Gary Mason (boxer)

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Gary Mason (boxer) bigraphy, stories - Jamaican-British boxer

Gary Mason (boxer) : biography

December 15, 1962 – January 7, 2011

Gary Mason (15 December 19626 January 2011) was a British boxer who was based in Chatham, Kent, England. He was born in Jamaica. Mason fought at the heavyweight level and became the British heavyweight champion in 1989. Mason was a top ten contender, his main strengths being his punching power, heart and physical strength.

Mason died on 6 January 2011 in a cycling accident in South London.

Television appearances

Mason appeared in a special celebrity show of Gladiators that raised money for charity in 1993 which John Fashanu won. Mason also appeared on the panel of the ITV show You Bet!, and the second episode of the first series of GamesMaster in 1992 playing Sonic Blast Man arcade. Mason’s home was also one of those featured on the panel show Through the Keyhole. Though the panel were able to ascertain that the property was home to a British boxer, they plumped for its being Lennox Lewis’s abode.

Rugby career

Mason played three rugby league matches for the London Crusaders (now London Broncos Rugby League) reserve team, scoring a try in his first game although ending up on the losing side against Scarborough Pirates.

Pro boxing career

Mason fought 38 times as a professional in a career that spanned 10 years from 1984 to 1994, with 37 wins (34 by knockout) and only one loss, that being to Lennox Lewis when he challenged for the European title in 1991. Mason gave Lewis his hardest fight up to that point in his career.

Mason defeated a number of well known heavyweights, including Tyrell Biggs, James Tillis, Lorenzo Boyd, Alfonzo Ratliff, Ricky Parkey, Donnie Long, James Pritchard, Mark Wills, Everett Martin, Louis Pergaud, Hughroy Currie, Terry Armstrong, David Jaco and Jess Harding.

He suffered a detached retina in a bout with Everett Martin in 1990. After a short retirement he staged a comeback, which ended with a TKO loss to Lennox Lewis, which aggravated Mason’s eye injury. He came back once again, but after winning two fights in the U.S. he retired for good.

Professional boxing record

|- |align="center" colspan=8|37 Wins (34 knockouts, 3 decisions), 1 Loss (1 knockout, 0 decisions) |- | 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 |Win | |align=left| Martin "Bananas" Foster |TKO |3 |10/09/1994 |align=left| Laughlin, Nevada, United States |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Kevin P Porter |TKO |2 |29/01/1994 |align=left| Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States |align=left| |- |Loss | |align=left| Lennox "The Lion" Lewis |TKO |7 |06/03/1991 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| James Pritchard |TKO |9 |12/12/1990 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Everett "Bigfoot" Martin |PTS |10 |14/03/1990 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Mark Anthony Wills |PTS |10 |06/12/1989 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Tyrell Biggs |KO |7 |04/10/1989 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Jess Harding |TKO |2 |28/06/1989 |align=left| Brentwood, Essex, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| "Scary" Terry Armstrong |TKO |3 |29/03/1989 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Hughroy Currie |KO |4 |18/01/1989 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| James "Quick" Tillis |TKO |5 |30/11/1988 |align=left| Southwark, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| David Jaco |TKO |4 |24/10/1988 |align=left| Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Manoel "Clay" De Almeida |TKO |7 |13/04/1988 |align=left| Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Ricky Parkey |TKO |1 |09/03/1988 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Alfonzo Ratliff |TKO |6 |03/02/1988 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| "Slammin" Sammy Scaff |TKO |2 |03/12/1987 |align=left| Southend, Essex, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Andrew Gerrard |TKO |6 |24/10/1987 |align=left| Tottenham, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Andre van den Oetelaar |TKO |2 |25/09/1987 |align=left| Southend, Essex, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| "Fast" Eddie Richardson |TKO |7 |30/08/1987 |align=left| Marbella, Andalucia, Spain |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Billy Joe Thomas |KO |1 |26/05/1987 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Woody Clark |TKO |2 |18/04/1987 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Richard Earl Scott |TKO |1 |24/03/1987 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Rodney "King" Smith |TKO |1 |22/02/1987 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Oscar Holman |PTS |8 |26/11/1986 |align=left| Wolverhampton, West Midlands, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Donnie "Master of Disaster" Long |KO |1 |04/11/1986 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Lorenzo Boyd |KO |2 |17/09/1986 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Mark "The Storm" Young |TKO |5 |19/07/1986 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| "Poison" Ivy Brown |KO |2 |20/05/1986 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Maurice Gomis |TKO |3 |24/04/1986 |align=left| Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| "King" Louis Pergaud |TKO |4 |09/04/1986 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Charles "Tuffy" Hostetter |TKO |1 |04/03/1986 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Denroy Bryan |KO |1 |19/02/1986 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Steve Gee |TKO |5 |04/12/1985 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Steve Gee |TKO |5 |05/11/1985 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Luc Goossens |KO |1 |06/03/1985 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Frank "The Tank" Robinson |KO |1 |18/01/1985 |align=left| Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Al Malcolm |TKO |2 |14/12/1984 |align=left| Wembley, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |- |Win | |align=left| Al Malcolm |KO |1 |16/10/1984 |align=left| Kensington, London, United Kingdom |align=left| |}

Death

On the morning of 6 January 2011 Mason died after being hit by a van in Sandy Lane South, Wallington, South London whilst cycling. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Moments after his death was announced, boxing promoter Frank Maloney told LBC 97.3 radio in London that "Everyone had the greatest of respect for Gary. When times were bad Gary always had a smile on his face. He’s going to be sadly missed by a lot of people. He did a lot of great work for charity… he’d always turn up if you phoned him for a charity event. That’s the sort of guy he was."