Joe Hipp
Encyclopedia
Joe "The Boss" Hipp is a retired professional Native American
Heavyweight
boxer
. Hipp, a member of Blackfoot Tribe became the first Native American
to challenge for the world heavyweight championship of boxing on August 19, 1995 when he fought WBA
champion Bruce Seldon
at the MGM Grand Las Vegas
. On May 2009, Hipp was inducted into American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
on August 29, 1987. For his second fight 2 months later, Hipp travelled to Carson City, Nevada
to face Utah
native Veti Katoa. The fight was stopped by the ringside doctor after Hipp suffered a broken jaw in the third round.
Hipp rebounded successfully from the defeat by notching up 3 consecutive first round knockout victories before facing Katoa in a rematch at Gardnerville Park in Gardnerville, Nevada
on July 2, 1988. Hipp dominated the action on the inside with his hard hitting, banging style to take a 5 round unanimous decision.
Hipp then took a year long hiatus from boxing before returning to face Andrew Matthews on the 4th of July
of the following year. Outweighing his opponent by over 30 pounds, Hipp punched his way to secure a first round stoppage of his foe. Exactly two weeks later, Hipp scored a unanimous four round decision over up-and-coming contender Cleveland Woods in what Ring Magazine referred to as "...the upset of the night" on the card for that evening.
Hipp began another winning streak (including a brutal third round knockout of Katoa in their third and final meeting) before facing Bert Cooper
in the bout Cooper fought in before facing Evander Holyfield
for the world title one month later. Cooper matched Hipp's penchant for slugging with a flurry of punches of his own en route to a fifth round stoppage by referee Joe Cortez
and a victory before his fight with Holyfield.
Hipp again rebounded by winning 3 consecutive contests before facing Tommy Morrison
on June 27, 1992 in Reno, Nevada
. In a slugfest that saw Morrison break his jaw and both of his hands, Hipp lost via 9th round stoppage after he, in turn, suffered a complete shattering of his cheekbones. Afterwards, Hipp fought once in 1993 scoring a ten round decision victory over Kevin Ford, in a rematch with the fringe contender he'd scored a decision over just two fights prior to the Morrison fight.
Hipp came back in 1994 with a set of victories that saw him earn and defend the NABF Heavyweight title. He began the following year by continuing his winning ways over Phillip Brown, a journeyman fighter who quickly retired after Hipp easily punched his way to a third round stoppage victory over him. This would lead to Hipp's most important fight, the fight that would land him in the history books as the first Native American to challenge for the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
in Las Vegas on the undercard to the infamous Mike Tyson
v. Peter McNeeley
fight (Tyson's first fight after being released from prison for rape), Hipp squared off against Bruce Seldon
for the WBA Heavyweight championship. The fight was stopped in the tenth round of the contest by referee Richard Steele
after Hipp experienced massive swelling and bleeding on his face. In 1999 he became the first Native American Heavyweight boxing champion by winning the WBF heavyweight championship.
on June 15, 1997. Hipp had secured a comfortable lead on the scorecards before Puritty came out swinging for the tenth and final round of their bout. An exhausted Hipp was no match for the desperate Puritty as he suffered his first defeat by a clean knockout (as opposed to referee stoppage). He racked up three consecutive victories after the Puritty fight but then blew out his knee against Jeff Pegues
on December 9, 1999. He attempted a comeback four years later, but that proved ill-fated two fights into it as he dropped a six-round decision to journeyman Billy Zumbrun on November 14, 2003.
Hipp, referred to as "The Boss" by his loyal fans, returned from another extended hiatus on August 13, 2005, to win a six round decision over Ted Reiter. He has not fought since.
Titles held NABF North American Championship
WBF World Championship
In December 2005, Hipp was a FEMA worker for the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Responding to the call, he joined his fellow Blackfeet members who were called upon due to their experience in wildfires and search and rescue missions.
By 2007 Hipp was working for his former manager Ray Frye at a Seattle area sweeping company. He also co-owned a small construction company.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. Hipp, a member of Blackfoot Tribe became the first Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
to challenge for the world heavyweight championship of boxing on August 19, 1995 when he fought WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
champion Bruce Seldon
Bruce Seldon
Bruce Samuel Seldon is a retired American boxer and former world champion, having won the World Boxing Association heavyweight title in 1995.-Amateur career:...
at the MGM Grand Las Vegas
MGM Grand Las Vegas
The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the third largest hotel in the world and largest hotel resort complex in the United States in front of The Venetian. The MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in...
. On May 2009, Hipp was inducted into American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
Professional career
Hipp began his professional career with a 4-round decision victory over Steve Cortez at the Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene, OregonEugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
on August 29, 1987. For his second fight 2 months later, Hipp travelled to Carson City, Nevada
Carson City, Nevada
The Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. The words Consolidated Municipality refer to a series of changes in 1969 which abolished Ormsby County and merged all the settlements contained within its borders into Carson City. Since that time Carson City has...
to face Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
native Veti Katoa. The fight was stopped by the ringside doctor after Hipp suffered a broken jaw in the third round.
Hipp rebounded successfully from the defeat by notching up 3 consecutive first round knockout victories before facing Katoa in a rematch at Gardnerville Park in Gardnerville, Nevada
Gardnerville, Nevada
Gardnerville is a census-designated place in Douglas County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the county seat of Minden. The population was 3,357 at the 2000 census....
on July 2, 1988. Hipp dominated the action on the inside with his hard hitting, banging style to take a 5 round unanimous decision.
