Lawrence Marvin Clay-Bey (born December 14, 1965) 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 fought at

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 W ...

. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

he was a two-time winner (1995 and 1996) of the United States National Championships as well as a bronze medalist at the 1995 World Championships, all in the super heavyweight division.

Amateur career

Lawrence Clay-Bey started to box at the age of 26. He lost his first two amateur fights but stuck with it and eventually won the

National Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...

in his next eight fights. At this point he weighed around 260 pounds. Clay-Bey won a super heavyweight bronze medal at the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, later KOd

Joe Mesi "Baby" Joe Mesi (born November 27, 1973) is an American retired boxer and Democratic Party politician from Tonawanda, New York. During his career, he defeated former world champion Vassily Jirov as well as former title challengers Bert Cooper ...

to win the right to go to the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

and was also team USA's captain. However he was put out of the tournament in his first fight by a close/controversial 10-8 decision to eventual Gold medalist

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label=Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол� ...

. He was the only fighter Klitschko had problems with as he managed to rattle Klitschko, prompting the referee to issue a standing 8 count. After the fight he raised some eyebrows downplaying it as "just a loss" which let journalists question his dedication. He finished the amateurs with a 60-9 record. * United States amateur (AAU) Super Heavyweight champion (1995, 1996)

Professional career

After a year of debating if he wanted to turn pro Lawrence Clay-Bey decided he wanted to see how far he could go. He got into much better shape and shed 25-30 pounds to a better fighting weight of 235. He turned pro in 1997 and he easily blew past his early opponents despite them having more experience and glossy pro records. Clay-Bey was thought very highly of, and was being groomed to be a future title holder until he met the streaking

Clifford Etienne Clifford Etienne (born March 9, 1970) is an American former professional boxer and convicted robber, who is currently serving a 105-year prison sentence without the possibility of parole. Known for his aggressive, high-volume style despite being ...

in 2000. The two traded shots round after round with Etienne being the more active of the two, and Etienne took the decision. After the loss to Etienne, Clay-Bey began putting on weight and coming into fights out of shape. But he stayed busy and took a victory over promising prospect

Charles Shufford Charles Lamont Shufford, Jr. (born February 3, 1973) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO world heavyweight title in 2001. Amateur career Charles Shufford, a nephew of former welterweight contender Horace Shuff ...

in 2003, setting up a fight against

Eliecer Castillo Elieser Ramos Castillo (born October 25, 1970) is a Cuban professional boxer in the heavyweight division. Amateur career Elieser Castillo Ramos was part of the legendary Cuban boxing program before he defected to the United States. Defecting t ...

. Castillo KO'd Clay-Bey in the 9th round. Clay-Bey's once promising career drifted into obscurity. Although he was able to beat former cruiserweight champ

Imamu Mayfield Imamu Amiri Mayfield (born April 19, 1972) is an American professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2008, and 2016 to 2017. Career Mayfield turned pro in 1994 and was a popular local fighter known for being on boxing cards in various New Jers ...

in 2004, he dropped a decision to

Sinan Samil Sam Sinan (Arabic: سنان ''sinān'') is a name found in Arabic and Early Arabic, meaning ''spearhead''. The name may also be related to the Ancient Greek name Sinon. It was used as a male given name. Etymology The word is possibly stems from t ...

and drew with Derek Bryant in 2005.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

He now works as a corrections officer in Connecticut. He is married with 5 children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay-Bey, Lawrence 1965 births Living people Boxers from Connecticut Heavyweight boxers Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of the United States National Golden Gloves champions Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers American prison officers Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut American male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists