J. D. Chapman

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John David Chapman, better known as J D Chapman (b. March 17, 1983), is a US-American heavyweight boxer.

[edit] Career

Chapman is a heavyweight boxer. Chapman never fought as an amateur and started in toughman competitions before he turned pro in 2002 under the name "The Natural". Chapman hails from Arkansas, "The Natural State". He was trained at first by Ex Champ Michael Moorer than by Jeff Mayweather and now by Norman Wilson, his manager is the very powerful Scott Hirsch who recently netted his fighters Jameel McCline and Shannon Briggs Don King-arranged title fights. Hirsch seems determined to keep Chapman out of harms way and move him along slowly.

Chapman's opposition has been less than imposing so far, he is 28-0 but never faced a contender. None of Chapman's first fifteen opponents had a positive record, but his last twelve opponents at least all had winning records. His most notable opponents so far are Chicago based, Edward Gutierrez who was 15-0-1 coming in to the bout, New York veteran, John Carlo who possessed a 14-1 record and fellow undefeated Mid West prospect, Matt Hicks 7-0. He has captured several regional heavyweight titles including, the IBF Southern Regional title, The North American Boxing Council title, The WBC Latino title and The Arkansas State title.

His relationship with the very well connected Hirsch has netted him valuable exposure in the boxing-press as a real heavyweight prospect. He has been featured repeatedly on television and received a WBC World Rating of 14.

In addition to his fighting career, Chapman moonlights as a fiction writer. He has published short stories in a number of literary magazines, among them Shenandoah and American Short Fiction. His work has also been anthologized in the 2006 edition of New Stories from the South.