Terry McGroom (March 16, 1966 – April 17, 2016) was an American

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 from 1993 to 2004. He challenged for 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 in 2001.

Early life

McGroom attended

Wells High School Wells High School is a public school located in Wells, Maine, United States. It has an enrollment of 450 students in grades 9 through 12. The school primarily serves students from Wells, as well as a small number of students from Ogunquit, Maine ...

in Chicago, which was "full of gangbangers." Tom O'Shea, an English teacher at the school, said he was "an arrogant, nasty kid who was always in trouble with his teachers," apart from the fact that he did not earn a single credit in his freshman year. When O'Shea caught McGroom fighting in the hallways, he was given a choice: follow him to the principal's office or to the boxing gym. O'Shea became his coach, a position he held throughout McGroom's amateur career. He later graduated from Wells as an honor student, earning a boxing scholarship to

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...

Amateur career

McGroom had a stellar amateur career prior to turning professional, going 63-11. He was a National Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight champion in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1992 and a National Amateur Light Heavyweight Champion in 1991. McGroom also won a silver medal from the 1990 Goodwill Games in the 81 kg division. He also competed at the 1989 World Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Professional career

McGroom turned pro in 1993 and started off his career going undefeated in his first 11 fights. He then faced Darrol Wilson, a heavy hitting heavyweight who would make a name for himself later on, in 1995, and battled his way to a 10-round draw. McGroom's next big fight was an 8th-round TKO loss to future contender

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 Bar ...

. Johnson was much bigger than McGroom and slugged him to the canvas. After the loss to Johnson, McGroom's impressive victory over Esteban Pizzarro in 1999 earned him the biggest fight of his career against

James Toney James Nathaniel Toney (born August 24, 1968) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1 ...

in 2000. It was a close fight with Toney and some thought the decision should have been given to McGroom. In 2001 he challenged Vasily Jirov for his IBF Cruiserweight belt. The result was a shocking one-round KO for Jirov, the result from one well place body shot. McGroom then moved up to Heavyweight and had little success. He lost to future contenders

Dominick Guinn Dominick Alexander Guinn (born April 20, 1975) is an American professional boxer. He is self-managed and he is trained by Ronnie Shields and Alexander Gutierrez. He stands at 6'3" tall. Known as the "Southern Disaster",Gerbasi, Thomas (2013)Domi ...

Malik Scott Dohonna Malik Scott (born October 16, 1980) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2016. Amateur career Scott started boxing at the age of 11 and had a stellar amateur career. In 1997, he won the ...

, and Timor Ibragimov before retiring in 2004.

Personal life

McGroom died from

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thy ...

on April 17, 2016.

Professional boxing record

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Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

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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. ...

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Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

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Steve Cunningham Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the International Boxing Federation, IBF cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to hi ...

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Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ea ...

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, TKO , 7 , 08/09/2002 , align=left, Lawton, Oklahoma, U.S. , align=left, , - , Loss , 19–3–2 , align=left,

Vassiliy Jirov Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov (russian: Васи́лий Вале́рьевич Жи́ров; born 4 April 1974), sometimes known as Vasily Zhirov, is a Kazakhstani former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2009, and held the IBF cruise ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

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Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

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Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 85,268. making it the 11th largest municipality in Illinois. The town of Cic ...

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, TKO , 8 , 16/11/1996 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Draw , 13–0–2 , align=left,

Anthony Hembrick Anthony Hembrick (born February 22, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1996. He twice challenged for a world light-heavyweight title in 1992 and 1993. As an amateur, he was a member of the 1988 US Olympics t ...

, PTS , 10 , 23/04/1996 , align=left, Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , 13–0–1 , align=left, Arthur Saribekian , UD , 8 , 21/11/1995 , align=left, Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , 12–0–1 , align=left, Ron Preston , UD , 8 , 03/10/1995 , align=left, Flint, Michigan, U.S. , align=left, , - , Draw , 11–0–1 , align=left,

Darroll Wilson Darroll Lamont Wilson (born June 8, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2006. He is best known for his gutsy performances against some of the best fighters of his day, and his upset third-round TKO win over S ...

, PTS , 10 , 17/08/1995 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , 11–0 , align=left, Exum Speight , TKO , 2 , 28/03/1995 , align=left, Flint, Michigan, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , 10–0 , align=left, Ken Jackson , TKO , 2 , 20/08/1994 , align=left,

Athens, Tennessee Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee, United States and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 53,569. The city is located almost equidistantly between the major cities of Knoxville an ...

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Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGroom, Terry 1966 births 2016 deaths Boxers from Chicago Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers National Golden Gloves champions Heavyweight boxers Cruiserweight boxers American male boxers African-American boxers Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games medalists in boxing 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people