Michael Dokes
Michael Marshall Dokes (August 10, 1958 – August 11, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1997, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1982 to 1983. As an amateur he won a silver medal in the heavyweight division at the 1975 Pan American Games.
Michael Dokes | ||||||||||||||
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Statistics | ||||||||||||||
Real name | Michael Marshall Dokes | |||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | Dynamite | |||||||||||||
Weight(s) | Heavyweight | |||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | |||||||||||||
Reach | 78 in (198 cm) | |||||||||||||
Nationality | American | |||||||||||||
Born | Akron, Ohio, U.S. | August 10, 1958|||||||||||||
Died | August 11, 2012 54) Akron, Ohio, U.S. | (aged|||||||||||||
Stance | Orthodox | |||||||||||||
Boxing record | ||||||||||||||
Total fights | 61 | |||||||||||||
Wins | 53 | |||||||||||||
Wins by KO | 33 | |||||||||||||
Losses | 6 | |||||||||||||
Draws | 2 | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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Amateur career
Dokes won a silver medal at the 1975 Pan American Games. He lost a 5-0 decision to Teófilo Stevenson in the finals. He also lost a close decision to John Tate in the Olympic trials in 1976, after which he turned professional.
Amateur accomplishments
- 1975 National AAU Heavyweight Champion
- 1976 National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion, beating future pro champs John Tate and Greg Page en route.
- As an underage 15-year-old, made it to the finals of both the 1974 National Golden Gloves and the National AAU tournaments. He lost to Leon Spinks in AAU final, and future Tyson trainer Bobby Stewart in the Golden Gloves final.
- Won 1974 North American championships.
- Beat Marvin Stinson, who won the 1976 National AAU Heavyweight Championship.
Professional career
Dokes turned professional in 1976. He received national exposure in a televised exhibition with Muhammad Ali in 1977, which saw Ali clown and mug while slipping Dokes' punches, but also revealed glimpses of Dokes' potential.[1] He came to real prominence in 1979 by defeating veteran contender Jimmy Young. His career faltered slightly after fighting to a draw with Ossie Ocasio, but Dokes returned to knock out Ocasio in one round soon thereafter. By early 1982, after a first-round knockout of Lynn Ball to win the NABF title, Dokes was in line for a title shot. He was ranked #2 by the WBC and #3 by the WBA. Dokes became WBA heavyweight champion in 1982 by knocking out Mike Weaver in the first round in a match held weeks after the Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim lightweight title fight that ended in Kim's death. Because of Nevada State Athletic Commission instructions to referee Joey Curtis regarding the stoppage of the fight in light of the incident, some felt it was premature. In the rematch, Dokes retained his title on a majority draw.
Dokes's reign as the WBA title holder was short-lived. He lost his title by a tenth-round knockout to Gerrie Coetzee. He was later knocked out by future champion Evander Holyfield.
Dokes was knocked out by Donovan Ruddock in 1990. In 1993, Dokes faced newly crowned heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe in his first title defense since defeating Evander Holyfield. Bowe won by TKO in the first round. Although Dokes and his team protested that the fight was stopped prematurely, it was obvious that Dokes was in no condition to continue after taking a vicious barrage of punches from the heavy hitting Bowe. After a nearly three-year hiatus, Dokes returned to the ring winning 3 out 5 matches over a two-year period before retiring for good in 1997.
Life after boxing
In 1999 Dokes was sentenced to between four and 15 years in prison after being convicted of an attack on his fiancee in August 1998. Late in 2008, Dokes was released on parole.[2] Dokes died of liver cancer at a hospice in Akron in August 2012, a day after his 54th birthday.[3][4]
Professional boxing record
61 fights | 53 wins | 6 losses |
By knockout | 34 | 5 |
By decision | 19 | 1 |
Draws | 2 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
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61 | Loss | 53–6–2 | TKO | 2 (10) | Oct 11, 1997 | |||
60 | Loss | 53–5–2 | PTS | 10 | Apr 5, 1997 | |||
59 | Win | 53–4–2 | PTS | 10 | Dec 10, 1996 | |||
58 | Win | 52–4–2 | KO | 2 (10) | Jul 27, 1996 | |||
57 | Win | 51–4–2 | KO | 3 | Nov 18, 1995 | |||
56 | Loss | 50–4–2 | TKO | 1 (12), 2:19 | Feb 6, 1993 | For WBA, IBF, and lineal heavyweight titles | ||
55 | Win | 50–3–2 | UD | 10 | Oct 27, 1992 | |||
54 | Win | 49–3–2 | UD | 10 | Oct 6, 1992 | |||
53 | Win | 48–3–2 | UD | 10 | Jul 28, 1992 | |||
52 | Win | 47–3–2 | KO | 3 (10), 2:54 | Apr 16, 1992 | |||
