Tyrell Biggs

Tyrell Biggs
Statistics
Real name	Tyrell Biggs
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Nationality	American
Born	December 22, 1960 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	40
Wins	30
Wins by KO	20
Losses	10
Draws	0
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Super heavyweight World Amateur Championships Munich 1982 Super heavyweight Pan American Games Caracas 1983 Super heavyweight

Tyrell Biggs (born December 22, 1960) is an American former boxer who fought in the heavyweight division. He won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in the super heavyweight division, after winning bronze the previous year at the 1983 Pan American Games. His professional career spanned a period of fourteen years, from 1984 to 1998.

Early life

Biggs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, making his sporting debut playing basketball at West Philadelphia High. He was a starting forward for the Speedboys' Public League and City champions in 1978, a team that extended a state-record winning streak to 68 before a regular season loss to Overbrook. In '77, one of Biggs' teammates was Gene Banks, who went on to excel at Duke and play in the NBA.

Amateur career

Biggs' first major success as an amateur boxer was winning the gold medal at the 1981 United States National Boxing Championships in the super-heavyweight division. He repeated this feat the next year, and also in 1982 he won the World Championships in Munich, West Germany, where in the final he defeated Francesco Damiani from Italy on points, who beat the legendary Teofilo Stevenson earlier in the competition. In 1983 Biggs won a bronze medal on the Pan American Games, losing to future professional challenger Jorge Luis Gonzalez in the semi-final. In addition, Biggs won a 3-2 split decision over Cuban Angel Milian, who had beaten Greg Page five years earlier.

In 1984 Biggs won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, defeating future professional world champion Lennox Lewis in the quarter-finals. In the Olympics final Biggs beat Damiani on points again. The Cubans, including Stevenson, who defeated Biggs two times before the Olympics, did not participate on the games due to the Soviet boycott.

Biggs finished his amateur career with an outstanding record of 108-6-4.

Professional career

He turned professional soon after his Olympic victory, scoring a 6 round unanimous decision over Mike Evans on November 15, 1984 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in his first bout. Besides Mike Tyson, Lewis and Damiani he went on to face such other boxing luminaries as James "Quick" Tillis, Ossie Ocasio, Riddick Bowe, Tony Tubbs, Buster Mathis, Jr., and Larry Donald before ending his career with a second round knockout of Carlton Davis in 1998. He never won a title, but stalked the rankings of contendership for much of the mid to late 1980s.

Biggs' biggest pro fight was against Tyson, for the latter's undisputed heavyweight title. Biggs and Tyson disliked each other, and Biggs bad mouthed Tyson before the fight. Biggs attempted to outbox Tyson, using his jab and movement. But Tyson kept coming in and landing big punches, wearing him down until the fight was stopped in the 7th. Tyson admitted after the fight to carrying Biggs so he could inflict more damage, to avenge Biggs' pre-match comments.^[1]

Unfortunately the talented Biggs' life has been a constant fight against drug and alcohol addiction. He had to enter rehab only a few months after turning professional, and some declare that his career at the time of the Tyson fight was already effectively over. Biggs robe was sometimes emblazoned with, "Realise your potential", a drug rehabilitation mantra. An article published when he was 40 years old characterized him as "still fighting between stints in rehabilitation".^[2][3]

His professional ring record concluded with 30 wins (20 knockouts) and 10 losses in 40 contests.

The feature documentary about Tyrell Biggs' life is currently in production.^[4]

