Tony Tucker

Tony Craig Tucker (born December 27, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998.

United States National Championships, Biloxi, Mississippi, April 1978:

U.S. National Sports Festival, Fort Carson, Colorado, July 1978:

As an amateur, he won the 1979 United States national championships, the 1979 World Cup, and a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games, all in the light heavyweight division.

Tony Tucker became a boxer under influence of his father Bob Tucker, also a former amateur boxer, who became his trainer and manager, put all his wealth into the development of his son's boxing career.

Tony fought out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, competing almost his entire amateur career in the light heavyweight division with his billed weight at the 1979 Pan American Games exactly matching the weight limit of the division (178 lbs).

Robert Surkein, the national boxing chairman for the Amateur Athletic Union, said of Tucker: “Believe me, he's better than Leon Spinks.

Spinks couldn't hold this kid's gloves at a comparable stage.” Rollie Schwartz, past national chairman of the AAU Boxing Commission, said of Tucker prior to the Olympics, "Tucker is a combination boxer and puncher, much akin to Joe Louis. He comes right at you. I'd take him tomorrow over the two so-called light Heavyweight champs."

United States National Championships, Lake Charles, Louisiana, May 1979:

Pan Am Trials, Toledo, Ohio, May–June 1979:

Pan American Games, Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 1979:

World Cup, Felt Forum, New York City, October 1979:

Since 1979 Tony Tucker anticipated participating in the Moscow Olympics.

Tucker was an alternate for the United States Olympic Team for the 1980 Summer Olympics (Lee Roy Murphy qualified as the prime.) President Jimmy Carter ordered to boycott the Olympics, which led the U.S. Team to cancel its participation in the Olympics, instead it embarked on a series of exhibitions in Europe.

On March 14, 1980, en route to Poland, their plane Polish Airlines IL-62 crashed near Warsaw, with the U.S. boxing team aboard, consisting of 22 boxers, there were no survivors.

Several people, including Tony Tucker, missed the flight and stayed in the United States due to various reasons, in Tucker's case an injury sustained just prior to the accident.

At that point Tucker became religious, believing that God spared his life for a purpose, in order for him to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Shortly thereafter Tucker turned pro.

Tucker finished his amateur career having 121 fights under his belt, with a record of 115–6.

After turning pro in 1980, Tucker's early fights were often shown on NBC, as part of a collection known as "Tomorrow's Champions".

Tucker's progress in the professional ranks was slow.

He was injury-prone, missing more than a year with a knee injury suffered in a bout against Danny Sutton.

Tucker also changed managers and trainers several times; his father, Bob Tucker, eventually performed both roles.

After enjoying a high profile upon his professional debut, Tucker boxed in non-televised bouts for the majority of the 1980s.

In June 1984, he scored a win by knocking out Eddie "The Animal" Lopez in nine rounds on the undercard of the Tommy Hearns–Roberto Durán fight.

It was the first time Lopez had ever been knocked down.

Tucker followed it up in September by outpointing Jimmy Young.

In September 1986, Tucker finally landed a big fight, against 242 lb James "Broad-Axe" Broad, for the USBA belt and a world title eliminator.

Tucker won by unanimous decision.

He won the IBF heavyweight title in 1987, and was the shortest-reigning world heavyweight champion at just 64 days.

In an interview with Barry Tompkins, he referred to himself as the "invisible champion," due to the press and general public largely neglecting him.

He is best known for giving Mike Tyson in his prime a relatively close fight, in which he, in the words of Larry Merchant, "rocked Tyson" in the first round.

However, Tyson went on to win a unanimous decision.

Home Box Office and Don King Productions orchestrated a heavyweight unification series for 1987, planning among its bouts a match between Tucker and reigning IBF champion Michael Spinks.

Spinks refused to face Tucker, opting instead for a more lucrative bout with Gerry Cooney.

The IBF stripped Spinks of the championship on February 19, mandating that Tucker (as its #1-ranked contender) face its number-two contender, Buster Douglas, the very man who would eventually dethrone Tyson.

As the co-feature of reining unified champion Mike Tyson and ex-champ Pinklon Thomas, Tucker won the bout and the vacant IBF crown via tenth-round technical knockout.

Tucker, as the winner of the IBF title, was obliged to immediately defend his title in a unification bout with WBA and WBC champion Mike Tyson 64 days after winning the title, in what would be the tournament final, where Tucker was a 10-to-1 underdog.

Before Tucker was managed by Emmanuel Steward, who received a negotiated percent of each payday.

By that time for that same purpose a joint venture named Tucker Inc. was formed by his promoters Cedric Kushner (18% of total share), and Josephine Abercrombie with Jeff Levine (also 18%), partnering with Dennis Rappaport and Alan Kornberg (13%,) and lastly Emmanuel Steward (6%).