11 days at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, S.C., until he was voluntarily granted his release and returned to civilian life. “Big Daddy” might have won two of his three classic battles with Evander Holyfield, but his approach to training camp was seldom military-grade and, besides, gentlemanly trainer Eddie Futch treated him with more patience and fewer cross words than did his expletive-spewing drill instructors.

Before he even took up boxing, future WBO heavyweight titlist Ray Mercer spent nine years in the U.S. Army. He was the recruiting-poster epitome of “Army strong,” toting an M-60 machine gun on his shoulder on 12-mile hikes without complaint, mentally and physically conditioned enough to tough it out on reforger exercises in the snowy woods of Germany, by survival courses in desert heat. In the ring and in the field, Mercer might have been fallible enough to lose, but nothing and no one was ever going to make him quit.

Roommates in the Olympic Village at the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea, the less-talented but more positive-thinking Mercer was so put off by what he perceived to be Bowe’s nagging self-doubts about his medal chances that he sought and was granted different quarters so as to not to have his temporary living space infected by what he later termed the younger fighter’s “defeatist attitude.”

Did removing himself from Bowe’s presence help? Well, let the record show that Mercer took the gold medal in the heavyweight division by winning all four of his bouts inside the distance, the last of which was an emphatic, first-round knockout of South Korea’s Baik Hyun-Man. Bowe had to settle for a silver medal in the super heavyweight division, losing in the final on a second-round stoppage. By maybe he shouldn’t be faulted too much for that; his opponent, after all, was some guy named Lennox Lewis, who was representing Canada. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

By any measure, Bowe, now 51, had the more distinguished of the former Olympic teammates’ professional careers, good enough to merit his 2015 induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. And, as he demonstrated in his trilogy with Holyfield, he had enough heart and commitment as the occasion warranted to satisfy even the saltiest Marine DI. It’s just that Bowe never found himself in as many pugilistic firefights as did Mercer, now 57, who had to fall back on his Army training whenever the going inside the ropes required he dig deep inside himself to find whatever was required to keep going and, ultimately, win. He has yet to be inducted into the IBHOF, despite having had his last pro bout in 2008, which would have made him eligible for consideration in 2013. Since his name has never even appeared on the ballot, it’s very possible he will never get a call to the hall.

It was the good-soldier Mercer who achieved perhaps his most memorable victory as a pro on Oct. 18, 1991, when the WBO heavyweight champ overcame three-plus rounds of having his butt kicked by young phenom Tommy Morrison to score a fifth-round TKO in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. The final barrage, which came after an elapsed time of 28 seconds, saw Mercer pummel “The Duke” into unconsciousness along the ropes before referee Tony Perez could jump in.

“I’m kind of glad it went like it did,” Mercer said afterward. “You like to take your man out convincingly, just so people will know he was really out.”

For those who were not in the arena or did not see the entire USA Network telecast, just the brutal knockout sequence that made all the late-news sports segments (and it was most definitely a KO; the only reason it went into the books as a TKO is because Perez dispensed with the formality of a count), it must have appeared that Mercer won in a rout. But for much of what had transpired earlier, quite the opposite was true. Morrison, who went in with a 28-0 record that included 24 KOs, 15 of which were one-round quickies, came out from the opening bell as if he imagined Mercer would also fall victim to his early onslaught. Sylvester Stallone’s co-star (as ungrateful protégé Tommy Gunn) in 1992’s Rocky V landed flush with an assortment of loaded-up punches, most notably his signature left hook but also a ripping right uppercut that would have taken off the head of most opponents. But Mercer was not like anyone Morrison had ever fought to that point as a pro, as he would eventually demonstrate.

The two big hitters – Mercer went in 17-0, with 13 KOs – actually had squared off once before, at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Boxing Trials. The older, more physically mature Mercer won on points, leaving Morrison with a taste for revenge he figured he would satisfy if and when they ever crossed paths again.

“I took a very long walk back to my locker room and looked at myself in the mirror,” Morrison said in the lead-up to the rematch of sorts in Atlantic City. “What I saw looking back at me was a very disappointed 19-year-old with a big decision to make.

“By pursuing my Olympic dream, I passed up several football scholarships and the education that in no way could be paid for by my family. (A linebacker and tight end, he had received an offer from Emporia State in Kansas.) But I knew I had the determination and desire that has driven me forward to the day I become a world champion. Now, the opportunity I’ve longed for is here. I have a chance to legitimize myself as one of the top heavyweights in the world today. And one thing is certain: it’s not 1988 anymore.

