mr. magoo
07-26-2007, 10:17 AM
Harold Brazier was a fighter whom I grew up watching during the 80's and 90's. His fights were commonly shown on the ESPN network, which was often hosted by Al Bernstein and Barry Thompkins. Brazier would usually wind up being on the undercard of a heavyweight prospect fight, or sometimes get the main event slot in a bout for some regional belt. I actually saw him live once, when he came to Chicago and fought at what was then called the Rosemont Horizon. Today the stadium is known as the all state arena. On this evening in 1992, he won a decision over a tough local trial hoarse named Dwayne Swift for the IBF intercontinental Jr. Welterweight title. Swift's family was sitting behind me as I cheered for Brazier. Occasionally, I'd get a few dirty looks.
Harold fought for 22 years between 1982 and 2004. He began his career at lightweight I believe, and finished somewhere around Jr. Middleweight. He accumulated well over 100 fights, and retired with a record of 105-18-1-64. He was only stopped on 2 occasions. Although Brazier never won a world title, he managed to get a few shots at some past, present and future world champs. Pernell Whitaker, Livingstone Bramble, Juan Coggi, Meldrick Taylor and Loyd honeyghan, were all fighters who met Brazier at some point.
Brazier retired in 2004, after a career that stretched over two decades. He currently resides in South Bend, Indiana, and I believe is around 50 years old. I guess the reason that I started this thread, is I was feeling a bit sentimental about reflecting back to my early days as a boxing fan, and the fighters that got me hooked. Brazier was a throw back in my opinion to the old school fighters, who accumulated a number of fights that went way beyond the century mark. This is something that we hardly see today. What's more, he was a fighter who fought the very best and some of the very worst. In either case, he was a tremendous credit to the sport.
Thoughts?
Harold fought for 22 years between 1982 and 2004. He began his career at lightweight I believe, and finished somewhere around Jr. Middleweight. He accumulated well over 100 fights, and retired with a record of 105-18-1-64. He was only stopped on 2 occasions. Although Brazier never won a world title, he managed to get a few shots at some past, present and future world champs. Pernell Whitaker, Livingstone Bramble, Juan Coggi, Meldrick Taylor and Loyd honeyghan, were all fighters who met Brazier at some point.
Brazier retired in 2004, after a career that stretched over two decades. He currently resides in South Bend, Indiana, and I believe is around 50 years old. I guess the reason that I started this thread, is I was feeling a bit sentimental about reflecting back to my early days as a boxing fan, and the fighters that got me hooked. Brazier was a throw back in my opinion to the old school fighters, who accumulated a number of fights that went way beyond the century mark. This is something that we hardly see today. What's more, he was a fighter who fought the very best and some of the very worst. In either case, he was a tremendous credit to the sport.
Thoughts?