Hipp then took a year long hiatus from boxing before returning to face Andrew Matthews on the 4th of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
of the following year. Outweighing his opponent by over 30 pounds, Hipp punched his way to secure a first round stoppage of his foe. Exactly two weeks later, Hipp scored a unanimous four round decision over up-and-coming contender Cleveland Woods in what Ring Magazine referred to as "...the upset of the night" on the card for that evening.
Hipp began another winning streak (including a brutal third round knockout of Katoa in their third and final meeting) before facing Bert Cooper
Bert Cooper
Bertram Cooper , also known as Smokin' Bert Cooper is a heavyweight boxer, most famous for his devastating punching power and several wild brawls in the 1990s.-Pro career:...
in the bout Cooper fought in before facing Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...
for the world title one month later. Cooper matched Hipp's penchant for slugging with a flurry of punches of his own en route to a fifth round stoppage by referee Joe Cortez
Joe Cortez
Joe Cortez is a Puerto Rican boxing referee who has worked many important world title bouts.-Biography:Cortez moved to Puerto Rico during his childhood. Living there, he became fluent in Spanish. Cortez had a good amateur boxing career, winning various Golden Gloves tournaments from 1960 to 1962...
and a victory before his fight with Holyfield.
Hipp again rebounded by winning 3 consecutive contests before facing Tommy Morrison
Tommy Morrison
Tommy David Morrison is an American heavyweight boxer and a former World Boxing Organization champion. He lost only three out of a total of 52 professional fights. Morrison's nickname, "The Duke," is based on disputed claims that he is a grandnephew of Hollywood star John Wayne...
on June 27, 1992 in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
. In a slugfest that saw Morrison break his jaw and both of his hands, Hipp lost via 9th round stoppage after he, in turn, suffered a complete shattering of his cheekbones. Afterwards, Hipp fought once in 1993 scoring a ten round decision victory over Kevin Ford, in a rematch with the fringe contender he'd scored a decision over just two fights prior to the Morrison fight.
Hipp came back in 1994 with a set of victories that saw him earn and defend the NABF Heavyweight title. He began the following year by continuing his winning ways over Phillip Brown, a journeyman fighter who quickly retired after Hipp easily punched his way to a third round stoppage victory over him. This would lead to Hipp's most important fight, the fight that would land him in the history books as the first Native American to challenge for the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
First Native American Heavyweight Championship
On August 19, 1995 at the MGM GrandMGM Grand Las Vegas
The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the third largest hotel in the world and largest hotel resort complex in the United States in front of The Venetian. The MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in...
in Las Vegas on the undercard to the infamous Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
v. Peter McNeeley
Peter McNeeley
"Hurricane" Peter McNeeley is a former heavyweight boxer, best known for his 1995 fight with Mike Tyson in which McNeeley had famously vowed to wrap Tyson in a "cocoon of horror." McNeeley fought aggressively and was knocked down twice within the first two minutes as a result...
fight (Tyson's first fight after being released from prison for rape), Hipp squared off against Bruce Seldon
Bruce Seldon
Bruce Samuel Seldon is a retired American boxer and former world champion, having won the World Boxing Association heavyweight title in 1995.-Amateur career:...
for the WBA Heavyweight championship. The fight was stopped in the tenth round of the contest by referee Richard Steele
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....
after Hipp experienced massive swelling and bleeding on his face. In 1999 he became the first Native American Heavyweight boxing champion by winning the WBF heavyweight championship.
Career Decline
Hipp's career was rather undistinguished afterwards. He fired off a series of victories over third rate competition before being knocked out by hard hitting journeyman Ross PurittyRoss Puritty
Ross Puritty is a retired heavyweight professional boxer. A high-level journeyman and occasional heavyweight contender, Puritty is best remembered for his shocking upset of Wladimir Klitschko in 1998 that won him the WBC international Heavyweight title.- Professional Boxing career :Purrity made...
on June 15, 1997. Hipp had secured a comfortable lead on the scorecards before Puritty came out swinging for the tenth and final round of their bout. An exhausted Hipp was no match for the desperate Puritty as he suffered his first defeat by a clean knockout (as opposed to referee stoppage). He racked up three consecutive victories after the Puritty fight but then blew out his knee against Jeff Pegues
Jeff Pegues
Jeffrey Pegues is an American News Correspondent. Most recently, Jeff works as a reporter for WABC-TV in New York City....
on December 9, 1999. He attempted a comeback four years later, but that proved ill-fated two fights into it as he dropped a six-round decision to journeyman Billy Zumbrun on November 14, 2003.
Hipp, referred to as "The Boss" by his loyal fans, returned from another extended hiatus on August 13, 2005, to win a six round decision over Ted Reiter. He has not fought since.
Titles held NABF North American Championship
WBF World Championship
Outside the Ring
In 2004, Rocky Mountain Community College and the Billings Writer's Voice sponsored a poetry reading held by various Native American groups in tribute to him.In December 2005, Hipp was a FEMA worker for the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Responding to the call, he joined his fellow Blackfeet members who were called upon due to their experience in wildfires and search and rescue missions.
By 2007 Hipp was working for his former manager Ray Frye at a Seattle area sweeping company. He also co-owned a small construction company.