Jesse Ferguson (born March 20, 1957) is a retired American boxer who was a Heavyweight title challenger and top contender who Beat undisputed Heavyweight world champion Buster Douglas, Heavyweight world champion Ray Mercer and Cruiserweight world champion Tyrone Booze. His professional career is filled with matches with champions and contenders and his name is linked with numerous boxing stars of the 1980s and 1990s.
Early years
Ferguson grew up in rural Knightdale, North Carolina, one of 13 children of a tobacco farm workers William and Jesse Ferguson.
Military service
Ferguson took up boxing at the age of 22, while serving with the U.S. Marines.
The world championship fight with Bowe was signed for May 22, 1993, and was staged at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. Ferguson came into the fight below 230 pounds for the first time in years and was considered to be in the best shape of his career. Because the IBF did not consider Ferguson to be a legitimate contender, they would not sanction the defense for Bowe and only the WBA and lineal championships were on the line. Ferguson thought he had a legitimate chance to knock the champion out, but Bowe disregarded his boasts. Ferguson was knocked down toward the end of the first round and barely made it back to his feet at the bell, then was dropped again as the second round began and knocked out.
Remainder of pro career
Despite the defeat, Ferguson was back in the ring shortly afterwards. He was matched against Mercer yet again, who this time came in shape at 223. Although the fight was closer, Ferguson still appeared to outpunch Mercer and get the better of him. Once again Ferguson was on the wrong end of a close decision as Mercer was awarded a split decision that was even jeered by his hometown crowd at Atlantic City. In 1994 Ferguson travelled to the U.K. to fight Frank Bruno, who was returning after his loss to Lennox Lewis. The overweight Ferguson collapsed in one round in a passionless performance. A year later Bruno would outpoint Oliver McCall and win the WBC heavyweight title.
In his only other fight in 1994 Ferguson was matched with Larry Holmes, the 44-year-old former great who was on another comeback trail. Ferguson despite being out of shape had Holmes reeling in the second, and appeared to get the best of the ex-champ. Yet again Ferguson was on the wrong side of the points decision, and even the New York Times reported it as: "A robbery. Larry Holmes came off second-best against Jesse Ferguson." By 1995 Ferguson was frequently out of shape and made little effort in his fights. He had Jeremy Williams out on his feet but quit in the 7th with a swollen eye. He dropped Alex Stewart twice but was denied the decision. He did nothing against Danell Nicholson and pulled out after 8 rounds. In all three fights he looked distinctly uninterested.
Return to form
In 1996 he was hired as chief sparring partner for champion Mike Tyson in the lead-up to his fight with Bruce Seldon. It was during this time, with a little encouragement from Team Tyson, Ferguson began to realise he was better than he gave himself credit for.
He returned late in 1996, now aged 39, and beat undefeated Bobby Harris. He followed this up with two more wins before a high-profile fight on HBO with Tongan Samson Po'uha, in 1997. He decked Po'uha several times before knocking him out in the 8th round.
This led to another big fight on HBO in 1998, where a now 40-year-old Ferguson took on young and undefeated powerful punching contender Hasim Rahman for the USBA belt. Ferguson lost by decision. Rahman would go on to defeat Lennox Lewis and become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Ferguson followed up the Rahman fight with a 10-round decision win over ex-cruiserweight champ Tyrone Booze. He then took on Obed Sullivan, ranked No. 4 in the world, and won an upset decision.
In 1999 Jimmy Thunder, citing an injury, dropped out of a fight with Polish contender Andrew Golota. Ferguson was tapped as Thunder's replacement and accepted the bout on short notice; he lost the fight by decision.
After this loss Ferguson's manager handed him back his contract and stopped answering his calls. Ferguson could no longer find fights. His career ended in 1999 with a record of 26-18-0 with 16 knockouts.
Ferguson spoke of comebacks in 2000 and 2002 but each time nothing came of them. He complained of being "blackballed" by the boxing establishment.
