Ray Anderson (boxer)

Ray Anderson (born August 31, 1944 in Anniston, Alabama) was a boxer in the light heavyweight division who fought from 1965 to 1977. Anderson became the first challenger to last fifteen rounds against Bob Foster for the world Light Heavyweight title, but he lost what was his only world title try by decision. Anderson currently lives in Anniston.

Professional career[]

Anderson began his rise to prominence in 1966. As a light heavyweight he took on and beat a formidable heavyweight journeyman named Amos Johnson in a ten-rounder at The Akron Armory in Akron, Ohio. As an amateur, Anderson was one of the few men to beat the young Cassius Clay (known later as Muhammad Ali) who went on to become the Heavyweight Champion of the world. Ray's career continued as he fought of Flint, Michigan, in 1969, knocking Joe out in round 1. Ray also knocked out Canton's Marion Conner in Round 2, sealing his stature as Ohio's best light heavyweight. He fought John Griffin of Syracuse, New York twice, losing both in close decisions.

Ray Anderson was credited by Joe Frazier, who long used him as a sparring partner because of his tall rangy Ali-like style as assisting him in his preparation to unify the heavyweight title in 1970, with his win over WBA heavyweight titleholder Jimmy Ellis at Madison Square Garden. Later in 1970, Anderson was to bite off more than he could chew when he decided to fight a young prospect at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland, Ohio named Ted Gullick, after providing Gullick with a boxing lesson in rounds 1 through 4, toward the end of the fourth Gullick scored a knockdown with a sharp left hook. Anderson rose and was in part saved by the bell. Later Gullick dominated the fight and finished Anderson in the 9th round by knocking him out. Anderson beat Gregorio Peralta by a ten-round decision in Spain in 1972.

The pinnacle of Ray's career was his challenge to the former Light Heavyweight Champion of the World Bob Foster. Anderson was a tall light-heavyweight of his era, standing 6 feet 1 inch. However, Foster was 6 feet 3½ inches and could punch very hard. Anderson was not used to giving away height; he prided himself in being both handsome and fast. He was not willing to risk being hit by Foster, thus he chose to dance and defend for most of the fight, thus losing a fifteen-round decision. To Anderson's credit he was one of the few men that would last all 15 rounds with Foster. The late , Joe Frazier's trainer, worked Anderson's corner during the Foster fight felt that Anderson should have eliminated the Ali style tactics and take it to Foster and was upset by the outcome. Anderson had proven to be a very respected fighter early on and once joining promoter Don King, seemed to start an altered course in his career which can't be explained. It is thought that King wanted to use Anderson to promote other upcoming boxers in order to propel himself into the limelight instead of using Anderson's talent to help him reach the top of the rankings. Anderson's children Deric and Eric (twins), and Brigitte Anderson were last known to reside in Ohio. In the early 90's one (or both) of Anderson's twin sons; were known for his athletic abilities and had shown glimpses of skills that would advance him into professional football. However, details of his efforts are not recorded.

Professional boxing record[]

