Ray Mercer

Olympic medal record
Men's Boxing
Competitor for  United States
Olympic Games
	1988 Seoul	Heavyweight

Ray Mercer (born April 4, 1961) is an American former professional boxer who held the WBO heavyweight title. He boxed from 1989 to 2008, defeating four boxing world champions in Ossie Ocasio, Francesco Damiani, Tommy Morrison and Tim Witherspoon. Mercer also competed in several kickboxing and mixed martial arts bouts from 2004 to 2009, most notably scoring an upset one-punch knockout victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in 2009.

Boxing career

Amateur

Mercer was the 1988 United States Amateur Champion at Heavyweight while in the US Army^[1] and compiled an Amateur record of 64-6. He won Gold in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul as a heavyweight.

Olympic results

• 1st round bye
• Defeated Rudolf Gavenčiak (Czechoslovakia) RSC 3
• Defeated Luigi Gaudiano (Italy) KO 1
• Defeated Arnold Vanderlyde (Netherlands) RSC 2
• Defeated Baik Hyun-Man (South Korea) KO 1

Professional

Mercer turned pro in 1989 with a 3rd TKO of Jesse Hughes. He scored a series of knockouts and in August 1990 knocked down and outpointed big punching Smokin' Bert Cooper in a spectacular 12 round brawl that earned him Cooper's NABF title. In January 1991 he challenged undefeated Francesco Damiani for the WBO heavyweight title, scoring a one punch knockout victory in the 9th when behind on points. Later that year he brutally demolished undefeated puncher Tommy Morrison in five, and with a major world title fight on the horizon vacated his WBO belt and fought 42-year-old legend Larry Holmes rather than mandatory challenger Michael Moorer. It proved an unwise decision, as the crafty Holmes conned Mercer out of the fight, outjabbing the puzzled youngster and gaining both the points decision, and Mercer's world title fight with heavyweight king Evander Holyfield.

Having split fights with dangerous veteran Jesse Ferguson (Mercer was investigated for allegedly asking Ferguson to "throw the fight" during their first encounter), labored when overweight to a draw with trialhorse Marion Wilson, and seen a proposed 1994 bout in Hong Kong with Frank Bruno fall through, Mercer enjoyed an unexpected run of form in major fights, losing on points in a thrilling brawl with Holyfield in May 1995, losing a controversial decision in another wild punch up, this time with Lennox Lewis, in June 1996, and scoring a controversial points win over ex-champ Tim Witherspoon in yet another high action bout in December 1996. In the frame for a bout with Andrew Golota in 1997, Mercer suffered a neck injury and was out of action for 14 months. He returned February 1998 with a 2 round kayo of Leo Loiacono, but contracted Hepatitis B and was again inactive, this time for 20 months.

Comeback

In February 2001 a 39-year-old Mercer launched a final comeback, knocking out four journeymen before being matched with WBO title holder Wladimir Klitschko in a high profile bout on HBO. Once famed for his incredible iron chin, Mercer looked his age and was knocked down in the first and stopped in the 6th. A brief dalliance in the mixed martial arts nixed a 2004 bout with DaVarryl Williamson, however he did return to boxing in 2005, now aged 44, but was stopped in seven by Shannon Briggs.

Kickboxing career

Continuing to seek a fighting career, Mercer opted to travel to Japan and challenged Musashi in the kickboxing combat sport K-1 on June 6, 2004. Mercer held a reasonable account of himself, but his age and inability to successfully defend kicks was evident as he went on to lose the bout via unanimous decision. On March 19, 2005, he had one more K-1 bout against Remy Bonjasky, to whom he lost via verbal submission, the first and only strike of the night, a head kick, would land on the square on the head of Mercer. It wasn't your typical fight; Mercer took one head kick and then quit in what was one of the most bizarre fights of all time as the kick didn't even seem to hurt him. As Mercer put it, "I got the shit kicked out of me".

Mixed martial arts career

After a series of scheduled boxing matchups fell through (including a proposed bout against former champion Hasim Rahman), Mercer decided to try mixed martial arts (MMA) and approached Felix Martinez, co-founder of Cage Fury Fighting Championships, about working with the promotion. On March 21, 2007, Cage Fury announced that Mercer had signed to face underground street fighter and Internet legend Kimbo Slice at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall on June 23, 2007, as part of Cage Fury Fighting Championship 5. The bout was a non-sanctioned exhibition under the New Jersey Unified MMA rules.^[2]

Kimbo Slice won the fight in the first round with a guillotine choke submission.

Mercer later stated in the press conference at Adrenaline III: Bragging Rights when he was scheduled to fight Tim Sylvia under MMA rules instead of Boxing rules that he had expected Kimbo Slice to box with him and said that he did not really train in any other aspect of MMA and was unprepared for the guillotine choke.

On June 13, 2009, Mercer made a big splash when he defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia at Adrenaline III: Bragging Rights. He won the fight via knockout in 9 seconds with a huge right hand to the chin, becoming the first man to ever defeat Sylvia by knockout.