Professional boxing record
|-
|align="center" colspan=8|26 Wins (16 knockouts, 10 decisions), 18 Losses (7 knockouts, 11 decisions) [https://web.archive.org/web/20150327103106/http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=638&cat=boxer]
|-
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Result
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Round
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Loss
|
|align=left| Andrew Golota
|UD
|10
|30/01/1999
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Obed Sullivan
|SD
|10
|08/12/1998
|align=left| New York City, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Tyrone Booze
|UD
|10
|03/09/1998
|align=left| Mashantucket, Connecticut, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Hasim Rahman
|UD
|12
|31/01/1998
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Samson Po'uha
|TKO
|8
|31/05/1997
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Thomas Williams
|TKO
|8
|03/04/1997
|align=left| Worley, Idaho, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Everton Davis
|UD
|10
|05/12/1996
|align=left| Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Bobby Harris
|UD
|10
|12/09/1996
|align=left| Melville, New York, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Danell Nicholson
|TKO
|8
|19/10/1995
|align=left| Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Alex Stewart
|UD
|10
|08/08/1995
|align=left| Coachella, California, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Jeremy Williams
|RTD
|7
|05/03/1995
|align=left| Palm Springs, California, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Larry Holmes
|UD
|10
|09/08/1994
|align=left| Shakopee, Minnesota, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Frank Bruno
|TKO
|1
|16/03/1994
|align=left| Birmingham, England
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Ray Mercer
|SD
|10
|19/11/1993
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Rocky Pepeli
|TKO
|9
|22/07/1993
|align=left| Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Riddick Bowe
|KO
|2
|22/05/1993
|align=left| Washington, D.C., U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Ray Mercer
|UD
|10
|06/02/1993
|align=left| New York City, New York, U.S.
|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Tony Tubbs
|UD
|10
|24/11/1992
|align=left| Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S.
|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Michael Dokes
|UD
|10
|28/07/1992
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Mike Robinson
|TKO
|6
|05/06/1992
|align=left| Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Bruce Seldon
|TKO
|5
|19/01/1992
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Oliver McCall
|UD
|10
|08/08/1991
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Terry Armstrong
|TKO
|6
|31/03/1990
|align=left| Tampa, Florida, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Orlin Norris
|UD
|12
|15/11/1988
|align=left| San Diego, California, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| John Morton
|UD
|10
|10/09/1988
|align=left| Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| George Chaplin
|KO
|8
|01/08/1987
|align=left| Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Anders Eklund
|PTS
|8
|17/10/1986
|align=left| Randers, Denmark
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| James Smith
|MD
|10
|07/06/1986
|align=left| Hamilton, Bermuda
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Mike Tyson
|TKO
|6
|16/02/1986
|align=left| Troy, New York, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Oscar Holman
|UD
|10
|11/01/1986
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Carl Williams
|TKO
|10
|31/08/1985
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Tony Anthony
|TKO
|10
|20/06/1985
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Buster Douglas
|MD
|10
|09/05/1985
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Richard Scott
|TKO
|4
|27/03/1985
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Oscar Holman
|UD
|8
|13/12/1984
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Reggie Gross
|TKO
|3
|20/09/1984
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Kid Samson
|KO
|5
|24/07/1984
|align=left| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Robert Hill
|TKO
|7
|05/06/1984
|align=left| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Ernie Singleton
|TKO
|5
|26/03/1984
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Mike Perkins
|UD
|6
|14/02/1984
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Joe Ballard
|KO
|4
|08/10/1983
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| James Holmes
|TKO
|3
|29/09/1983
|align=left| Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left|Eddie Cowart
|KO
|2
|25/05/1983
|align=left| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Tony Jackson
|KO
|1
|12/01/1983
|align=left| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|align=left|
|}
References
External links
- Retrieved on 2009-02-19
- Golata Puts The Hurt On Ferguson For 10