Ray Mercer

Raymond Anthony Mercer (born April 4, 1961) is an American former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist who competed from 1989 to 2009. Best known for his boxing career, Mercer won a heavyweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics as an amateur, and later held the WBO heavyweight title in 1991 as a professional, making one successful title defense against Tommy Morrison before vacating his championship. Though he fought and lost a controversial unanimous decision fight to former champion Evander Holyfield, he scored a notable unanimous decision win over two-time heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon in 1996. Throughout his entire fighting career in the 1990s, Mercer never lost a fight to stoppage a testament to his iron jaw and dangerous resilience as a boxer. As a kickboxer, he fought the likes of four-time K-1 Japan tournament champion Musashi in 2004, and as a mixed martial artist, he scored a notable first-round knockout win over former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in 2009. Early life Mercer, being the son of retired Army NCO Raymond Mercer Sr., grew up as a military brat in Fort Benning, Georgia, and later in Hanau, West Germany. He later recalled: Mercer played linebacker at high school in Hanau, didn't plan to go for a college education. After graduating from Richmond County Military Academy in Augusta, Georgia, he coasted for a year before enlisting in the Army.