Ray Mercer (boxing) [View all]

Earlier this week, 1988 Olympic and IBF heavyweight champion was coming to a town not far from me. My son and I had planned to go meet with him, but our schedule was a bit delayed as it includes his wife and their ten month old son. When they picked me up, I said I hoped that Ray Mercer hadn't left. But my daughter-in-law said she had called, and Ray would be there.

It's not every day that one gets to sit down for a meal with one of the toughest heavyweight fighters of the 1990s. Now Ray, who only took up the sport at the age of 23 while in the military, did turn pro in 1989, and fought until 2008, but his best years were in the '90s. We had a blast talking about his career, and his opinion of other fighters. I'm thinking a couple of these might be of interest to members of this DU sports forum.

I found his fight against Tommy Morrison to be extremely impressive. Around that time in 1991, I became good friends with a new employee at the mental health clinic. Over the years, we became the best community crises response team in the region, many times being called outside of our county. Mt friend aso liked the great sport, and favored the 27 - 0 Morrison, while I favored the 17 - 0 Mercer.

This wasn't only because Ray had decisioned Tommy in the amateurs. It had more to do with each one's performances and quality of opposition. While Tommy had some big names on his record, they were both way past their primes and on losing streaks when he beat them. Ray had fought high quality opposition, including some not long after their primes, and in his previous bout, an undefeated (27 - 0) contender for the WBO heavyweight title/

I told Ray that each year, I post film of his devastating knockout of Morrison on my buddy's facebook page. He laughed and asked, "Really?" My son assured him that it is a tradition I enjoy. So Ray autographed a photo of him landing the most brutal punch on Tommy for my friend. He explained that he knew the type of steroid Tommy had been using, and that Tommy would be gassed by the 5th or 6th round. He also said that Morrison's punches were painful to take, especially the body shots.

My son asked him about his fight against former UFC heavyweight champion Tony Sylvia in 2009. At first, it was supposed to be a boxing match, but Tony could not get licensed to box a former heavyweight champion in his debut. There was some back and forth about if there would be a MMA fight. But nothing was settled on fight night. Ray was upset he wasn't getting a fight and thus paid, and he started drinking as he watched the undercard. By the time the bout was agreed upon, he told us he was very intoxicated. He won by a one-punch KO in 9 seconds.

Ray was impressed by my son's accomplishments in the amateurs, and asked why he hadn't turned pro? Despite my saying that his primary responsibilities were now to his wife and son -- who remained quiet at this point -- I was outnumbered. Ray had questions about my ring experience, and also my "record" as a trainer. He was curious why I passed on an offer a couple years ago to be a co-trainer for the national (amateur) team?

After I explained the three reasons I'm not interested in participating these days -- the damage it does to fighters, the terrible corruption, and because of my 10-month old grandson -- Ray pulled me aside. He said, "You are a good trainer. You build fighters, preparing them physically and mentally. Boxing needs people like you." He said that now he is thinking of moving up near us, and we talked about the lack of boxing gyms. I noted that my main focus these days is my grandson.

"Yeah, but look," Ray said. "Your grandson is wearing the boxing trunks here that your son said you bought for him. And we both know that little boy is going to be the world champion when he grows up!" We then shared a laugh as more people in the restaurant were coming to see my beautiful grandson than an ex-heavyweight champion.