Monte Barrett (born May 26, 1971) 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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
who competed from 1996 to 2014. He challenged once for the WBA
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
title in 2006, and fought many top heavyweight champions and contenders during his career.
Amateur career
Barrett had 40 amateur fights, finishing his amateur career with 37-3 record, signed a contract with Joe De Guardia and turned pro in 1996.
Professional career
As a professional, Barrett had 21 consecutive wins before losing against Lance Whitaker on August 28, 1998. He won a heavyweight title (albeit a regional one) later. Barrett fought Phil Jackson for the vacant WBC Continental
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
title on April 3, 1999. On July 15, 2000, Barrett rose 5 times against future
International Boxing Federation
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. The others are the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing C ...
heavyweight champion
Wladimir Klitschko
Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in , . (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships betwe ...
, but ultimately was knocked out after 3 knockdowns in the 7th round. He also fought contender Joe Mesi in a fight that saw both fighters go down but one in which, ultimately, Mesi prevailed by ten round majority decision. Barrett defeated prospects Dominick Guinn and Owen Beck, the latter in an elimination bout for a shot at either the IBF title (then held by Chris Byrd) or the WBC title (then held by
Vitali Klitschko
Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,Hasim Rahman for the WBC interim title and lost by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
Despite his loss, he fought
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level.
Founded ...
heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev in October at Rosemont, Illinois. Barrett lost via technical knockout in the 11th round. Barrett was knocked down in the eighth and eleventh rounds, but managed to get up. After being knocked down for the second time in the eleventh round, his trainer, James Ali Basheer, jumped into the ring to stop the fight.
Barrett was beaten in the second round in a July 2007 bout against Cliff Couser. Barrett avenged this loss in a December 2007 rematch in which he stopped Couser in the second round. After knocking out Damon Reed, Barrett knocked out Tye Fields in the first round on June 28, 2008, his last win.
Barrett lost to former cruiserweight champion David Haye (who was also the promoter of the fight) on November 15, 2008, at the O2 arena in London, by knockout at 1:28 fifth round, after being put down five times in the fight. Haye then beat Nicolai Valuev, who had beaten Monte by an eleventh round stoppage in October 2006, to win the WBA's share of the world heavyweight title.
Monte fought
Odlanier Solís
Odlanier Solís Fonte (born 5 April 1980) is a Cuban former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2016. He challenged once for the World Boxing Council, WBC heavyweight title in 2011. As an Amateur boxing, amateur, he won a gold medal ...
on October 10, 2009, but lost by second round technical knockout. He then fought Alexander Ustinov on December 12, 2009 but lost a unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
On July 17, 2010 Barrett drew against David Tua. Tua dominated the early rounds through aggression, but Barrett took control in the later rounds and scored a knockdown in the 12th (knocking down Tua for the first time in his professional career). The bout resulted in a controversial draw (as a point was also deducted from Tua in round 12 for throwing Barrett to the canvas) with two judges scoring the fight 113–113 and the third a 115–111 result to Tua. On August 7, 2010, appearing ringside at a fight card at Aviator Arena in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, in a brief interview, Barrett confirmed his retirement from the ring and his intention to take a job offered to him in private industry. On August 21, 2010, Barrett entered the ring at The
Prudential Center
Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Sirens of the Pro ...
in Newark after IBF International heavyweight champion Tomas Adamek won a decision over Michael Grant. Seeking to come out of retirement, Barrett congratulated and challenged Adamek to a 12 round bout. However, after fighting to an eight round draw in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
with Charles Davis in January 2011, Barrett began training for a rematch with David Tua which was held in New Zealand. On August 13, 2011, Barrett defeated Tua via unanimous decision and won the WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental Heavyweight titles. In December 2011, it emerged Monte Barrett tested positive for banned stimulant methylhex-anemine following a urine test after his August 13 points decision over the Kiwi-Samoan boxer. Blair Edwards Tua'a lawyer, called for action against the 40-year-old New Yorker requesting the return of Tua's WBO Asia-Pacific and Oriental titles and restoration of ranking points.
Barrett fought New Zealander Shane Cameron on July 5, 2012 with the winner becoming the number one contender to fight NZPBA title holder
Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny William Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the cou ...
. Days before the fight he admitted the Shane Cameron fight would be "a challenge", but that was spurring him on to win. Barrett also stated that he would look for a third fight with David Tua, after he had beaten Cameron. However he was knocked out in the 4th round with a right hand and lost the titles that he had won against David Tua the previous year.