Maurice Harris

Maurice Harris
Statistics
Real name	Wilbur Maurice Harris
Nickname(s)	Mo Bettah
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Reach	80 in (203 cm)
Nationality	United States
Born	February 21, 1976 (1976-02-21) Cincinnati, Ohio
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	43
Wins	25
Wins by KO	11
Losses	15
Draws	2
No contests	1

Wilbur Maurice Harris (born February 21, 1976), nicknamed "Sugar Moe", is the former United States Boxing Association heavyweight champion.

Pro career

Maurice Harris turned pro at 16 as a light heavyweight in 1992, and faced many up-and-coming prospects and comebacking champions. In his early professional years, he lost to future number one contender Vaughn Bean, and defeated 18-0-0 David Izon.

In 1992, Harris lost a 12 round decision in his first attempt to win the vacant United States Boxing Association (USBA) heavyweight title against future world heavyweight champion Chris Byrd.

In 1997 he lost a disputed split decision to former champion Larry Holmes. He followed the Holmes bout with a seven fight winning streak in 1998-99. This included defeating former number one heavyweight contender Jeremy Williams, and culminated in a fight on HBO with Derrick Jefferson. In what was labeled as the 1999 Ring Magazine knockout of the year, Harris was devastatingly knocked out by a vicious shot.

In 1998 Harris was the chief sparring partner for heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis and maintained this position for several years.

In 2002, Harris knocked out future heavyweight champion 19-0 Serguei Lyakhovich in the 9th round. Later that year, Harris won the Thunderbox Heavyweight Tournament "Fistful of Dollars" in Atlantic City, NJ. The round-robin exhibition event consisted of eight heavyweights doing battle in three, three-minute rounds. Harris outpointed Gerald Nobles, future number one contender Tony Thompson and Israel Garcia in the same evening to win the $100,000 purse.

Comeback

After a three year layoff, Harris made a comeback in 2010 in the heavyweight division. Under the guidance of promoter Mario Yagobi of Boxing360, Harris returned to the ring. Harris won the vacant United States Boxing Association heavyweight title in his second opportunity with a 12 round unanimous decision over Nagy Aguilera at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota. However, on May 27, 2011, Harris lost an eliminator bout for the IBF # 2 position at Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. On July 16, 2011, Harris defended his USBA heavyweight title in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 16, 2011, with a 12th round knockout over challenger Derric Rossy.

