James Broad

James Broad
James Broad
Born	James W. Broad; January 27, 1958; Greensboro, North Carolina
Died	November 20, 2001 (aged 43)
Nationality	American
Other names	Broad Axe
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
	Boxing record
Total fights	33
Wins	23
Wins by KO	15
Losses	10

James Broad (January 27, 1958 – November 20, 2001) was an American heavyweight boxer who was a Notable Contender throughout the 1980s, who beat Future World Champion James Smith and gave Heavyweight Champion Greg Page a very tough fight only losing by Majority Decision. He won the NABF heavyweight title and was a regular sparring partner of a peak Mike Tyson. He fought the likes of James Smith, Razor Ruddock, Tony Tucker, Tim Witherspoon, Johnny du Plooy, Francesco Damiani, and Greg Page.

Military service

James Broad took up boxing while serving in the U.S. Army, being a Specialist 4th class stationed at Fort Ord.

Amateur career

Broad took up boxing when he joined the army in 1976. He beat Chris McDonald on points, and scored a first-round-knockout victory over Marvis Frazier in the 1980 Olympic Trials finals,^[1] where he qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Boxing team which ultimately did not compete due to President Jimmy Carter's order to boycott the Olympics. He also lost a decision to Tony Tubbs.

Highlights

Interserivce Boxing Championships, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 10, 1980:

Finals: Defeated Stan Butler by decision

U.S. All-Army Championships, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March 1980

Finals: Defeated Woody Clark by decision

U.S. Olympic Trials, Atlanta, Georgia, June 1980:

1/4: Defeated Freddy Guzman KO 1 (1:18; Guzman knocked down twice in the first minute of the opening round^[2])
1/2: Defeated Marvis Frazier KO 1 (0:21)
Finals: Defeated Chris McDonald by split decision, 3–2

FRG–USA Duals, West Berlin, West Germany, July 1980:

Defeated Peter Hussing (West Germany) RSC 2
Defeated Georg Helm (West Germany) KO 1

Gold Cup, Nairobi, Kenya, September 1980:

Finals: Defeated Abdallah Kent (Kenya) by decision

USA–Hungary Duals, Rapid City, South Dakota, February 1981:

Defeated József Réder (Hungary) by decision

Professional career

Nicknamed "Broad-Axe", Broad turned pro in 1981 and put together 12 wins, including a 4th-round knockout of future Heavyweight Champ James "Bonecrusher" Smith. His weight was already a problem at this early stage of his career, but Broad worked down to 228 for his first big fight, against fellow undefeated prospect Marvis Frazier. Broad rocked Frazier with his signature uppercuts but was unable to replicate his knockout victory in the amateurs, and he was outworked over 10 rounds.

Broad bounced back to outpoint Larry Alexander over 12 rounds in 1983 then knockout contender Eddie Gregg in 8 rounds to win the NABF title in 1984. For his first title defense Broad scaled a whopping 261 lbs and was knocked out in 2 rounds by once and future world champion Tim Witherspoon in 1985.

Later years

Broad was unable to get back into serious shape for the remainder of his career, and his results suffered. He lost a 12-round decision to top contender and future world champion Tony Tucker for the USBA title in 1986, and in 1987 was twice outpointed over 10 rounds, by Francesco Damiani in Italy and then by ex-world champ Greg Page, in a fight where both men were down.

Broad outpointed future cruiserweight world title-challenger Patrick Lumumba but went to South Africa and was poleaxed in 4 rounds by Johnny DuPlooy. In his next fight he was stopped on his feet, in questionable circumstances, by rising contender Donovan "Razor" Ruddock. During all this time Broad was a sparring partner for a peak Mike Tyson and took many punches in the gym.

Death

In 1992 Boxing Illustrated reported that Broad intended to make a comeback and wanted to be world champion, despite the fact he was banned in Nevada and California both for failing a neurological exam and testing positive for Hepatitis. He somehow managed to get 4 more fights, losing 3 of them. By 2000 Broad was said to be homeless in Las Vegas and badly brain damaged, and James died in 2001 aged only 43.

Professional boxing record

23 Wins (15 knockouts, 8 decisions), 10 Losses (3 knockouts, 7 decisions) [1]
Result	Opp Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	13-8	Calvin Jones	MD	10	20/08/1993	Melrose Park, Illinois, U.S.
Win	30-10-2	Philipp Brown	PTS	8	26/06/1993	Saint George, Utah, U.S.
Loss	3-0	Daniel Dăncuță	UD	4	14/02/1993	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Loss	11-1	Billy Wright	UD	6	06/10/1992	Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
Win	--	Maurice Smith	TKO	4	05/10/1991	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	Referee stopped the bout at 1:26 of the fourth round.
Loss	20-1-1	Donovan Ruddock	TKO	1	06/12/1988	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada	Referee stopped the bout at 2:58 of the first round.
Loss	17-1	Johnny du Plooy	KO	4	27/02/1988	Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	6-1	Patrick Lumumba	PTS	10	01/08/1987	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Loss	26-6	Greg Page	MD	10	30/05/1987	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Loss	16-0	Francesco Damiani	UD	10	11/04/1987	Bologna, Italy
Loss	32-0	Tony "TNT" Tucker	UD	12	26/09/1986	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	USBA Heavyweight Title.
Win	3-11-1	Wesley Smith	KO	2	28/06/1986	Troy, New York, U.S.
Win	23-8-1	Bobby Crabtree	KO	5	03/05/1986	Glens Falls, New York, U.S.	Crabtree knocked out at 1:27 of the fifth round.
Win	13-1	Rodney Frazier	TKO	1	25/01/1986	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 0:55 of the first round.
Loss	19-2	"Terrible" Tim Witherspoon	KO	2	29/04/1985	Buffalo, New York, U.S.	NABF Heavyweight Title. Broad knocked out at 2:35 of the second round.
Win	5-2-1	Sterling Benjamin	TKO	2	14/12/1984	New York City, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:59 of the second round.
Win	20-0-1	Eddie Gregg	TKO	8	23/08/1984	New York City, U.S.	NABF Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 0:48 of the eighth round.
Win	32-4	Tommy Franco Thomas	TKO	3	03/05/1984	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	22-9-2	Larry Alexander	SD	12	17/11/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	12-7-4	Leroy Diggs	TKO	8	18/08/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:43 of the eighth round.
Loss	8-0	Marvis Frazier	UD	10	10/04/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	19-11-1	Tony Pulu	KO	3	10/03/1983	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	19-10	Walter Santemore	UD	12	06/01/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	ESPN Heavyweight Title.
Win	12-0	Donnie Long	MD	10	17/10/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	16-5-2	Randy Mack	TKO	8	16/09/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	5-9	Art Robinson	DQ	4	04/08/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	2-2	Lonnie Chapman	KO	2	18/07/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	5-3-1	Harold Rice	PTS	8	02/04/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	13-3-2	Lou Benson, Jr.	PTS	8	11/02/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	4-4-3	Robert Evans	TKO	6	17/12/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	--	James "Bonecrusher" Smith	TKO	4	05/11/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:07 of the fourth round.
Win	--	Greg Stephany	KO	3	16/09/1981	New York City, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:21 of the third round.
Win	0-4	Albert Collins	KO	1	11/08/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Collins refused to continue at 0:59 of the first round.^[3]