Tragically, on the 28th of October 2006, the ex-heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick was murdered at a church in Norwich. He suffered multiple blows to the head which resulted in him dying at the scene of the attack.
Many people will only ever remember Trevor Berbick as the last guy to fight Muhammad Ali or the guy that got brutally knocked out by “Iron” Mike Tyson, but this is a short biography of the late boxing legend that recently lost his life.
He was born on August 1, 1955 (although it may have been 1954) in Jamaica. When he was 16 he claimed to have had a vision from God which was the first of many colourful events in an eventful, yet troubled, life. At the age of 21, Berbick represented his Jamaica in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada as a heavyweight boxer, even though he only had only 11 amateur bouts before this. This lack of experience was clearly shown as he lost to the eventual silver medalist: Romanian Mircea Simon; even though he still showed a lot of potential as a young heavyweight boxer.
After the Olympics Berbick left Jamaica decided to fight professionally in Canada. He won his first 11 fights, of which 10 were by knockout, before losing his first professional bout to another potential star: Bernardo Mercado, in 1979. Although he still remained a future contender for the heavyweight championship. After beating ex-champ John Tate he secured a title shot against Larry Holmes in 1981, but lost a 15-round unanimous decision. He then went on to beat Muhammad Ali to gain his place as the man who ended the career of “The Greatest”. In 1982 he beat undefeated Greg Page, and in 1984 he moved to Florida, and signed with the notorious promoter Don King. After victories over undefeated Mitch “Blood” Green and David Bey scored he secured another title fight which led him to win the WBC world heavyweight title by beating Pinklon Thomas by a unanimous decision in 1986.
However, later that year, he was knocked down twice in the second round, when defending his title for the first time against 20-year-old Mike Tyson, before the fight was stopped by the referee. After the knockout the commentator: Barry Tompkins said: “And we have a new era in boxing!”
After his Tyson loss Trevor’s career began to deteriorate when he fought Nobuhiko Takada in a “wrestler vs. boxer” bout. Berbick expected the fight to be like American kick boxing, but it ended up that Takada was allowed to kick Berbick below the belt. Then he fought his last bout in 2000 against journeyman Shane Sutcliffe, winning a 12-round unanimous decision. But a CAT scan afterwards revealed a blood clot in his brain and he had his boxing license revoked. His professional record stood at 50 wins; of which 33 were by knockout, 11 losses, and 1 draw.
From his early life until his remaining moments, Berbick was constantly involved in the church and was a preacher at the Moments of Miracles Pentecostal church in Las Vegas while he was a boxer. One of the more memorable events in Berbick’s life was his well publicized feud with Holmes; which led to in a public brawl in 1991 which was caught on tape which involved Larry Holmes landing a flying drop kick on the hood of Berbick’s car. He retired in Florida to be with his wife and three children and started to train boxers at Kenny Barrett’s Gym.