Professional boxing record

25 Wins (11 knockouts), 15 Losses, 2 Draws, 1 No Contest [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	25-4	Derric "The Shaolin Fist" Rossy	TKO	12	16/07/2011	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	USBA Heavyweight Title.. Referee stopped the bout at 1:35 of the 12th round.
Loss	35-2	Tony "The Tiger" Thompson	TKO	3	27/05/2011	Reno, Nevada, United States	IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator.. Referee stopped the bout at 1:51 of the third round. Harris was knocked down in rounds two & three.
Win	16-3	Nagy "Dominican Dynamite" Aguilera	UD	12	06/08/2010	Hinckley, Minnesota, United States	USBA Heavyweight Title.. 117-111, 117-111, 115-113.
Win	23-14	Robert "Big Philly" Hawkins	UD	8	15/04/2010	New York City, United States	80-72, 80-72, 80-72.
Win	15-13	Julius "Towering Inferno" Long	UD	6	26/03/2010	Chicago, Illinois, United States	59-53, 59-53, 59-53.
Win	23-10-1	Billy "The Kid" Zumbrun	UD	6	29/01/2010	Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States	60-54, 60-54, 58-56.
NC	4-0	Rodney Wallace	NC	4	17/11/2007	Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States	Decision vacated due to the Harris misrepresenting his identity.
Loss	36-1	Tye "Big Sky" Fields	RTD	4	14/07/2006	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Harris failed to emerge from his corner for the fifth round.
Win	13-31-1	Franklin Edmondson	UD	8	26/01/2006	Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Loss	23-1	Fres "The Big O" Oquendo	KO	10	01/03/2003	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Oquendo knocked out at 2:12 of the tenth round.
Win	16-0	Siarhei "White Wolf" Liakhovich	KO	9	01/06/2002	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Liakhovich knocked out at 1:31 of the ninth round.
Loss	39-1-1	Henry Akinwande	KO	1	16/06/2001	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Loss	32-2	Chris "Rapid Fire" Byrd	UD	12	12/05/2001	New York City, United States	USBA Heavyweight Title.. 109-118, 110-117, 110-117.
Win	14-5-2	Harold "Hard Roc" Sconiers	UD	8	16/12/2000	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	7-19-3	Bradley Rone	UD	8	05/08/2000	Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Loss	21-0-1	Derrick "D-Train" Jefferson	KO	6	06/11/1999	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Harris knocked out at 2:52 of the sixth round.
Win	15-8-4	Israel Cole	UD	10	11/09/1999	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	34-2	Jeremy "Half Man-Half Amazing" Williams	UD	10	19/06/1999	New York City, United States	98-91, 98-90, 99-89.
Win	7-19-3	Louis "The Facelifter" Monaco	TKO	1	22/05/1999	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 1:33 of the first round.
Win	13-10	Artis "The Mad Boxer" Pendergrass	TKO	4	19/12/1998	Miami, Florida, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 1:45 of the fourth round.
Win	1-3	Orion Sistrunk	KO	1	01/10/1998	Newark, New Jersey, United States
Win	16-69-2	Danny Wofford	DQ	6	27/06/1998	Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Win	0-5	Rashid Latif	KO	1	18/04/1998	Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Loss	65-6	Larry "The Easton Assassin" Holmes	SD	10	29/07/1997	New York City, United States	95-96, 94-96, 96-94.
Win	32-7	Jimmy Thunder	KO	7	20/05/1997	Lyndhurst, New Jersey, United States	Thunder knocked out at 2:44 of the seventh round.
Win	17-3-2	Sam Hampton	TKO	4	26/04/1997	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	5-0	Gerald "The Jedi" Nobles	KO	3	30/07/1996	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States	Harris knocked out at 1:20 of the third round.
Win	4-0	Terrell "Baby Bull" Nelson	UD	6	16/07/1996	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	58-52, 57-50, 58-54.
Loss	4-5-1	Dayton Wheeler	MD	6	19/06/1996	Newark, New Jersey, United States
Win	18-0	David Izon	UD	8	15/03/1996	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	76-75, 76-75, 78-75.
Loss	2-0	"Cowboy" Dale Brown	KO	3	16/08/1995	Newark, New Jersey, United States
Loss	14-0	Vaughn "Shake & Bake" Bean	KO	3	29/10/1994	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	15-0	"The American Dream" John Andrade	TKO	6	27/06/1994	Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Draw	--	Zuri Lawrence	PTS	4	21/06/1994	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Win	2-0-1	Richie Brown	UD	4	23/04/1994	Schenectady, New York, United States
Win	--	Ettol Windham	UD	4	22/03/1994	Pensacola, Florida, United States
Draw	2-0	Richie Brown	PTS	4	21/01/1994	New York City, United States
Win	0-1	Tom Murray	TKO	1	01/10/1993	New York City, United States
Loss	3-1	Scott Lopeck	KO	3	07/05/1993	New York City, United States
Loss	2-1	Richard Frazier	TKO	4	20/03/1993	New York City, United States
Win	2-1	Michael Taylor	TKO	1	27/02/1993	Bushkill, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	0-5	Anthony Harris	TKO	1	12/02/1993	Bushkill, Pennsylvania, United States
Loss	--	Joe Kenna	UD	4	04/12/1992	Bushkill, Pennsylvania, United States

External links

• Professional boxing record for Maurice Harris from BoxRec
• Maurice Harris - Boxing360 Biography, Boxing
• USBA Heavyweight Champion Maurice Harris on Brink of Living his Dream, April 28, 2011