Ray Mercer

Raymond Anthony Mercer (born April 4, 1961) is an American former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist who competed from 1989 to 2009. As an amateur, he won the heavyweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

In 1991, Mercer captured the WBO heavyweight world title and later successfully defended it against Tommy Morrison whom he previously decisioned 5-0 during 1988 Summer Olympics trials. He subsequently vacated the belt. Mercer was nicknamed "Merciless" for his punching power and aggressive fighting style, a moniker that followed him throughout his professional career.

In 2004, Mercer competed in a kickboxing match against four-time K-1 Japan tournament champion Musashi, losing by unanimous decision.

In 2009, he made a brief appearance in mixed martial arts, defeating former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia by first-round knockout, earning a Bazzie Award for Upset of the Year.

Early life Mercer is the son of retired NCO Raymond Mercer Sr. and spent his childhood in Fort Benning, Georgia and Hanau, West Germany as part of a military family. He later recalled:

Mercer played high school football as a linebacker in Hanau, Germany, and later graduated from Richmond County Academy in Augusta, Georgia. The following year, he enlisted in the United States Army.

Military service Mercer served with the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR), under V Corps, in the infantry. He was stationed with Company D, 1st Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment in Baumholder, West Germany. He achieved the rank of sergeant.

Amateur boxing career Mercer began boxing at age 23 while serving in the United States Army. He later stated that he had never worn gloves prior to his enlistment. "The Army taught me everything I know about boxing," explained Mercer. Mercer was offered the chance to avoid a 30-day field exercise by becoming a sparring partner for the post's heavyweight boxing champion.

His first organized bout came in 1983 at Schweinfurt, West Germany. After winning his battalion box-off, he went on to claim the brigade title. After that, Mercer claimed, "I won the VII Corps novice and open championships and finished second at U.S. Army, Europe." Mercer recalled being physically challenged early in his amateur career:

"I came back from that first day of sparring with a bleeding nose and my lips swollen. For two months, I got pounded. But then it became a challenge. I'm not a quitter. I figured the other guy learned the moves, so could I."

Mercer became the 1985 U.S. Army and inter-service heavyweight champion, alongside Wesley Watson, who was the inter-service super heavyweight title. That same year, Army Coach Hank Johnson sought to recruit Mercer for a stateside training camp for the 1988 Olympics, Mercer turned down the offer.

Throughout the late 1980s, Mercer continued to compete successfully in military-sponsored competitions. He won three USAREUR crowns while carrying the banner for V Corps, with his first victory coming less than a year after his first amateur fight. While still serving with USAREUR, Mercer had several more amateur bouts in Germany between 1986 and 1987, and he also competed internationally in Western European open tournaments.

In the summer of 1988, he won the inter-service heavyweight championship again, before applying for the all-Army boxing trial camp to win a spot on the Army team. Mercer won the 1988 United States amateur heavyweight championship. At the USA vs. Cuba match-up, he twice staggered Félix Savón, but was impeded from doing further damage by the Cuban referee, Alfredo Toledo. Mercer subsequently defeated Yugoslavian Željko Mavrović to win the tournament.

1988 Olympics Mercer was the oldest member of the US boxing team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Despite this, many regarded him as one of the team's most talented boxers. During the games, Muhammad Ali's former trainer Angelo Dundee noted that Mercer and teammate Andrew Maynard each had the potential to develop into world champions after becoming professionals. Dundee claimed that "Mercer's 27, but that's not too old. The maturity is there. And the punch. Give him 10 fights as a pro and he'd be ready to start moving up." According to Kelvin Richardson of the '88 All-Army Team, Mercer was such a hard puncher that he frequently knocked his sparring partners out of the ring, even while wearing 16-ounce gloves. As a result, his super heavyweight Olympic teammate Riddick Bowe avoided sparring with him.RAY MERCER and RIDDICK BOWE HAD VIOLENT SPARRING SESSIONS- KELVIN “BIG DAWG” RICHARDSON

Prior to the start of the Olympics, Mercer's fellow soldiers in Germany signed a large banner for him and shipped it to Seoul. During a post-fight interview, he described the significance of their support to the audience, saying "That banner really picked me up. I'm fighting for the people of the United States, but especially for the ones back in my unit."

Mercer knocked out all four of his Olympic opponents en route to winning gold as a heavyweight. He was named the United States Armed Forces Athlete of the Year in November 1988 following his Olympic victory. In January 1989, Mercer was honorably discharged from the Army and began his professional boxing career.

Professional boxing career

Mercer began his professional boxing career in January 1989, winning his debut bout via a third-round TKO against Jesse McGhee. In August 1990, he knocked down and outpointed Bert Cooper in a 12-round brawl that earned him Cooper's NABF title.

Final fights Mercer retired in 2008 as a one-time major title holder with a record of 36–7–1 (26 KOs).

