Alfred Rudolph Cole (born April 21, 1964), best known as Al Cole, is an American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He won the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

cruiserweight title and was a major force in the division until moving up to

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

, where he had less success. In 2001, Cole portrayed boxer

Ernie Terrell Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born c ...

in the film ''

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

''.

Career

Cole, at 6'4", was a large and dominant cruiserweight boxer. Later in his career, he did not have the size or power to compete at the upper echelon of the heavyweight division when he moved up in weight class. He listed his hometown as

Spring Valley, New York Spring Valley is a village in the towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Chestnut Ridge, east of Airmont and Monsey, south of Hillcrest, and west of Nanuet. The population was 33, ...

. Cole began his career on a 20-1 tear and captured the cruiserweight title by defeating

champ

James Warring James Warring (born November 26, 1958) is an American boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In professional boxing, he held the IBF world cruiserweight title from 1991 until 1992. In kickboxing, Warring is a four-time world champion, whic ...

after only three years as a professional. Cole went on to defend the title five times. His most notable defenses came against

Uriah Grant Uriah or Uriyah () is a Hebrew given name. It may refer to: People In the Bible *Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in King David's army in the Books of Samuel *Uriah, a priest under Ahaz in the Books of Kings * Uriah (prophet), a prophet murdered by ...

(a fighter who beat

Thomas Hearns Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowed ...

). Cole defeated Grant twice by unanimous decision. Throughout his career Al Cole has appeared in movies with several big actors such as Robert De Niro, Will Smith, John Voight, Jamie Foxx, Jeffrey Wright & Catherine Zeta-Jones. In one of the movies Al Cole appeared in, ''Ali'', people got knocked out during the audition. Cole was cited -"People really got knocked out auditioning for the movie roles".

Heavyweight

Cole went up to heavyweight without losing his title. In his first heavyweight fight, Cole was nearly swept on all cards by

Tim Witherspoon Tim Witherspoon (born December 27, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. Witherspoon also wor ...

in a unanimous decision loss. A year later, Cole was TKO'd by Michael Grant in the 10th round. Cole then had brief success by drawing over ten rounds with up and coming, undefeated prospect

Kirk Johnson Kirk Cyron Johnson (born June 29, 1972) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2010, and challenged once for the World Boxing Association, WBA heavyweight title in 2002. Amateur career Johnson represented Canada at ...

. Johnson was to win the rematch via unanimous decision, a loss which began Cole's career downfall. Cole went on to lose to

Corrie Sanders Cornelius Johannes "Corrie" Sanders (7 January 1966 – 23 September 2012) was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2008. He won the WBO heavyweight title in 2003 after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in two rounds, wh ...

and

Jameel McCline Jameel McCline (born May 20, 1970) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged for the world heavyweight title on an unprecedented four occasions, losing all four attempts to Wladimir Klitschko, Chris Byrd, Nikolai Valuev and Samuel ...

. Cole's career then had a brief resurgence with a victory over undefeated

Vincent Maddalone Vincent "Vinny" Maddalone (born December 29, 1973) is an American professional boxer who fights at heavyweight. Professional career Maddalone, a hard-hitting brawler, turned professional in 1999 and became a popular contender often featured on ...

, a unanimous decision over

David Izonritei David Izonritei (born 29 April 1968) is a Nigerian former boxer. Also known as David Izon, Izonritei won the Heavyweight silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. During his professional career, he defeated world title challengers D ...

, and a draw with Jeremy Williams). Cole failed to build on the momentum though, dropping decisions to

Lance Whitaker Lance Whitaker (born May 29, 1971) is an American former professional boxer. As an amateur in the super heavyweight division, he won a bronze medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. Nicknamed "Mount", or more recently "Goofi", Whitaker was known ...

, former heavyweight champion

Hasim Rahman Hasim Sharif Rahman (born November 7, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2014. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBC, IBF, IBO and lineal titles in 2001; and the WBC tit ...

, and finally a TKO loss to

Sultan Ibragimov Sultan-Ahmed Magomedsalihovich Ibragimov (russian: Султан-Ахмед Магомедсалихович Ибрагимов, av, Султан-АхӀмад МухӀаммадсалихӀазул вас Ибрагьимов; born 8 March 1975 ...

. Cole then retired, but returned to defeat heavyweight prospect Joey "Minnesota Ice" Abell on September 5 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. A year later, he was defeated by fringe contender

Timur Ibragimov Timur Ibragimov (Тимур Ибрагимов; born January 15, 1975) is an Uzbekistani former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012. As an amateur, he competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Early years Ibragimov is from Uzbekistan. ...

. Cole had scheduled to fight a rematch with Abell in 2010 in Uganda, but that bout fell through. Reflecting on his long career in boxing, Cole noted "I gave people what they wanted to see-an action-packed fight."Up Close and Personal with Former IBF Cruiserweight Champion Alfred “Ice” Cole , Ringside Report
/ref>

Life as a trainer

Cole is now a professional boxing trainer. He is currently training USBA Heavyweight Champion

Maurice Harris Wilbur Maurice Harris (born February 21, 1976), nicknamed "Sugar Moe", is the former United States Boxing Association heavyweight champion. A professional competitor since 1992, he holds notable victories over Siarhei Liakhovich, David Izon, Jam ...

for Boxing 360.

Professional boxing record

References

External links