Michael Moorer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Michael Lee Moorer is a retired American 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...

who is a former light heavyweight and heavyweight World Champion.

Biography

Moorer is a native of Monessen, Pennsylvania

Monessen, Pennsylvania

Monessen is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,669 at the 2000 census. In 1940, 20,257 people lived there. In 1990 the population was 13,026. Steel-making was a prominent industry in Monessen, which was a Rust Belt borough in the "Mon Valley" of...

, which is in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Professional career

Moorer had a fast but steady rise through the professional boxing ranks. He debuted on March 4, 1988, knocking out Adrian Riggs in the first round. He spent the year taking on a rather ambitious fight schedule, in terms of quantity if nothing else. Before the year's end, he was undefeated in eleven bouts (winning all by way of early round knockouts) and fighting for the world title for the first time. He acquired the newly created WBO

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

light heavyweight title with a five round knockout

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

of Ramzi Hassan.

In 1989, he retained the title six times, beating Freddie Delgado, Frankie Swindell, Mike Sedillo and former 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 Leslie Stewart

Leslie Stewart

Leslie Matthew Stewart was an Trinidadian boxer.-Professional career:Known as "Laventille Tiger", Stewart turned professional in 1982 and challenged for the Vacant WBA Light Heavyweight Title in 1986, but was TKO'd by Marvin Johnson when the bout was stopped on cuts...

, among others.

In 1990, he retained the title three times before the end of the year, beating Mario Melo and former Michael Spinks

Michael Spinks

Michael Spinks is a retired American boxer who was a world champion in the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions...

challenger Jim McDonald, among others.

1991 saw Moorer commence his campaign at the Heavyweight division. He rolled through the competition en route to securing an opportunity to fight for the vacant WBO heavyweight championship the following year. He knocked out 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 fifth round.

He did not defend the lesser regarded WBO heavyweight belt. Moorer and trainer Emanuel Steward

Emanuel Steward

Emanuel Steward is an American boxing trainer, commentator and inductee of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.-Life and career:...

parted ways after the Cooper fight. Moorer eventually joined Lou Duva

Lou Duva

Louis "Lou" Duva is a boxing trainer and manager who has handled some of the most famous boxers in the world including 19 World Champions. The Duva family have promoted boxing events in over 20 countries on six continents...

's team, and was trained by Georgie Benton for three fights in 1993, including a 10-round decision win over former champion James "Bonecrusher" Smith.

Moorer then parted ways with the Duvas and Benton, and hired New York-based trainer Teddy Atlas

Teddy Atlas

Theodore A. "Teddy" Atlas, Jr. is a well-known boxing trainer and fight commentator.-Personal life:...

in late 1993. Moorer closed the year with a 10-round decision over Mike Evans. Moorer then challenged 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 Lineal
Lineal championship
In professional boxing, the lineal championship of a weight class is a notional world championship title. It is initially held at some moment in time by a boxer universally acclaimed as the best in the class. Another boxer can win the lineal championship only by defeating the reigning lineal...

, IBF

International Boxing Federation

The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...

and WBA title belts. On April 22, 1994, Moorer overcame a second-round knockdown and went on to win a majority decision over Holyfield.

In his first defense of those belts, on November 5, 1994, Moorer was ahead on all three judges' scorecards when he received a right hand to the chin by George Foreman

George Foreman

George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...

in round 10, getting knocked out and losing the world championship. In addition to the belts, he also lost his undefeated record that night.

The following year, Moorer re-grouped by winning against fringe contender Melvin Foster. Meanwhile, Foreman retained the title with a close and controversial decision against Axel Schulz

Axel Schulz

Axel Schulz is a retired German heavyweight boxer.-Amateur career:From 1982 Schulz boxed for the army sports club Vorwärts in Frankfurt , later becoming the East German youth champion...

.

Because of the controversial nature of the Foreman-Schultz bout, the IBF ordered Foreman to travel to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

for a rematch, but Foreman refused, choosing to leave the IBF belt vacant instead. South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n Francois Botha

Francois Botha

Francois Botha , also known as Frans Botha, is a South African boxer, nicknamed the "White Buffalo". Botha won the vacant IBF heavyweight title in 1995 when he outpointed Axel Schulz in Germany...

travelled to Germany instead and beat Schultz with another close decision to claim the title, but he was stripped of it when he tested positive for illegal substances shortly after.

Moorer was then given the opportunity to fight Schultz for the vacant crown in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. On June 22, 1996, Moorer won the IBF heavyweight crown once again, beating Schultz by a 12 round split decision.

He thus technically became a three-time heavyweight champion, WBO (1992), WBA/IBF (1994) and IBF (1996–1997). It should be noted that when Moorer held the WBO heavyweight title, it wasn't considered an authentic heavyweight title. Ironically, Moorer has always been recognized as a former light heavyweight champion despite only ever holding the same organization's title at that weight.

Moore's first defense came against Botha on November 9, 1996. In a brutal one-sided bout, Moorer, leading on the cards going into the 12th, ended with a flourish, knocking Botha out with 18 seconds left in the bout.

