Buster Mathis Jr. (born March 25, 1970) 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 ...

who competed in the

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 ...

division.

Early life

Mathis Jr. was the son of Buster Mathis, a heavyweight boxer from the 1960s. The senior Mathis had been invited to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and was a contender with fights against champions Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Mathis Jr. was a heavy man and took up boxing because he was bullied as a child until the age of 14, and also for the benefit of losing extra weight. Mathis Jr. attended Grandville Public Schools in

Grandville, Michigan Grandville is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,378 at the 2010 census. Grandville is just southwest of the city of Grand Rapids and is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. It was first settled i ...

, from 1979 until he graduated in 1988.

Professional career

Mathis Jr. turned pro in 1991 and quickly put together 12 wins. A busy, crowding fighter, Mathis was small for a heavyweight at around 220 lbs but skilled enough to beat fairly respected fighters like Levi Billups, Justin Fortune and Mike Dixon very early in his career. Buster Mathis encouraged his son to fewer higher paying fights, using the Mathis name to his advantage. He was considered a weak puncher (3 KO's in those 12 fights) but his opposition was above average. In 1993 he challenged Mike 'The Bounty' Hunter (23-3) for his USBA heavyweight belt. Hunter won a close decision over Mathis. The loss however was soon voided after Hunter later tested positive for cocaine. In 1994 Mathis again contested the USBA belt (stripped from Hunter), this time winning an impressive 12-round decision over ex-Olympic champion

Tyrell Biggs Tyrell Biggs (born December 22, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1998, and challenged once for the undisputed heavyweight title in 1987. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics, havi ...

(27-7). In August of that year Mathis was brought in as the comeback opponent for former undisputed champion

Riddick Bowe Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1989 and 2008. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1992, and as an amateur he won a silver medal in the super heavyw ...

. After a good effort bobbing and weaving out of the way of Bowe's best shots, Mathis began to fall behind and took a knee in the fourth. Bowe knocked Mathis out while he was on the mat, yet instead of being disqualified, referee Arthur Mercante Sr. and New Jersey commission boss

Larry Hazzard Larry Hazzard Sr. (born 7 December 1944) is a former amateur boxer, boxing referee, athletic control board commissioner, teacher and actor. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, being inducted during 2010. Hazzard has served as ...

agreed to void the contest. In 1995 Mathis retained his USBA belt with a point win over contender Alex Garcia, thus setting up a fight with

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

. This was Tyson's second fight since being released from prison earlier in the year. Mathis Sr. did not see his son's fight with Tyson due to his final battle was health problems of diabetes and kidney issues. Mathis Sr. died a few weeks before the Tyson fight. In the third round Tyson knocked Mathis Jr. out with a right uppercut. Ten days after the Tyson fight Mathis Jr.'s trainer and long time friend Joey Fariello died, and Mathis Jr. quickly lost his spark for the sport. A 1996 fight with prospect

Obed Sullivan Obed Benjamin Sullivan (born January 17, 1968) is an American former professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Fighting Marine", Sullivan was at times a highly ranked heavyweight who fought many significant fighters of his era. Sullivan turned pro in 1 ...

ended with a no contest in the 5th round, after Sullivan was badly cut in a clash of heads. This was the third no contest in Mathis Jr.'s relatively brief career. In November 1996 Mathis lost his USBA belt to undefeated Lou Savarese. Mathis retired at the age of 26 with a 21-2 (7 KO's) record, and 3 no contests.

After boxing

After his boxing career he studied education receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami. He currently resides in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan and spends his free time speaking to youth to encourage and motivate them, signing autographs and speaking to foster children. Buster Mathis is now the vice president of a non-profit, Buster Mathis Inc. (www.thebullybuster.org) and offers elementary children the Bully Buster Prevention Program through a boxing technique called the 'peek-a-boo'. Buster Mathis is single and has no children at this time. Buster also is a substitute teacher on his off time, most recently at

East Kentwood High School East Kentwood High School (EKHS) is a public high school located just outside the city of Kentwood, Michigan, United States. It is part of the Kentwood Public Schools district, working together with the Crossroads High School, an alternative l ...

. On October 20, 2016, Buster Mathis Jr. was inducted into the Grand Rapids (MI) Sports Hall of Fame, joining his father who was previously inducted.

Professional boxing record

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Buster Jr. Living people Heavyweight boxers Boxers from Michigan 1970 births Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan American male boxers People from East Grand Rapids, Michigan