“Look, I know Ray’s got one of the best chins in boxing, and certainly he’s got the biggest heart. People like that, it’s not a matter of knocking them down. You have to break their will, make them want to quit. Nobody’s ever done that to Ray before, but I’m going to do it.”

Mercer, who went off a slight 6-5 underdog, listened to Morrison’s tale of festering resentment and shrugged. So what if the kid said he was determined and had desire. He’d never been in the Army, or the Marines for that matter. Pride in your branch of service is important to veterans, and it had rankled Mercer, the Olympic gold medalist, that a story in USA Today had referred to him as an “ex-Marine.”

“I’m not going back to the locker room and look at myself in the mirror,” the seemingly implacable Mercer said in comparing his state of mind and readiness to that of Morrison. “I look in the mirror before something bad happens. That way, I prevent it from happening. I wish Tommy all the luck in the world, but it’s not going to happen for him. He’s going to be right back in the locker room, looking at himself in the mirror again.”

Did Mercer, so capable of soaking up punishment and shaking it off as if punches were raindrops, intentionally expose himself to Morrison’s penchant for going hard and fast with the idea that the popular and possibly overconfident kid, who had never before gone more than six rounds, would burn himself out in a scheduled 12-round bout? Possibly, but not likely; in Mercer’s two previous bouts he had claimed the minor NABF title on a wide 12-round decision over Bert Cooper despite finishing with a grotesquely swollen jaw, and then won the WBO title on a bolt-of-lightning, ninth-round knockout of Italy’s Francesco Damiani, who was so far ahead on points as to be almost uncatchable had the fight gone to the scorecards.

Morrison easily won the first three rounds and was well on his way to winning the fourth when he seemed to tire in the last minute of that round, opening the door for a revived Mercer to launch a counterattack that foreshadowed the brutal ending. As the final seconds of the fourth ticked off, Akbar Muhammad, a Mercer adviser who was seated in the press section, leaped up and excitedly yelled, “Morrison is finished! He’s punched himself out!”

It was a spot-on assessment. Gasping as he came out for round five, Morrison quickly found himself with his back to the ropes, slickly maneuvered there by a spin move from Mercer, who unleashed a rapid-fire, 16-punch volley.

There would be moments later on in his career that Mercer would not be quite so proud of, most notably the $100,000 bribe he allegedly offered Jesse Ferguson during clinches of their Feb. 6, 1993, bout at Madison Square Garden to intentionally lose. The underdog Ferguson declined repeated enticements to go into the tank (apparently verified by enhanced HBO audiotapes) in a fight which the underdog was in the process of winning, and did. The upset loss put the snafu on a proposed shot for Mercer at his onetime Olympic teammate, WBA/IBF champ Bowe, which instead went to Ferguson. This time, however, Mercer – who would have been paid $2.5 million for the Bowe fight — had no one to blame but himself for the missed opportunity; he came in at a then-career-high 238 pounds, or 13 more than weighed for his fight with Morrison 15½ months earlier. Although charges brought against Mercer were eventually dropped (he faced up to seven years in prison had the case gone forward and he was convicted), his once-sterling reputation took a hit from which it might never have fully recovered.

But Mercer was still “Merciless” Ray the night he again played the familiar role of unconquerable soldier against Morrison, doing unto Morrison for real what Sly Stallone had done to the Tommy Gunn character in the closing scenes of Rocky V. To some, Mercer’s escape from the brink was a surprise; to one veteran observer it was anything but.

“I love Mercer’s chances,” Angelo Dundee, the legendary trainer of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard who had no ties to either fighter, had surmised beforehand. “To me, he’s a devastating inside puncher. I noticed that in the amateurs. His footwork is not that fluid, but when he gets inside, he can really percolate. Outside, he looks ungainly. But inside, it’s goodbye, Jack. I honestly believe he’s going to do a number on Morrison.”

Mercer appreciated the positive remarks from Dundee, but he did take exception to one thing. “Angelo Dundee is one of the greatest trainers around,” Mercer said. “It makes me feel good that he feels that way about me. That’s the way I feel about myself, except that I don’t think I’m that ungainly.”

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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Published

1 day ago

December 21, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.

The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.

Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.

The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.

An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.

Moses Itauma

Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.

His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.

Photo (c): Mark Robinson

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10^th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.

Bohachuk-Davis

In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.

Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.

Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.

Fisher-Allen

In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.

Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.

In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.

He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.

A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.

In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.

McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Fury-Usyk-Reignated-Can-the-Gypsy-King-Avenge-His-Londe-Defeat?

Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.

The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.

Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.

The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.

That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.

The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)

Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)

Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.

Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).

Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.

The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.

Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.

Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.

We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”

The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.

Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.

Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.

Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.

There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.

It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.

Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.

At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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