In March 1997, Moorer retained his belt with a 12 round decision over previously undefeated Vaughn Bean

Vaughn Bean

Vaughn Bean is a former professional boxer.Nicknamed "Shake & Bake", Bean is known for making several arguably undeserved challenges for heavyweight titles, each time coming up short. Bean began his career with 27 victories over extremely limited competition, lining up a shot at IBF Heavyweight...

before parting ways with trainer Teddy Atlas, with whom he'd been experiencing increasing tension since the beginning of their professional relationship. He replaced him with Freddie Roach. On November 8, Moorer visited the canvas five times in his rematch with Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield

before ringside doctor Flip Homansky advised referee Mitch Halpern to stop the bout in round eight.

Comeback

After this, he retired from boxing for three years before returning with a knockout of journeyman Lorenzo Boyd. He won three more fights, then seemingly retired again when he was knocked out only 30 seconds into round one by David Tua

David Tua

David "Tuamanator" Tua is a New Zealand professional heavyweight boxer, fighting out of South Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.He is a former WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental Heavyweight champion....

on August 17, 2002. However, he returned to the ring once again on March 29, 2003, beating Otis Tisdale on points over 10 rounds. On August 23, 2003, he beat Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

's Rodolfo Lobo by knockout in only 64 seconds.

After a layoff of almost one year, he returned on July 3, 2004, losing a ten-round unanimous decision to Eliseo Castillo

Eliseo Castillo

Eliseo Castillo is a professional boxer. He is the younger brother of Heavyweight boxer Elieser Castillo.-Amateur career:...

in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

. In December of that year, Moorer rallied from a severe deficit on the scorecards to hand former cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov

Vassiliy Jirov

Vassiliy "The Tiger" Jirov is a professional Kazakh boxer and former IBF cruiserweight champion, currently fighting out of Las Vegas under Thell Torrence...

his first knockout loss. He continued fighting, winning all of his bouts against limited opposition, his last fight was a KO win over Shelby Gross in 2008.

Following the fight Moorer retired from professional boxing and began to train up and coming fighters.

He served as chief assistant trainer to Freddie Roach, during the training camp for Manny Pacquiao's fight against Ricky Hatton.

In June 2009, Roach fired Moorer from the Wild Card Gym due to the lack of concentration.

Trivia

Moorer was the first universally-recognized southpaw world heavyweight champion. He scored knockouts in each of his first 26 bouts, placing him in the exclusive list of boxers who have won at least 20 fights in a row by knockout, alongside such other fighters as Foreman, Wilfredo Gómez

Wilfredo Gómez

Wilfredo Gómez , sometimes referred to as Bazooka Gómez, is a former boxer and three time world champion.-Biography:...

, Carlos Zarate, John Mugabi

John Mugabi

John "The Beast" Mugabi is a former boxer and world Jr. Middleweight champion. A world traveller, Mugabi was a part of an early 1980s Jr...

, Aaron Pryor

Aaron Pryor

Aaron Pryor is a former boxer from Cincinnati, Ohio, and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He is the former world Junior Welterweight champion, and regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the weight class.-Amateur career:Pryor, nicknamed The Hawk, had a record of...

and Edwin Valero

Edwin Valero

Edwin Valero was a Venezuelan professional boxer. He was born in Bolero Alto, and raised in El Vigía ....

After Boxing

Since his retirement, Moorer has frequently done guest commentating on ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's fight cards, and also is a boxing trainer.

On December 5, 2007, he was reportedly working as a body guard for golfer Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...

. But in 2009, he became Freddie Roach's assistant trainer in the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. He worked with Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao

Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the...

for a week before his fight with Ricky Hatton

Ricky Hatton

Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter....

and has recently worked with British lightweight Amir Khan

Amir Khan (boxer)

Amir Iqbal Khan , is a British Pakistani professional boxer who is currently the unified WBA & IBF light welterweight champion....

for his fight against Marco Antonio Barrera

Marco Antonio Barrera

Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia is a Mexicanprofessional boxer. He has won numerous world titles in three different weight classes; he is a former two-time WBO super bantamweight , WBC, Lineal, & The Ring featherweight , and WBC & IBF super featherweight champion...

.

He is also a former boxer of the year in Harlem.

Professional boxing record

Shelby Gross
|KO
|1
|08/02/2008
|align=left|

Shaikh Rashid Hall, Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

Roderick Willis
|SD
|10
|31/10/2007
|align=left|

Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot

José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum

The José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, officially named "Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot" , is the biggest indoor arena in Puerto Rico dedicated to entertainment...

, San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

Rich Boruff
|TKO
|1
|16/08/2007
|align=left|

Centro de Convenciones Figali

Figali Convention Center

The Figali Convention Center is an indoor sports arena, located in Fort Amador, Panama City, Panama. The capacity of the arena is 10,275.It was built in 2003, as the main venue for the Miss Universe 2003 Pageant, which took place in Panama that year...

, Panama City

Panama City

Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

Sedreck Fields

Sedreck Sylvester Fields, born September 11, 1972, in Augusta, GA, is a heavyweight boxer. Nicknamed "Big Buck", Fields is a journeyman fighter who fought several significant fighters of his era.Fields turned pro in 1997 and won 22 fights while losing 37...

|UD
|10
|16/03/2007
|align=left|

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is a resort near Hollywood, Florida, located on of the Hollywood Reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The hotel has a tower, a casino, a lagoon-style pool area, fifteen restaurants, sixteen shops, the poker room, a spa, improv comedy club, over ten bars and...

, Hollywood

Hollywood, Florida

-Demographics:As of 2000, there were 59,673 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of...

, Florida

Florida