Professional boxing record

30 Wins (20 knockouts, 10 decisions), 10 Losses (7 knockouts, 3 decision) [5]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	1-1	Carlton Davis	KO	2	1998-08-27	Atlanta, Georgia
Loss	27-1-1	Larry Donald	KO	2	1997-09-11	Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Connecticut
Win	3-4-1	Alonzo Hollis	PTS	6	1997-02-19	Louisville, Kentucky
Win	6-36-3	Andre Crowder	KO	1	1997-01-11	Mount Washington, Kentucky
Loss	12-1	Ray Anis	KO	3	1994-04-04	Tokyo
Loss	12-0	Buster Mathis, Jr.	UD	12	1994-02-05	The Aladdin, Las Vegas, Nevada	IBF USBA Heavyweight Title. 110-117, 111-117, 112-115.
Loss	34-5	Tony Tubbs	UD	3	1993-12-03	Casino Magic, Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi	People's Choice Tournament Quarter Final.
Win	8-1	Shane Sutcliffe	TKO	2	1993-12-03	Casino Magic, Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi	People's Choice Tournament Second Round.
Win	3-0-1	Evgeny Sudakov	SD	3	1993-12-03	Casino Magic, Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi	People's Choice Tournament First Round.
Loss	19-3-2	Mike "The Bounty" Hunter	UD	12	1993-01-17	Las Vegas, Nevada	IBF USBA Heavyweight Title. 109-118, 110-117, 110-117.
Win	6-4-2	Marion Wilson	UD	10	1992-12-08	Hyatt Regency, Tampa, Florida	98-92, 98-92, 99-92.
Win	--	John Jones	KO	2	1992-11-19	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Win	--	Roy Jobe	KO	1	1992-07-18	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Win	9-4	Mike Lee Faulkner	TKO	2	1992-05-29	Amarillo, Texas
Win	6-4-1	Charles Woolard	TKO	1	1992-05-07	Westin Hotel, Tulsa, Oklahoma	Referee stopped the bout at 2:12 of the first round.
Win	1-17	Alan Jamison	KO	1	1992-04-18	Chandler, Oklahoma
Loss	17-0	Lennox Lewis	TKO	3	1991-11-23	The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia	Referee stopped the bout at 2:47 of the third round.
Loss	21-0	Riddick Bowe	TKO	8	1991-03-02	Harrah's Marina, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Referee stopped the bout at 2:17 of the eighth round.
Win	17-0	Rodolfo Marin	UD	10	1990-12-08	Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win	15-27-2	Rick Kellar	TKO	2	1990-04-05	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan
Win	22-7-1	Ossie Ocasio	UD	10	1990-01-11	Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey	98-93, 97-93, 98-93.
Win	35-21-1	Bobby Crabtree	TKO	5	1989-11-29	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan
Loss	31-0	Gary Mason	KO	7	1989-10-04	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Loss	21-0	Francesco Damiani	TKO	5	1988-10-29	Palatrussardi, Milan, Lombardy	Referee stopped the bout at 1:06 of the fifth round because of a cut to Biggs' eye.
Loss	31-0	Mike Tyson	TKO	7	1987-10-16	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey	IBF/WBA/WBC World Heavyweight Titles. Referee stopped the bout at 2:59 of the seventh round.
Win	18-11	Lorenzo Boyd	TKO	3	1987-07-31	Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas	Referee stopped the bout at 1:12 of the third round.
Win	15-4	David Bey	TKO	6	1987-03-07	Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 2:15 of the sixth round.
Win	26-5-1	Renaldo Snipes	UD	10	1986-12-12	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	6-10-3	Robert Evans	KO	5	1986-10-29	Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill, London, England	Evans knocked out at 2:35 of the fifth round.
Win	13-4	Percell Davis	UD	10	1986-09-14	Atlantic City, New Jersey	10-0, 10-0, 10-0.
Win	7-4	Rodney Smith	TKO	6	1986-08-14	Felt Forum, New York City
Win	22-3	Jeff Sims	UD	10	1986-03-23	Lawlor Events Center, Reno, Nevada	97-93, 99-92, 97-93.
Win	31-7	James Tillis	UD	8	1986-01-25	Americana Host Farm, Lancaster, Pennsylvania	39-33, 39-33, 39-34.
Win	17-4	Tony "Fighting Schoolteacher" Anthony	KO	1	1985-12-21	Pavilion, Virginia Beach, Virginia	Anthony knocked out at 2:57 of the first round.
Win	24-9	Danny Sutton	TKO	7	1985-11-19	Landmark Hotel, Metairie, Louisiana
Win	5-5-1	Sterling Benjamin	TKO	7	1985-08-29	The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia
Win	9-1	Eddie Richardson	TKO	3	1985-07-13	The Atlantis, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Referee stopped the bout at 1:55 of the third round.
Win	8-19	Grady Daniels	TKO	2	1985-05-17	Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada
Win	16-7-1	"Smokin" Mike Perkins	TKO	1	1985-04-20	Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas	Referee stopped the bout at 2:50 of the first round.
Win	3-1-1	Mike Ronay Evans	UD	6	1984-11-15	Madison Square Garden, New York City

Outside the ring

Biggs competed in the American Gladiators Season 5 Gold Medal Challenge of Champions in 1993, losing to 1984 Gold Downhill Skiing medalist Bill Johnson.

References

1. Olympic Heavyweights – A History – Part Three
2. BOXER'S ORDEAL: JEERS, DRUGS
3. Golden amateurs who never made talent pay
5. Boxing record for Tyrell Biggs. BoxRec.com.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Tyrell Biggs from BoxRec