James Pritchard (boxer)

James Pritchard, (born April 28, 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky), was a heavyweight professional boxer. He challenged once for the IBF world cruiserweight title in 1991.

Amateur[]

Pritchard had a stellar amateur career, becoming the 1985 National Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion.

Professional career[]

Pritchard turned pro in 1985 and went undefeated in 17 bouts, including a draw with Mike 'The Bounty' Hunter, before facing ex-world heavyweight champion Mike Weaver in a crossroads fight. Pritchard was stopped by the big punching Weaver on his feet in six, but returned to win three fights in a row before meeting another former world champion, this time Michael Dokes. Pritchard was stopped in seven, but gained a reputation for toughness as Dokes, like Weaver, could not drop Pritchard.

Pritchard travelled to apartheid South Africa for several fights, boxing to a controversial draw with Johnny DuPlooy when he had apparently got the better of DuPlooy. He was stopped in 10 in a rematch, then stopped in eight by DuPlooy's rival Pierre Coetzer. Pritchard returned to the States where he was a chief sparring partner of Frank Bruno prior to his Tyson fight. He also put together a string of wins including a KO of novice Lionel Butler. A trip to England to face world ranked Gary Mason resulted in a 9th rd stoppage loss, although yet again Pritchard gained respect for his durability - no one could knock him down.

World title fight[]

Having been relegated to opponent status in the heavyweights, the 26-5-2 Pritchard moved down to the Cruiserweight division. He beat two-time world title challenger Siza Makathini in his debut winning an IBF Intercontinental title, but in his 1991 fight with James Warring for the vacant IBF world cruiserweight title he was dropped for the first time in his career and stopped in 36 seconds, a record for a world title fight.

Journeyman[]

Pritchard returned to the heavyweights after his cruiserweight title disaster, but was relegated to journeyman status. He knocked out undefeated West Turner to win the USBA heavyweight title, but lost to the likes of Tim Witherspoon, Orlin Norris, Michael Moorer and Herbie Hide.

By the mid to late 1990s he was an aged heavyweight and not much more than cannon fodder for Corrie Sanders, Brian Nielsen and Wladimir Klitschko. He retired in 1997 with a respectable record of 30-18-2 (25 KOs).

Professional boxing record[]

