Lamon Brewster, American professional boxer: biography, sports career

It is considered that all professional fighters are people with a rather low level of intellectual development, unable to do anything in their lives, except to beat other people. But fortunately, in fact this is far from the case. A vivid example of this is a boxer named Lamon Brewster, whose fate and sporting career will be discussed in this article.

Birth and childhood

One of the most outstanding athletes of our time was born on June 5, 1973 in Indiana, the city of Indianapolis. According to the memories of his mother, Lamon Brewster grew up to be a very placid and calm child who at four years played decently chess, and at the age of seven mastered the game on the drum set.

However, at the age of seven the boy's life changed, because his parents moved to California, settling in a suburb of Los Angeles. Here, and there was a turn in the fate of the future champion.

Beginning of boxing

In the early 1980s, films featuring Bruce Lee were very popular. Therefore, many boys began to get involved in kung fu. Our hero did not become an exception, he dropped drill lessons and started to fight with his brothers. In this regard, the boy's father decided to take his son to where the fight is normal, that is, to the boxing section. The first training hall in which Lamon Brewster was engaged was the Riverside Gym, where the manager was Billy Brown, who is a friend and partner of the legendary Jack Dempsey.

It is worth noting that the athlete immediately devoted himself completely to boxing. He had good performance in swimming, karate and even chess. And in general, his future boyfriend associated with a good education, which, he believed, could provide him with a decent life.

A sharp turn in life

But fate decreed in its own way. During the celebration of the fifteenth birthday, the former professional basketball player Joe Long came to the Brewster family, who said: "A person can achieve serious success only in one direction, completely concentrating on it." This phrase very much respected by Lamon was struck by a young man, and from that day he completely concentrated on boxing.

Moving to Los Angeles

At 18, Lamon Brewster settled in Beverly Hills and began to train under the direction of Bill Slayton. The young boxer proved to be very diligent and persistent, and this led to the fact that in late 1991 he became the strongest among his peers. He also often conducted training sessions with professionals, among which there were leading boxers in the United States.

Successes in amateurs

In 1992, Lamon wins the Golden Gloves tournament in California. The same success awaits him next year. And in March 1995 he wins the title of champion of America. Six months later, the boxer becomes a silver prize-winner of the Pan-American Games.

In early 1996, Lamon wins at the Western Regional Trials, thanks to which he receives an invitation to become a member of the US Olympic team. But the athlete decided to go to the professionals, because it was there, in his opinion, he was waiting for a large fee, much higher than the price of Olympic gold.

Debut in the pro

November 8, 1996 Brewster first appears on the profile. The first fight was successful, as his opponent Lamon won by knockout in the first round. Until the end of the calendar year, Lamont had three more fights, and in all he won ahead of schedule in the first three minutes.

Contract with Top-Rank

Such a powerful start was noticeable for the promoter Bob Arum, who signed a contract with Brewster. Largely due to this, the young American boxer-professional issued a series of 20 victorious fights, after which the contract with him was extended. After a while, Lamon becomes stronger and more experienced. This meant that it was time to fight with significant fighters.

First defeat

May 6, 2000 in Pittsburgh, a duel took place between two unbeaten at that time fighters: Brewster and Clifford Etienne.

Etienne from the very beginning of the battle did not give Lamon the opportunity to use force and speed, since he himself had excellent performance in shock technique and endurance. As a result, already in the final rounds Clifford without any problems drove Brewster into the corner and beat him with short side impacts on the body and head. As a result, the unanimous decision of the judges was in favor of Etienne.

Return to the ring

Six months later, Lamont again holds the fight. This time he wins from Vela Smith. After this fight, he was faced with a fight with Charles Shaford. But on October 21 Brewster once again loses. Charles forced him to work first number and successfully counterattacked. As a result, after 10 rounds, the victory was celebrated by Schafford.

This defeat not only caused Brewster psychological trauma, but also deprived him of the contract with Arum. However, such talents as Lamont do not remain orphaned, and he signs a contract with Don King, thereby again gaining success.

A new turn in the career

After a succession of successful battles, Lamon in the beginning of 2003 takes the second position in the WBO rating list. This meant that a title fight was waiting for him soon.

The first battle with the Ukrainian

In the spring of 2004, a battle for the world champion took place. The highest level of boxing in this fight was shown by two strong and smart boxers: the American Brewster and the Ukrainian Klitschko-junior.

In the first four rounds, Lamon conceded, and once even went down. However, in the fifth three minutes, Vladimir Klichko sharply began to slow down the pace - it was clear that he was very tired. After the end of the round, the Ukrainian fell to the floor without power, and the referee was forced to stop the fight, thereby conferring victory on the American.

After this fight, Brewster won the Albanian Luan Krasniqi, Kali Mien and Andrzej Golota. But in April 2006 he lost to the Belarusian Sergey Lyakhovich on points.

A rematch

In the summer of 2007, Wladimir Klitschko held a voluntary defense of the title of IBF. It was a second meeting between the Ukrainian and Lamon. This time Vladimir led the fight under his dictation, and therefore during the break between the seventh and eighth round, the American refused to continue the fight.

The last fight in his professional career Brewster held on January 30, 2010 in Germany, where he lost a technical knockout to Finn Robert Helenius.