Peter McNeeley

Peter McNeeley (born 6 October 1968) is an American former heavyweight boxer best known for his green shorts and 1995 fight with Mike Tyson.

Early life

John Peter Smith McNeeley was born on 6 October 1968 in Medfield, Massachusetts, U.S.; the child of Nancy McNeeley, (née Gray) (1944–2018) and Tom McNeeley (1937–2011). McNeeley grew up in Medfield, alongside his three brothers Bryan, Tom, and Shawn. His father was a former heavyweight contender who challenged Floyd Patterson for the world heavyweight championship, and later served eight years as the boxing commissioner of the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission. McNeeley graduated from Bridgewater State College with a bachelors degree in political science.

Introduction to boxing and Amateur boxing career

McNeeley first became interested in boxing when he was 7 years old he found an old boxes of his fathers boxing memorabilia, this included his fathers appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated from November of 1961 from here he became enthralled by the sport. His parents split when he was 10 years old, during his visits with his father he began getting involved in sport of boxing with his father taking him and his younger brother to the Catholic Youth Organization program in Newton, Massachusetts, additionally he would train with the equipment his father had at his house. Albeit a brief amateur career, he successfully represented the United States, wherein he defeated Wayne Bernard, the world Maritime heavyweight champion; and the first round knockout of No. 1 ranked US amateur James Johnson. He won the New England Golden Gloves in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1989 and the New England Diamond Belt Tournament later that year. McNeeley fought two more times in 1991 both in his home state of Massachusetts. The first came on October 24, where he got a first round TKO of Fabian Arroyo, he then scored another first round TKO vs. Kevin Chisolm on December 7. Following two more KO victories McNeely then faced Williamson in a rematch and once again beat him via first round KO.

McNeely was originally scheduled to get a WBC World Heavyweight title shot vs Oliver McCall following McCall’s upset win over Lennox Lewis, however organization blocked the bout due to McNeely not being ranked in the top 10 at that point.

Fight with Mike Tyson

Main Article Mike Tyson Vs. Peter McNeely

Following getting denied a title shot Don King then offered McNeely a bout vs. Mike Tyson who was set to be released from prison. McNeeley fought aggressively but was knocked down twice within the first two minutes. McNeeley was disqualified after his manager Vinnie Vecchione stepped into the ring to stop his fighter from taking any more punishment after the second knockdown. TV Guide included the fight in their list of the 50 Great TV Sports Moments of All Time in 1998.

Despite losing the bout McNeely gained decent exposure and started appearing in TV commercials and making speaking appearances.

Post Tyson fights

Following his bout with Tyson, McNeely returned to the ring on October 27, 1995 at the TD Garden where he defeated Mike Sams via second round KO to win the USBF heavyweight title. He then fought 3 more times between December 12, 1995 and June 22, 1996 winning all 3 fights by KO. McNeely then went on another win streak which was started on August 12, 1996 in a DQ victory over Domingo Monroe an additional four wins came from then till October 8, 1998 three coming via unanimous decision and one by DQ. He then dropped his following bout to Eric Esch better known as Butterbean on June 26, via first round TKO. McNeely then took five months off before returning to the ring to face Jeff Jones and quickly won the bout via first round knockout. McNeely didn’t fight again to June of 2000 when he faced Joe Siciliano once again winning by first round KO, this would mark the final win of his career. On June 1 of the same year McNeely travelled to South Africa for his final bout vs. Mike Bernardo for the WBF heavyweight title however he lost the match via first round KO. Putting a end to his 10 year career, he finished with a total record of 47-7 with 36 knockouts.

Personal life

McNeely has one daughter named Nadiya. He still resides in Massachusetts and is involved with the local boxing scene.

In 1995, McNeeley was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. In March 2006, McNeeley was arrested in Norwood, Massachusetts, after he punched a man and stole his wallet containing $200. In June 2006, McNeeley was arrested for driving the getaway car used in a robbery of a Walgreens in Stoughton, Massachusetts. After searching the car, police recovered $180 in cash and a black fanny pack which had also been stolen from the store. The charges were later reduced to larceny.

Titles in boxing

Regional titles

USBF heavyweight Champion (one time)

Amateur titles

New England Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion 1989
New England Diamond Belt Tournament Champion 1989

