Rhoshii Wells (December 30, 1976 – August 11, 2008) was an American boxer, who won the bronze medal in the Middleweight Division at 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, ...

. He was born in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Amateur career

Olympic Results * Defeated Kourosh Molaei (Iran) 24-7 * Defeated Ricardo Rodríguez (Brazil) 16-2 * Defeated Dilshod Yarbekov (Uzbekistan) 8-8, judges cards * Lost to Ariel Hernández (Cuba) 8-17

Pro career

Nicknamed "The Great One", Wells began his professional career in 1997, and got off to a 17-0-2 start in the Light Middleweight division, setting up a shot at WBA Light Middleweight Title holder Alejandro Garcia in 2003. He was ahead on the scorecards before Garcia stopped him in the 11th round. In 2005, Wells got shot at a rematch with Garcia and lost via TKO in the 9th. He attempted a comeback on the 3rd season of the boxing reality TV series, The Contender on ESPN, but was eliminated before the competition began.

Death

Rhoshii Wells was shot and killed in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 11, 2008. Police arrested 26-year-old Roger Randolph, who claimed that he shot Wells in self-defense after Wells punched him and robbed him of $100. The District Attorney stated that they would seek the death penalty against Randolph. In May 2012, Randolph was sentenced to 20 years to life for murder with a deadly weapon, plus one to 12 years for discharging weapon where a person might be endangered.

References

External links

* 1976 births 2008 deaths 2008 murders in the United States Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in boxing Sportspeople from Austin, Texas Deaths by firearm in Nevada People murdered in Nevada Boxers from Texas American male boxers Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Middleweight boxers African-American boxers 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople {{US-boxing-Olympic-medalist-stub