Roy Harris (born 29 June 1933) is an American lawyer and retired

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 ...

boxer, whose nickname derived from his place of birth,

Cut and Shoot, Texas Cut and Shoot is a city in eastern Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about east of Conroe and north of Houston. Until 2006, Cut and Shoot was considered and called a town. Then, the town council elected for it to be considered and refer ...

. Roy is a co-trainer of title contender Alfonso López III.

Early life

Harris was born in Cut and Shoot, Texas, on 29 June 1933. His father, a lifelong hog farmer, taught him how to box and wrestle. Following his four Golden Gloves championship victories, he enrolled in

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

, excelling as an honor student, before joining the United States Army. He rose to the rank of Captain and served in the reserves for another 12 years.

Amateur career

Harris and his brother Henry took up the boxing together after receiving their first set of gloves in a trade for wild ducks. He was a four-time Texas Golden Gloves amateur champion, won his state Olympic Trials in 1952, and was the winner of the Joe Louis Sportsmanship Award at the 1954 National Golden Gloves.

Professional career

Harris was a heavyweight contender during the 1950s. He won his first 23 fights, including consecutive wins against

Willi Besmanoff William David Besmanoff (October 4, 1932 – October 20, 2010) was a German boxer who was a heavyweight contender in the 1950s. He was born in Munich, Germany. His father was Jewish American. When Willi was 11, he was imprisoned in the Buche ...

, Bob Baker and

Willie Pastrano Wilfred Raleigh Pastrano (November 27, 1935 – December 6, 1997) was an American former professional boxer who competed from 1951 to 1965. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' light heavyweight titles between 1963 and 1965. Earl ...

, and was named ''Ring'' Magazine's

progress of the year '' The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and gave an award for Progress of the Year from 1953 to 1988. It is given to a boxer who had made significant progress during the preceding year, or had otherwise made the most impressive jump from c ...

for 1957.

World Heavyweight Championship

Before the bout, Harris was on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. In August 1958, he was given a title shot by

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in his ...

. Patterson had trouble obtaining title defenses, as boxing at the time was controlled by organisations that Patterson and his manager, Cus D'Amato, refused to cooperate with. Roy Harris training

The promotion was colorful, due to the backstory of Harris' kinsmen, one of the celebrated East Texas clans still existing as their forebears had for generations. Much was made of the "backwoods" quality of Harris' life, and every venue was utilized in using this as ballyhoo; this extended as far as having Harris record a 45 RPM record entitled "Cut 'n Shoot (Texas, U.S.A.)" (b/w "Desert in the Sky",

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

9-30717). Harris was predictably photographed in cowboy hat and boots, and in one wire photo, he holds a revolver at the ready (AP Wirephoto rw41500sh). The aforementioned ''Sports Illustrated'' cover portrayed him barechested and barefoot, standing upon a cabin porch with 19th Century rifle at rest beside him; he further sports a canine companion. To watch the fight in Texas, Harris' extended family gathered at the drive-in theater in nearby Conroe, which was equipped for the occasion with its own closed circuit movie hook-up. The fight took place at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, CA. Harris knocked down the champion in the second round, but was himself knocked down four times; his corner stopped the fight before the 13th round. Mushy Callahan was the referee. When questioned, Harris - a former winner of the Joe Louis Sportsman Award - simply said: "I did my best." Harris subsequently won six consecutive fights, before being stopped 2:35 into his bout with

Sonny Liston Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 1930 – December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson i ...

. He then dropped a decision to

Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer, best remembered internationally for a 1963 fight in which he knocked down a young Cassius Clay before the fight was stopped because of a cut eye from Clay's punches. Coo ...

and was stopped twice by Bob Cleroux.

Retirement

He retired with a final record of 30 wins and five losses. He is believed to be the only boxer to become a lawyer after fighting for the world heavyweight title. Harris was a county clerk in Montgomery County for 28 years. He began practicing law in 1972 and drew up the papers for Cut And Shoot to become incorporated. Harris' office is based in his home and he has been married 47 years and has six children.

Professional boxing record

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Sam Houston Coliseum Sam Houston Coliseum was an indoor arena located in Houston, Texas. Early years Located at 801 Bagby Street in Downtown Houston, the Coliseum and Music Hall complex replaced the Sam Houston Hall, which was a wooden structure that had been erected ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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Delorimier Stadium Delorimier Stadium (; also known as ''Montreal Stadium'', ''Hector Racine Stadium'' and ''Delorimier Downs'') was a 20,000-seat sports stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was located at 2101 Ontario Street East, at the corner of De Lorimier Ave ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

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Dallas Memorial Auditorium The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (KBHCCD) (formerly Dallas Convention Center) is a convention center in the Convention Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. The "Dallas Memorial Auditorium" was a standalone multipurpose arena, de ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

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San Antonio Municipal Auditorium The San Antonio Municipal Auditorium was a building located at 100 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio, Texas. It was built as a memorial to American soldiers killed in World War I. The San Antonio Municipal Auditorium was also used as a concert venue ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

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Joe Bygraves Joe Bygraves (26 May 1931 – 16 January 2012) was a British heavyweight boxer. Bygraves turned professional in 1953, and after an impressive early career he successfully challenged Kitione Lave for the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight b ...

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Chuck Powell , UD , 10 , 09/06/1959 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Donnie Fleeman , UD , 12 , 01/04/1959 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , No Contest , , align=left, John Hunt , NC , 5 , 03/02/1959 , align=left,

El Paso County Coliseum El Paso County Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in El Paso, Texas. It opened on May 21, 1942 and was built originally to support a rodeo and livestock show, but later expanded to cater other types of events. A variety of events th ...

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

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Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, JD Marshall , TKO , 2 , 19/11/1956 , align=left,

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Charley Norkus , UD , 10 , 02/10/1956 , align=left, Houston City Auditorium,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Calvin Butler , PTS , 10 , 30/05/1956 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, "Chief" Alvin Williams , UD , 10 , 21/05/1956 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Johnny Bullard , KO , 4 , 16/04/1956 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Don Howard Tucker , KO , 3 , 20/02/1956 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Ponce DeLeon Taylor , PTS , 10 , 13/12/1955 , align=left, Houston City Auditorium,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Buddy Turman , SD , 12 , 28/11/1955 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Duke Smith , KO , 3 , 01/10/1955 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, LeJune Burks , KO , 6 , 30/09/1955 , align=left,

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2021, the population was 98,081, up from 56,207 in 2010. Since 2007, the ...

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LaGrave Field LaGrave Field is an abandoned baseball park in Fort Worth, Texas. It was primarily used for baseball and was the home field of the Fort Worth Cats independent minor league baseball team. Its original version was the home of the predecessor Panthers ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

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Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

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Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Roy 1933 births Living people Heavyweight boxers Boxers from Texas People from Montgomery County, Texas Conroe High School alumni American male boxers