Mixed martial arts career Mercer explored mixed martial arts as early as 2003 when he was scheduled to face Kazuyuki Fujita, who was 9–4 across his MMA career. The fight was to be held in Kobe, Japan as the main event of the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye in an MMA ring. However, the bout was cancelled after Mercer missed his flight to the country.

On March 21, 2007, Cage Fury Fighting Championships announced that Mercer had signed to face underground street fighter Kimbo Slice at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall as part of Cage Fury Fighting Championship 5. The bout was a non-sanctioned exhibition under the New Jersey Unified MMA rules, with both men making their professional MMA debuts. Slice won the fight in the first round with a guillotine choke submission. Afterwards, Mercer said he would be sticking with boxing since he "can't get choked out in boxing."

On June 13, 2009, Mercer made his professional MMA debut against former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia, at Adrenaline MMA 3: Bragging Rights in Birmingham, Alabama. It was reported that they had tried to make the fight initially as a boxing match, but was unable to get sanctioning due to Mercer being a former champ, and Sylvia having no boxing record. Before the fight, they allegedly had an agreement to treat it as a boxing match, but in the opening seconds of the match, Sylvia threw a low calf kick at Mercer. Seconds later, Mercer comes in with an overhand right that drops Sylvia and leads to Mercer winning by KO in just 9 seconds.

In March 2010, it was announced that Mercer had signed with the King of the Cage organization, but no bouts materialized. At 1–0, he was scheduled to face at the time undefeated MMA fighter and Kickboxer Ron Sparks, but the bout was cancelled due to a lingering injury Mercer had sustained 13 years earlier.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes44WinRichel HersisiaMD6Sep 5, 200843Loss35–7–1Derric RossyUD12Jan 26, 200842Win35–6–1Mikael LindbladKO1, Sep 15, 200741Loss34–6–1Shannon BriggsKO7 (10), Aug 26, 200540Win34–5–1Darroll WilsonUD10Jun 24, 200539Win33–5–1Steve PannellTKO3 (10), Feb 28, 200438Win32–5–1Shawn RobinsonTKO3 (10), Nov 11, 200337Win31–5–1Mario CawleyKO3 (10), Aug 23, 200336Loss30–5–1Wladimir KlitschkoTKO6 (12), Jun 29, 200235Win30–4–1Troy WeidaTKO1 (10), Feb 23, 200234Win29–4–1Brian ScottKO2 (10), Oct 13, 200133Win28–4–1Don SteeleKO5 (10), Mar 17, 200132Win27–4–1Jeff PeguesTKO2 (10), Feb 11, 200131Win26–4–1Jimmy HaynesKO1 (10), Dec 18, 199930Win25–4–1Leo LoiaconoKO2 (10), Feb 21, 199829Win24–4–1Tim WitherspoonUD10Dec 14, 199628Loss23–4–1Lennox Lewis10May 10, 199627Loss23–3–1Evander HolyfieldUD10May 20, 199526Draw23–2–1Marion Wilson10Jul 28, 199425Win23–2Jesse FergusonSD10Nov 19, 199324Win22–2Mark WillsUD10Oct 6, 199323Win21–2Tony WillisTKO1 (10), Aug 12, 199322Loss20–2Jesse FergusonUD10Feb 6, 199321Win20–1Jerry HalsteadRTD2 (12), Dec 10, 199220Win19–1Mike Dixon7 (10), Oct 7, 199219Loss18–1Larry HolmesUD12Feb 7, 199218Win18–0Tommy MorrisonTKO5 (12), Oct 18, 199117Win17–0Francesco DamianiKO9 (12), Jan 11, 199116Win16–0Bert CooperUD12Aug 5, 199015Win15–0Lionel WashingtonTKO4 (10), May 31, 199014Win14–0Kimmuel OdumUD12Mar 2, 199013Win13–0Wesley WatsonTKO5 (10), Jan 15, 199012Win12–0Ossie Ocasio8Dec 7, 198911Win11–0Jerry JonesUD8Nov 14, 198910Win10–0Eddie RichardsonTKO1 (8), Oct 17, 19899Win9–0Arthel LawhorneTKO2 (10), Sep 19, 19898Win8–0Dino HomseyTKO1 (8), Sep 5, 19897Win7–0Tracy ThomasKO1 (6), Aug 15, 19896Win6–0Al EvansTKO1 (6), Jul 15, 19895Win5–0Ken CrosbyKO1 (6), Jun 12, 19894Win4–0David HopkinsKO1 (4), May 16, 19893Win3–0Garing Lane4Mar 28, 19892Win2–0Luis Walford1 (4)Mar 4, 19891Win1–0Jesse McGhee3 (4), Feb 24, 1989

Kickboxing record + 0 Wins (0 (T) KO's, 0 decision), 2 Losses Date Result Record Opponent Event Method Round Time Location March 15, 2005 Loss 0–2 Remy Bonjasky K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul TKO (Right High Kick) 1 0:22 Seoul, South Korea June 6, 2004 Loss 0–1 MusashiK-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Nagoya Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 Nagoya, Japan

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record

Exhibition record

References

External links

Ray Mercer

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