Eugene "Cyclone" Hart (born June 16, 1951) was an American middleweight boxer who fought from 1969 to 1982. Hart never fought for the title and could not get a victory against the upper echelon fighters he faced. His best showing against a top notch fighter was when he fought "Bad" Bennie Briscoe to a 10 round draw on November 18, 1975. He was stopped in one round by Briscoe in their rematch on April 6, 1976. Another big win for Hart was the 10 round decision he earned over former Olympic champion Sugar Ray Seales on August 15, 1975.
Hart faced three future champions in his career. He suffered a 9 round TKO loss at the hands of future middleweight champion Marvin Hagler on September 14, 1976. Future light heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad knocked Hart out in the fourth round on August 26, 1974, and future middleweight king Vito Antuofermo KOed Hart in the fifth round of their March 11, 1977 match. The Antuofermo fight was typical of Hart's inability to get by championship caliber fighters. Hart came out throwing powerful left hooks to the head and body of Antuofermo. Some of Hart's left hooks actually lifted Antuofermo off the ground. When Antuofermo did not wilt under the furious attack, Hart lost confidence and the tide of battle turned. Appearing completely spent, Hart became defenseless and was knocked out.
Hart was trained by legendary boxing figure Cus D'Amato for a short period in 1973 and 1974, but another veteran, Sam Solomon, trained him before and after D'Amato. Hart never realized his great potential. Nevertheless, in 2003 Hart was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. His son is professional fighter Jesse Hart. [1]
Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an American professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the 20th century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed "Marvelous" and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as such, Hagler legally changed his name to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in 1982.
Ray Charles Leonard, best known as Sugar Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professionally between 1977 and 1997, winning world titles in five weight classes; the lineal championship in three weight classes; as well as the undisputed welterweight championship. Leonard was part of the "Four Kings", a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of Leonard, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler. As an amateur, Leonard won a light welterweight gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Floyd Patterson was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after losing it. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He has been named among the top 15 heavyweights of all time.
Vito Antuofermo is an Italian American actor and retired professional boxer. He is a former undisputed World Middleweight Champion.
James Nathaniel Toney is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1993, the IBF super middleweight title from 1993 to 1994, and the IBF cruiserweight title in 2003. Toney also challenged twice for a world heavyweight title in 2005 and 2006, and was victorious the first time but was later stripped due to a failed drug test. Overall, he competed in fifteen world title fights across four weight classes.
Bennie Briscoe was an American professional boxer. A fan favorite for his punching power, he was known as the "quintessential Philadelphia boxer," and one of the greatest fighters of his era who due to various reasons did not become a world champion.
Hugo Pastor Corro, better known plainly as Hugo Corro, was an Argentine former professional boxer who held the undisputed middleweight championship between April 1978 and June 1979.
Mike McCallum is a Jamaican former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1997. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA super welterweight title from 1984 to 1988, the WBA middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and the WBC light heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995.
Maurice Hope is a British former boxer, who was world junior middleweight champion. Born in Antigua, he grew up in Hackney, London. He represented Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
Kevin Rooney is an American boxing trainer. He was portrayed by Clark Gregg in the 1995 movie Tyson and by Aaron Eckhart in the 2016 movie Bleed for This.
Kelly Robert Pavlik is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012. He won the unified WBC, WBO, Ring magazine and lineal middleweight titles by defeating Jermain Taylor in 2007, and made three successful defenses before losing them to Sergio Martínez in 2010.
Eckhard Dagge was a German professional boxer who competed in the super welterweight division.
Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC super welterweight title from 2009 to 2010; and the unified WBC, WBO, Ring magazine and lineal middleweight titles between 2010 and 2014. With six successful defenses of The Ring and lineal middleweight titles, Martínez's 50-month reign as champion ranks as one of the longest in the history of that weight class.
Aaron Pryor was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1990. He was a two-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 1980 to 1983, and the IBF title from 1984 to 1985. Additionally, he held the Ring magazine title from 1980 to 1983, and the lineal title from 1983 to 1986.
Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez is a Mexican professional boxer who has held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super) cruiserweight title since March 2024. He previously held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019, and is the first boxer from Mexico to win a major world title in those weight classes. As of April 2024, Ramírez is ranked as the world's best active cruiserweight by BoxRec, sixth by The Ring magazine, and seventh by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
J Russell Peltz is an American boxing promoter. A member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame, Peltz has promoted fights in Philadelphia at the Arena, Spectrum, The Blue Horizon, several Atlantic City casinos and at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia and the PARX Casino in Bensalem, PA.
Jesse Hart is an American professional boxer who has challenged twice for the WBO super middleweight title; firstly in 2017 and again in 2018.
Joseph Hadley is an American retired boxer from Jackson, Tennessee, who competed in middleweight division in the 1970s, one of a few trained by Cus D'Amato himself, and also one of the first documented U.S. mixed martial artists. He was selected a member of the All-American AAU boxing team for 1973, and was named the top middleweight amateur boxer in the nation in 1973 by the National AAU Boxing Committee. Hadley drew attention of the press and public by carrying a Bible into the ring, hence his nickname "Preacher," which reflects he actually was a minister. For that reason Hadley refused to pose for a picture with Muhammad Ali, "because Mr. Ali does not live tip to my principles according to the Bible."
Sullivan Barrera is a Cuban professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the middleweight gold medal at the 2000 AIBA Junior World Championships. He challenged once for the WBA light heavyweight title in 2018.
Julius Luipa was a Zambian boxer who won two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and represented Zambia at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games. One of Zambia's best amateur boxers, he was the country's Sportsman of the Year in 1970 and when he turned professional four years later, he defeated George Chisenga to become Zambian light heavyweight champion and held the title until he was dethroned by Lottie Mwale in 1977.