51 | Win | 46–3–2 | RTD | 5 (10), 3:00 | Mar 21, 1992 | |||
50 | Win | 45–3–2 | TKO | 9 (10), 2:10 | Feb 14, 1992 | |||
49 | Win | 44–3–2 | TKO | 6 (10), 2:39 | Jan 21, 1992 | |||
48 | Win | 43–3–2 | KO | 4 (10), 1:32 | Dec 27, 1991 | |||
47 | Win | 42–3–2 | PTS | 8 | Nov 29, 1991 | |||
46 | Loss | 41–3–2 | KO | 4 (12), 0:53 | Apr 4, 1990 | Lost WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title | ||
45 | Win | 41–2–2 | TKO | 11 (12), 1:05 | Feb 5, 1990 | Retained WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title | ||
44 | Win | 40–2–2 | TKO | 8 (12), 0:49 | Nov 13, 1989 | Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title | ||
43 | Win | 39–2–2 | TKO | 3 (10), 2:25 | Aug 24, 1989 | |||
42 | Win | 38–2–2 | KO | 1 (10), 1:46 | Jul 13, 1989 | |||
41 | Loss | 37–2–2 | TKO | 10 (12), 1:41 | Mar 11, 1989 | Lost WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title | ||
40 | Win | 37–1–2 | UD | 12 | Dec 9, 1988 | Retained WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title | ||
39 | Win | 36–1–2 | TKO | 4 (10), 2:21 | Oct 27, 1988 | |||
38 | Win | 35–1–2 | RTD | 4 (10), 3:00 | Jul 28, 1988 | |||
37 | Win | 34–1–2 | TKO | 1 (10), 2:58 | Jun 27, 1988 | |||
36 | Win | 33–1–2 | TKO | 7 (12), 2:32 | Apr 28, 1988 | Won vacant WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title | ||
35 | Win | 32–1–2 | TKO | 10 (10), 2:15 | Feb 24, 1988 | |||
34 | Win | 31–1–2 | TKO | 7 (10), 2:52 | Jan 22, 1988 | |||
33 | Win | 30–1–2 | TKO | 5 (10), 0:25 | Dec 17, 1987 | |||
32 | Win | 29–1–2 | TD | 4 (12), 1:03 | Mar 15, 1985 | Won vacant WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title; Majority TD after Dokes was cut from an accidental head clash | ||
31 | Win | 28–1–2 | TKO | 2 (10), 2:29 | Feb 16, 1985 | |||
30 | Win | 27–1–2 | UD | 10 | Aug 31, 1984 | |||
29 | Loss | 26–1–2 | KO | 10 (15), 3:08 | Sep 23, 1983 | Lost WBA heavyweight title | ||
28 | Draw | 26–0–2 | MD | 15 | May 20, 1983 | Retained WBA heavyweight title | ||
27 | Win | 26–0–1 | TKO | 1 (15), 1:03 | Dec 10, 1982 | Won WBA heavyweight title | ||
26 | Win | 25–0–1 | KO | 5 (12), 1:33 | Mar 20, 1982 | Retained NABF heavyweight title | ||
25 | Win | 24–0–1 | TKO | 1 (12), 2:56 | Jan 30, 1982 | Won NABF heavyweight title | ||
24 | Win | 23–0–1 | UD | 10 | Nov 6, 1981 | |||
23 | Win | 22–0–1 | KO | 1 (10), 1:25 | Aug 9, 1981 | |||
22 | Win | 21–0–1 | KO | 4 (10), 1:54 | Jun 12, 1981 | |||
21 | Win | 20–0–1 | MD | 10 | Mar 22, 1981 | |||
20 | Win | 19–0–1 | TKO | 7 (10), 1:17 | Oct 2, 1980 | |||
19 | Win | 18–0–1 | TKO | 1 (10), 2:33 | Jun 27, 1980 | |||
18 | Draw | 17–0–1 | SD | 10 | Apr 19, 1980 | |||
17 | Win | 17–0 | UD | 10 | Feb 10, 1980 | |||
16 | Win | 16–0 | KO | 1 (10), 2:59 | Jan 13, 1980 | |||
15 | Win | 15–0 | UD | 10 | Sep 28, 1979 | |||
14 | Win | 14–0 | KO | 2 (10), 2:56 | Jul 20, 1979 | |||
13 | Win | 13–0 | KO | 3 (10) | May 12, 1979 | |||
12 | Win | 12–0 | SD | 10 | Mar 23, 1979 | |||
11 | Win | 11–0 | TKO | 8 (8), 1:51 | Dec 8, 1978 | |||
10 | Win | 10–0 | UD | 8 | Oct 27, 1978 | |||
9 | Win | 9–0 | UD | 8 | Sep 26, 1978 | |||
8 | Win | 8–0 | UD | 6 | Apr 29, 1978 | |||
7 | Win | 7–0 | UD | 8 | Mar 25, 1978 | |||
6 | Win | 6–0 | KO | 2 (8) | Mar 3, 1978 | |||
5 | Win | 5–0 | PTS | 6 | Apr 10, 1977 | |||
4 | Win | 4–0 | TKO | 3 (4) | Mar 6, 1977 | |||
3 | Win | 3–0 | PTS | 4 | Jan 29, 1977 | |||
2 | Win | 2–0 | TKO | 2 | Jan 16, 1977 | |||
1 | Win | 1–0 | RTD | 2 (4), 3:00 | Oct 15, 1976 |
References
- Video on YouTube
- Gambling Magazine Archived 2006-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
External links
Sporting positions | ||||
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Amateur boxing titles | ||||
Previous: Dwain Bonds |
U.S. heavyweight champion 1975 |
Next: Marvin Stinson | ||
Previous: Emory Chapman |
U.S. Golden Gloves heavyweight champion 1976 |
Next: James Clark | ||
Regional boxing titles | ||||
Preceded by Lynn Ball |
NABF heavyweight champion January 30, 1982 – December 1982 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Tim Witherspoon | ||
Vacant Title last held by Bernardo Mercado |
WBC Continental Americas heavyweight champion March 15, 1985 – December 1985 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Leon Spinks | ||
Vacant Title last held by Leon Spinks |
WBC Continental Americas heavyweight champion April 28, 1988 – March 11, 1989 |
Succeeded by Evander Holyfield | ||
New title | WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight champion November 13, 1989 – April 4, 1990 |
Succeeded by Donovan Ruddock | ||
World boxing titles | ||||
Preceded by Mike Weaver |
WBA heavyweight champion December 10, 1982 – September 23, 1983 |
Succeeded by Gerrie Coetzee | ||
Awards | ||||
Previous: Frankie Duarte |
The Ring Comeback of the Year 1988 |
Next: Roberto Durán |