Professional boxing record

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Result

!Record

!Opponent

!Type

!Round, time

!Date

!Location

!Notes

|54

|Loss

|47–7

|style="text-align:left;"|Mike Bernardo

|TKO

|1 (12),

|8 Jun 2001

|style="text-align:left;"|

|53

|Loss

|47–6

|style="text-align:left;"|Henry Akinwande

|KO

|2 (12),

|17 Mar 2001

|style="text-align:left;"|

|52

|Win

|47–5

|style="text-align:left;"|Joe Siciliano

|TKO

|1 (4),

|17 Jun 2000

|style="text-align:left;"|

|51

|Win

|46–5

|style="text-align:left;"|Jeff Jones

|TKO

|1 (10),

|18 Nov 1999

|style="text-align:left;"|

|50

|Loss

|45–5

|style="text-align:left;"|Eric Esch

|TKO

|1 (4),

|26 Jun 1999

|style="text-align:left;"|

|49

|Loss

|45–4

|style="text-align:left;"|Brian Nielsen

|KO

|3 (8),

|12 Feb 1999

|style="text-align:left;"|

|48

|Win

|45–3

|style="text-align:left;"|Harry Funmaker

|UD

|8 Oct 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|47

|Win

|44–3

|style="text-align:left;"|Dan Kosmicki

|UD

|17 Apr 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|46

|Win

|43–3

|style="text-align:left;"|Larry Menefee

|DQ

|8 (8),

|10 Jan 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|45

|Win

|42–3

|style="text-align:left;"|Doug Davis

|UD

|5 Dec 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|44

|Win

|41–3

|style="text-align:left;"|Domingo Monroe

|DQ

|4 (10),

|12 Aug 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|43

|Loss

|40–3

|style="text-align:left;"|Louis Monaco

|TKO

|5 (6),

|13 Jul 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|42

|Win

|40–2

|style="text-align:left;"|Marc Machain

|TKO

|1 (6)

|22 Jun 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|41

|Win

|39–2

|style="text-align:left;"|Juan Quintana

|KO

|2 (6),

|27 Apr 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|40

|Win

|38–2

|style="text-align:left;"|Harold Reitman

|TKO

|1 (10),

|12 Dec 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|39

|Win

|37–2

|style="text-align:left;"|Mike Sams

|KO

|2 (12),

|27 Oct 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|38

|Loss

|36–2

|style="text-align:left;"|Mike Tyson

|DQ

|1 (10),

|19 Aug 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|37

|Win

|36–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Frankie Hines

|1 (10),

|22 Apr 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|36

|Win

|35–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Danny Wofford

|RTD

|1 (10),

|17 Mar 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|35

|Win

|34–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Jerry Barnes

|KO

|1 (8),

|10 Feb 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|34

|Win

|33–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Kevin Wyrick

|TKO

|1 (8),

|20 Jan 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|33

|Win

|32–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Lorenzo Boyd

|TKO

|1 (8),

|11 Nov 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|32

|Win

|31–1

|style="text-align:left;"|J.B. Williamson

|TKO

|1 (8),

|8 Oct 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|31

|Win

|30–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Quinton Hardy

|KO

|1 (8),

|29 Aug 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|30

|Win

|29–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Dwayne Hall

|TKO

|1 (8),

|22 Jul 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|29

|Win

|28–1

|style="text-align:left;"|J.B. Williamson

|RTD

|2 (10),

|24 Jun 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|28

|Win

|27–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Wayne Perdue

|TKO

|1 (6),

|30 Apr 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|27

|Win

|26–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Lopez McGee

|TKO

|1 (8)

|13 Apr 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|26

|Win

|25–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Herman Jackson

|TKO

|2 (8)

|8 Apr 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|25

|Loss

|24–1

|style="text-align:left;"|Stanley Wright

|TKO

|8 (10),

|18 Feb 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|24

|Win

|24–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Larry Davis

|TKO

|1 (8),

|21 Jan 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|23

|Win

|23–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Howard Kelly

|UD

|24 Nov 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|22

|Win

|22–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Dwayne Hall

|UD

|6 Nov 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|21

|Win

|21–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Juan Quintana

|UD

|10 Sep 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|20

|Win

|20–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Robert Pagan Perez

|2 (6)

|14 Aug 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|19

|Win

|19–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Miguel Rosa

|TKO

|2 (8),

|7 Jun 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|18

|Win

|18–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Marc Machain

|KO

|7 (8),

|8 May 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|17

|Win

|17–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Phil Prince

|TKO

|1 (6)

|9 Apr 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|16

|Win

|16–0

|style="text-align:left;"|John Basil Jackson

|TKO

|5 (6),

|5 Mar 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|15

|Win

|15–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Jesus Rohena

|TKO

|2 (6),

|20 Feb 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|14

|Win

|14–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Ron Drinkwater

|TKO

|1 (8),

|30 Jan 1993

|style="text-align:left;"|

|13

|Win

|13–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Jimmy Harrison

|UD

|10 Dec 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|12

|Win

|12–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Lorenzo Poole

|KO

|2 (6)

|13 Nov 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|11

|Win

|11–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Shawn Bryant

|TKO

|1 (6)

|21 Oct 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|10

|Win

|10–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Van Dorsey

|TKO

|1 (5),

|28 Sep 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|9–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Jimmy Harrison

|TKO

|3 (6)

|12 Sep 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|8–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Jimmy Harrison

|19 Jun 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|7–0

|style="text-align:left;"|John Basil Jackson

|13 Jun 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|6–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Jerry Arentzen

|TKO

|1 (4),

|23 Apr 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|5–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Jesus Rohena

|TKO

|1 (4),

|28 Feb 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|4–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Phil Prince

|TKO

|1 (4),

|15 Feb 1992

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|3–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Kevin Chisolm

|TKO

|1 (4),

|7 Dec 1991

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|2–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Fabian Arroyo

|1 (4),

|24 Oct 1991

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|1–0

|style="text-align:left;"|Van Dorsey

|1 (4),

|23 Aug 1991

|style="text-align:left;"|

Pay-per-view bouts

{| class="wikitable"

!Date

!Fight

!Billing

!Buys

!Network

|August 19, 1995

|Tyson vs. McNeeley

|He's Back

|1,600,000

|Showtime/King Vision

References

External links

Official Website
Tyson vs. McNeeley, an in-depth look at the fight