Larry Ali Donald (born January 6, 1967) 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 ...
super heavyweight
Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and competitive bodybuilding.
Boxing
In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Introduced for ...
division at the 1991 World Championships and won a gold medal at the 1992 World Championship Challenge and becoming amateur world Super heavyweight champion going into the 1992 Olympic Games represented the United States at the
1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to:
*1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain
*1992 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 64
, athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women)
, events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines)
, opening = 8 ...
. During his professional career, he defeated the likes of
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the o ...
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 ...
Donald was the American representative at Super Heavyweight at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. His results were:
*1st round bye
*Defeated Nikolay Kulpin (Unified Team/Former Soviet Union) RSC 3
*Lost to Roberto Balado (Cuba) 4–10
In addition to his Olympic run, Donald had a successful amateur career, including:
*National Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion (1989, 1990)
* United States National Amateur Champion at Super Heavyweight (1991)
He also won the World Championship Challenge in Tampa, Florida, March 13–14, 1992, right before going into the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Donald finished his with 72 fights, completing a record of 67 wins, 5 losses.Larry Donald Record at BoxingRecords.com
Professional career
Larry "The Legend" Donald turned pro on January 3, 1993, earning a technical knockout against Craig Brinson. In 1994 he beat fellow undefeated prospect Jeremy Williams, and Bert Cooper, but suffered his first defeat when losing widely to ex-champ
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 ...
, who had infamously
sucker punch
A sucker punch (American English), also known as a dog shot, coward punch, king hit or one-punch attack
(Australian and New Zealand English) or cold-cock (American English), is a punch made without warning or while the recipient is distracted, ...
ed Donald twice at the pre-fight press conference.
He resurfaced in late 1997 outpointing ex-champ
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 ...
, but spent many years fighting low profile on Don King under cards, unpopular with fans and the press for his negative, ultra-defensive and extremely unentertaining style.
In July 2001 he had a high-profile world title eliminator with
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 WBA heavyweight title in 2002.
Amateur career
Johnson represented Canada at the 1992 Olympics in Barc ...
, 31–0–1, but lost a close decision.
In 2002 he traveled to Germany to face
Vitali Klitschko
Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of KyivEvander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the o ...
, winning nearly every round against the Hall of Famer ex-champ for the NABC World Champion Title.
In 2005, Donald controversially lost a title eliminator bout to giant-sized Russian Nicolay Valuev which would have earned him the right to fight
John Ruiz
John Ruiz (born January 4, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2010, and held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2001 and 2005. Ruiz is of Puerto Rican descent, and is the first Latino boxer to win a w ...
for the WBA belt.
On July 30, 2007, Donald returned to ring to face
Alexander Povetkin
Alexander Vladimirovich "Sasha" Povetkin (russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Пове́ткин; born 2 September 1979) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2021. He held the WBA (Regular) heav ...
Alexander Povetkin
Alexander Vladimirovich "Sasha" Povetkin (russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Пове́ткин; born 2 September 1979) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2021. He held the WBA (Regular) heav ...
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the o ...
, UD
, 12
, 13 Nov 2004
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Vitali Klitschko
Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of Kyiv1 Jun 2002
, align=left,
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, -
, 42
, Loss
, 38–2–2
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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 WBA heavyweight title in 2002.
Amateur career
Johnson represented Canada at the 1992 Olympics in Barc ...
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...
, KO
, 5 (10),
, 25 May 2000
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, align=left, Mark Bradley
, TKO
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, 29 Feb 2000
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, 6 Mar 1999
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, 35
, Win
, 33–1–1
, align=left, Mike Sedillo
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, 18 Dec 1998
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, 34
, Win
, 32–1–1
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, UD
, 10
, 21 Apr 1998
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, 33
, Win
, 31–1–1
, align=left, Levi Billups
, UD
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, 5 Feb 1998
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, 32
, Win
, 30–1–1
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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 ...
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 ...
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, 3 Dec 1994
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, 16–0
, align=left, Dan Murphy
, UD
, 10
, 5 Jul 1994
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, 15–0
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, KO
, 6 (12),
, 4 Jun 1994
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, Win
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, TKO
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, 14 Apr 1994
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, MD
, 12
, 12 Mar 1994
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, 12–0
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, TKO
, 6 (10),
, 13 Feb 1994
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, TKO
, 3 (6)
, 16 Dec 1993
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, TKO
, 2 (6)
, 19 Nov 1993
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, 9
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, 9–0
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, TKO
, 1 (?)
, 30 Oct 1993
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, 8
, Win
, 8–0
, align=left, Mike Gans
, KO
, 3 (8)
, 27 Aug 1993
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, 7
, Win
, 7–0
, align=left, Al Shoffner
, KO
, 5 (6),
, 17 Jul 1993
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, Win
, 6–0
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Daniel Dăncuță
Daniel Rică Dăncuță (born 28 May 1971) is a Romanian former professional boxer.
Career
Daniel Dăncuță won twice the Romanian National Amateur Boxing Championship at the super heavyweight division in 1990 and 1991. He made his profession ...
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, 6
, 6 Jun 1993
, align=left,
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, TKO
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, 8 May 1993
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, 4–0
, align=left, Matthew Brooks
, UD
, 6
, 14 Mar 1993
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, KO
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, 6 Feb 1993
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, Win
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, TKO
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, 17 Jan 1993
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, align=left, Craig Brinson
, TKO
, 2 (6),
, 3 Jan 1993
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