30 Wins (25 knockouts, 5 decisions), 18 Losses (12 knockouts, 6 decisions), 2 Draws [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	30–18–2	Darroll Wilson	TKO	2	29/11/1997	Vineland, New Jersey, United States
Loss	30–17–2	Wladimir Klitschko	TKO	3	20/09/1997	Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Loss	30–16–2	Damon Reed	UD	10	11/08/1997	Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Loss	30–15–2	Brian Nielsen (boxer)	KO	3	13/06/1997	Slagelse, Denmark
Win	30–14–2	Greg Suttington	TKO	4	13/05/1996	Kansas City, Missouri, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:14 of the fourth round.
Loss	29–14–2	Corrie Sanders	TKO	1	05/08/1995	Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Loss	29–13–2	Brian Morgan	SD	8	20/03/1995	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Win	29–12–2	Ralph Jackson	TKO	3	13/02/1995	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Loss	28–12–2	Zeljko Mavrovic	UD	10	18/06/1994	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Loss	28–11–2	Kenny Keene	PTS	10	05/12/1993	Caldwell, Idaho, United States
Loss	28–10–2	Michael Moorer	TKO	3	22/06/1993	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	28–9–2	Herbie Hide	TKO	2	12/12/1992	Muswell Hill, London, England, United Kingdom
Win	28–8–2	West Turner	TKO	3	10/07/1992	Ringgold Township, Pennsylvania, United States	USBA Heavyweight Title.
Loss	27–8–2	Tim Witherspoon	UD	10	23/03/1992	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	90-100, 90-100, 90-100.
Loss	27–7–2	Orlin Norris	PTS	8	13/12/1991	Bercy, France
Loss	27–6–2	James Warring	KO	1	07/09/1991	Salemi, Sicilia, Italy	IBF World Cruiserweight Title. Pritchard knocked out at 0:36 of the first round.
Win	27–5–2	Siza Makathini	DQ	6	06/04/1991	Darlington, County Durham, United Kingdom	IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight Title. Makathini disqualified for low blows.
Loss	26–5–2	Gary Mason (boxer)	TKO	9	12/12/1990	Kensington, London, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 2:09 of the ninth round.
Win	26–4–2	Rick Enis	TKO	8	28/07/1990	Saint Petersburg, Florida, United States
Win	25–4–2	Lorenzo Boyd	KO	4	01/06/1990	Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
Win	24–4–2	Ladislao Mijangos	TKO	6	08/05/1990	Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Win	23–4–2	Lee Moore	TKO	2	02/03/1990	Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Win	22–4–2	Lionel Butler	TKO	6	09/12/1989	Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
Win	21–4–2	Rodney Bolden	KO	1	26/08/1989	Murray, Kentucky, United States
Win	20–4–2	Larry Givens	TKO	2	25/05/1989	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Win	19–4–2	Mike Russell	KO	5	25/04/1989	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Loss	18–4–2	Pierre Coetzer	TKO	8	18/03/1989	Johannesburg, South Africa
Loss	18–3–2	Johnny DuPlooy	TKO	10	22/10/1988	Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Draw	18–2–2	Johnny DuPlooy	PTS	10	02/07/1988	Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Loss	18–2–1	Michael Dokes	TKO	7	28/04/1988	New York City, United States	WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Title.
Win	18–1–1	Steve Zouski	TKO	4	25/03/1988	Melrose Park, Illinois, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 1:28 of the fourth round.
Win	17–1–1	Mike Cohen	KO	3	21/02/1988	Frankfort, Kentucky, United States	Cohen knocked out at 2:28 of the third round.
Win	16–1–1	Bruce Johnson	KO	5	05/01/1988	Lexington, Kentucky, United States	Johnson knocked out at 2:09 of the fifth round.
Loss	15–1–1	Mike Weaver (boxer)	TKO	6	24/08/1987	Louisville, Kentucky, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:30 of the sixth round.
Win	15–0–1	Frankie Hines	KO	2	28/07/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, United States	Hines knocked out at 2:08 of the second round.
Win	14–0–1	Kevin Casimier	TKO	7	20/04/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Win	13–0–1	Darryl Peppers	TKO	2	17/03/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:20 of the second round.
Win	12–0–1	Larry Phelps	TKO	2	24/02/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:09 of the second round.
Draw	11–0–1	Mike Hunter (boxer)	PTS	6	20/02/1987	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	11–0	Bobby Crabtree	TKO	2	25/11/1986	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Win	10–0	Warren Thompson (boxer)	PTS	6	31/10/1986	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	9–0	Michael Johnson	KO	1	03/10/1986	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Win	8–0	Robert Evans	PTS	6	28/08/1986	New York City, United States
Win	7–0	Melvin Epps	UD	6	29/07/1986	Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Win	6–0	Louis Brooks	TKO	1	10/07/1986	Houston, Texas, United States
Win	5–0	Tim Miller	KO	2	24/06/1986	Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Win	4–0	John Morton	TKO	1	25/04/1986	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Win	3–0	Allen Hudson	KO	4	22/03/1986	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Hudson knocked out at 1:03 of the fourth round.
Win	2–0	Jack Jackson	UD	4	17/01/1986	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Win	1–0	Vince Parker	KO	2	21/09/1985	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Criminal record[]

Pritchard has been imprisoned on two separate occasions in the Kentucky state prison system, both times for robbery. He was sentenced to 10 years in 1982, paroled the following year, and released from parole in 1991. He was sentenced to 20 years in 2003 and released on parole in 2009. As of January 5, 2012 he was back in jail for parole violations following a guilty plea to a theft case to which a relative, Glenn Pritchard, was a co-defendant.

External links[]

• Boxing record for James Pritchard from BoxRec

References[]