In March 2010, it was announced that Mercer had signed with the King of the Cage organization.^[3]

Professional boxing record

36 Wins (26 knockouts, 10 decisions), 7 Losses (2 knockouts, 5 decisions), 1 Draw
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	36-7-1	Richel Hersisia	MD	6	05/09/2008	Nojesfabriken, Karlstad, Sweden, Sweden
Loss	35-7-1	Derric Rossy	UD	12	26/01/2008	Venetian Casino & Resort, Macao S.A.R., China	For Interim NABO & vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council heavyweight titles.
Win	35-6-1	Mikael Lindblad	KO	1 (?)	15/09/2005	Lofbergs Lila Arena, Karlstad, Sweden
Loss	34-6-1	Shannon Briggs	KO	7 (10)	26/08/2005	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, United States
Win	34-5-1	Darroll Wilson	UD	10	24/06/2005	Nikki Beach Concert Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	33-5-1	Steve Pannell	TKO	3 (10)	28/02/2004	Seminole Casino, Coconut Creek, Florida, United States
Win	32-5-1	Shawn Robinson	TKO	3 (10)	11/11/2003	Caesars Indiana, Elizabeth, Indiana, United States
Win	31-5-1	Mario Cawley	KO	3 (10)	23/08/2003	Seminole Casino, Coconut Creek, Florida, United States
Loss	30-5-1	Wladimir Klitschko	TKO	6 (12)	29/06/2002	Taj Majal Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	For WBO heavyweight title.
Win	30-4-1	Troy Weida	KO	1 (10)	23/02/2002	Bally's Park Place Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	29-4-1	Brian Scott	KO	2 (10)	13/10/2001	Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark
Win	28-4-1	Don Steele	KO	5 (10)	17/03/2001	Silver Star Casino, Philadelphia, Mississippi, United States
Win	27-4-1	Jeff Pegues	TKO	2 (10)	11/02/2001	Grand Victoria Casino, Elgin, Illinois, United States
Win	26-4-1	Jimmy Haynes	KO	1 (10)	18/12/1999	Grand Casino, Tunica, Mississippi, United States
Win	25-4-1	Leo Loiacono	KO	2 (10)	21/02/1998	Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort, Miami, Florida, United States
Win	24-4-1	Tim Witherspoon	UD	10	14/12/1996	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	23-4-1	Lennox Lewis	MD	10	10/05/1996	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States
Loss	23-3-1	Evander Holyfield	UD	10	20/05/1995	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Draw	23-2-1	Marion Wilson	SD	10	28/07/1994	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	23–2	Jesse Ferguson	SD	10	19/11/1993	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	22–2	Mark Wills	UD	10	06/10/1993	Harrah's Marina Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	21–2	Tony Willis	KO	1 (10)	12/08/1993	Casino Magic, Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, United States
Loss	20–2	Jesse Ferguson	UD	10	06/02/1993	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States	Mercer investigated for trying to bribe Ferguson.[4]
Win	20–1	Jerry Halstead	RTD	2 (12)	10/12/1992	Taj Majal Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	19–1	Mike Dixon	TKO	7 (10)	07/10/1992	Augusta, Georgia, United States
Loss	18–1	Larry Holmes	UD	12	07/02/1992	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	18–0	Tommy Morrison	TKO	5 (12)	18/10/1991	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Retained WBO heavyweight title.
Win	17–0	Francesco Damiani	KO	9 (12)	11/01/1991	Taj Majal Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Won WBO heavyweight title.
Win	16–0	Bert Cooper	UD	12	05/08/1990	Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Won NABF heavyweight title.
Win	15–0	Lionel Washington	TKO	4 (10)	31/05/1990	War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, New York, United States
Win	14–0	Kimmuel Odum	UD	12	02/03/1990	Hacienda Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Win	13–0	Wesley Watson	TKO	5 (12)	15/01/1990	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	12–0	Ossie Ocasio	SD	8	07/12/1989	Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	11–0	Jerry Jones	UD	8	14/11/1989	South Mountain Arena, West Orange, New Jersey, United States
Win	10–0	Eddie Richardson	TKO	1 (8)	17/10/1989	State Fair, Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Win	9–0	Arthel Lawhorne	TKO	2 (10)	19/09/1989	Veteran's Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Win	8–0	Dino Homsey	TKO	1 (8)	05/09/1989	Harrah's Hotel & Casino, Stateline, Nevada, United States
Win	7–0	Tracy Thomas	KO	1 (6)	15/08/1989	South Mountain Arena, West Orange, New Jersey, United States
Win	6–0	Al Evans	KO	1 (10)	15/07/1989	Harrah's Marina Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	5–0	Ken Crosby	KO	1 (?)	12/06/1989	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	4–0	David Hopkins	KO	1 (4)	16/05/1989	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Win	3–0	Garing Lane	UD	4	28/03/1989	Showboat Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	2–0	Luis Walford	KO	1 (?)	04/03/1989	Civic Center, Bismarck, North Dakota, United States
Win	1–0	Jesse McGhee	TKO	3 (?)	24/02/1989	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Professional debut.

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	Musashi	K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Nagoya	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	Nagoya, Japan

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record

Exhibition record

Boxing accomplishments

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for Ray Mercer from Sherdog
• Professional boxing record for Ray Mercer from BoxRec
• K-1 record

1988 USA Olympic Boxing Team Athletes Michael Carbajal Arthur Johnson Kennedy McKinney Kelcie Banks Romallis Ellis Todd Foster Kenneth Gould Roy Jones, Jr. Anthony Hembrick Andrew Maynard Ray Mercer Riddick Bowe Coaches —