Roy Harris (born 29 June 1933) is an American lawyer and retired heavyweight boxer, whose nickname derived from his place of birth, Cut and Shoot, Texas. 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, 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 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 twi ...

''. 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 hi ...

. 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 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. He then dropped a decision to Henry Cooper 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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Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

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, 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 ...

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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 ...

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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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 ...

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

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Fred Taylor , PTS , 10 , 01/11/1955 , align=left, Houston, Texas , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Duke Smith , KO , 3 , 01/10/1955 , align=left,

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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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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. Accord ...

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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