Wayne "Big Truck" Braithwaite (born August 9, 1975) is a Guyanese former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2012, and held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2002 to 2005.. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
Professional career The highlight of his early amateur career was winning a gold medal at the 1994 Junior Pan American boxing championships held in Venezuela. He also won gold in the junior middleweight division at the Novices boxing championships then a gold medal at the Goodwill Games in Barbados before going professional.
Braithwaite turned professional in 1996, winning with a KO over Olympian John Douglas. For only his tenth fight, in 2000, he was pitted against Dale Brown, who had two years' more professional experience. Braithwaite stopped Brown in eight rounds, winning the WBC–NABF International cruiserweight titles. In 2002, Braithwaite received his first opportunity at a world championship when he faced Vincenzo Cantatore for the WBC cruiserweight title. Fighting in Cantatore's native Italy, Braithwaite was able to weather several onslaughts by his opponent, as well as questionable calls by the referee, en route to a tenth-round stoppage victory. This made Braithwaite only the second boxer from Guyana to win a world title. He successfully defended the title three times, reaching the rank of world's #1 cruiserweight by The Ring magazine during 2003–05.
Braithwaite's undefeated run and title reign came to an end in 2005 when he lost to Jean Marc Mormeck via unanimous decision. The bout was a unification for both the WBC and WBA (Super) cruiserweight titles. The early portion of the fight was dominated by Braithwaite, but Mormeck was able to regain lost ground and win the decision. In Braithwaite's next outing in the same year, he was stopped in four rounds by Guillermo Jones. In 2007, Braithwaite lost to Enzo Maccarinelli in a failed challenge for the WBO cruiserweight title, in which Maccarinelli won a dominant unanimous decision.
A momentary career resurgence for Braithwaite in 2008 saw him upset then-undefeated and future unified cruiserweight world champion Yoan Pablo Hernández, stopping him in three rounds and earning him a WBA and WBC regional title each. Braithwaite was unable to sustain this form in his next fight the following year, losing a unanimous decision to multiple cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham. Amid a period of sparse activity, consisting of a lone win and two consecutive losses, Braithwaite has not fought since 2012.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes30Loss24–6Shawn CorbinUD12Oct 26, 201229Loss24–5Shawn CoxKO1 (12)Feb 25, 201228Win24–4Adam HarrisTKO1 (8), Mar 6, 201027Loss23–4Steve CunninghamUD12Jul 11, 200926Win23–3Yoan Pablo HernándezTKO3 (12), Mar 29, 200825Loss22–3Enzo MaccarinelliUD12Jul 21, 200724Win22–2Gustavo EnriquezTKO7 (8), Feb 3, 200723Loss21–2Guillermo JonesTKO4 (12), Sep 3, 200522Loss21–1Jean-Marc MormeckUD12Apr 2, 200521Win21–0Louis Azille12Apr 17, 200420Win20–0Luis Andres PinedaTKO1 (12), Dec 13, 200319Win19–0Ravea SpringsTKO4 (12), Feb 21, 200318Win18–0Vincenzo CantatoreTKO10 (12), Oct 11, 200217Win17–0Louis AzilleKO3 (12), Nov 17, 200116Win16–0Matthew CharlestonTKO2 (8)May 31, 200115Win15–0Wesley MartinTKO3 (8), Feb 3, 200114Win14–0Michael AugineTKO2May 21, 200013Win13–0Richard WoodhallTKO2May 3, 200012Win12–0David McMillanKO4Apr 15, 200011Win11–0Dale BrownTKO8 (12), Feb 12, 200010Win10–0Ken SharpeTKO3Dec 27, 19999Win9–0Clint RegisKO2Oct 3, 19998Win8–0Tosca PetridisTKO2 (12)Jul 29, 19997Win7–0Adam Watt1 (12), Mar 15, 19996Win6–0Wayne HarrisTKO7 (12)Jul 25, 19985Win5–0Ken SharpePTS8Oct 11, 19974Win4–0Ken SharpePTS8Jul 6, 19973Win3–0Rene JanvierTKO1May 10, 19972Win2–0John Lennox Lewis4Mar 16, 19971Win1–0John Douglas4 (4)Feb 28, 1997
References