36 Wins (21 knockouts, 15 decisions), 19 Losses (11 knockouts, 8 decision), 5 Draws[1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	28-3-3	Mike Rossman	TKO	4	1977-03-02	Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States
Draw	18-8-1		PTS	10	1976-12-04	Hamburg, Germany
Loss	9-0	Marvin Johnson	TKO	6	1976-04-03	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Loss	16-0	Miguel Angel Cuello	KO	6	1976-02-20	Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Germany
Win	42-7-2	Jorge Ahumada	PTS	10	1975-11-28	Hamburg, Germany
Draw	86-13-4		PTS	10	1975-09-12	Offenbach, Germany
Loss	7-2-4	Ngozika Ekwelum	KO	5	1975-06-24	Berlin, Germany
Loss	42-6	Bunny Johnson	PTS	8	1975-06-19	Jordal Amfi, Oslo, Norway
Draw	7-2-3	Ngozika Ekwelum	PTS	8	1975-05-16	Ludwigshafen, Germany
Loss	10-0-1	Harald Skog	PTS	10	1975-03-13	Oslo, Norway
Loss	80-12-4		TKO	8	1975-01-18	Hamburg, Germany
Loss	5-0		UD	10	1974-04-23	Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Loss	26-6-4	Victor Galindez	KO	2	1974-02-16	Balcarce, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina	Anderson knocked out at 1:23 of the second round.
Draw	39-9-3		PTS	10	1973-11-28	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Loss	32-5-1	Jorge Ahumada	TKO	8	1973-08-13	Felt Forum, New York City, United States
Win	50-16-14		PTS	8	1973-03-12	Palais des Sports (Paris), Paris, France
Loss	13-15-2		SD	10	1973-02-14	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Win	90-7-8	Gregorio Peralta	PTS	10	1972-06-09	Madrid, Spain
Loss	9-1-1		PTS	10	1972-03-27	Paris, France
Loss	23-6-1		KO	9	1972-01-15	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Win	3-10		KO	7	1971-11-10	Akron, Ohio, United States
Loss	42-5	Bob Foster	UD	15	1971-04-24	Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, Florida, United States	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title. 140-145, 139-148, 138-149.
Win	25-2		PTS	10	1970-11-18	Ashland, Ohio, United States
Loss	13-3		UD	10	1970-09-14	Akron, Ohio, United States
Loss	12-3		PTS	10	1970-08-03	Norton, Ohio, United States
Loss	12-6		TKO	1	1970-04-28	Felt Forum, New York City, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 1:36 of the first round.
Draw	27-7-2		PTS	10	1970-03-30	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	2-3-1		KO	4	1970-01-27	Orlando, Florida, United States
Loss	5-0	Ted Gullick	KO	9	1969-12-10	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Win	14-9-2	Joe Hopkins	KO	1	1969-11-21	Rapid City, South Dakota, United States
Win	9-5		KO	1	1969-11-13	Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, Washington, United States
Win	10-6		TKO	1	1969-11-06	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	27-6		UD	10	1969-10-06	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Win	46-15-1		KO	5	1969-08-11	Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Win	49-50-12		KO	3	1969-07-23	Orlando, Florida, United States
Win	7-10-1		PTS	10	1969-06-03	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Win	15-34-11		UD	10	1969-05-27	Oakland, California, United States	8-1, 7-2, 8-1.
Win	9-7-5		KO	2	1969-04-01	Orlando, Florida, United States
Win	26-17-1		TKO	2	1969-03-23	Canton, Ohio, United States
Win	15-13-2		TKO	1	1969-03-05	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	26-16-1		UD	10	1969-01-26	Canton, Ohio, United States	Ohio Heavyweight Title.
Win	17-8-2		TKO	3	1969-01-10	Felt Forum, New York City, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:54 of the third round.
Win	22-8-2		PTS	10	1968-11-06	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	11-4		TKO	1	1968-09-18	Mansfield, Ohio, United States
Win	--		TKO	1	1968-02-14	Akron, Ohio, United States
Loss	8-1		TKO	6	1967-07-19	Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:21 of the sixth round.
Win	0-3		KO	2	1967-05-27	Columbus, Ohio, United States	Lawson knocked out at 1:42 of the second round.
Win	4-2-1		PTS	8	1967-04-28	Stockholm, Sweden
Win	8-7	Vic Brown	UD	6	1967-03-15	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	0-5		KO	2	1967-02-21	Winterland Arena, San Francisco, California, United States	Goree knocked out at 1:51 of the second round.
Win	2-1		KO	1	1967-01-15	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	7-11-2	Bob Slaughter	PTS	6	1966-12-05	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	10-2-1		KO	5	1966-10-26	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	7-0	Jimmy McClain	PTS	6	1966-06-14	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	0-1		KO	1	1966-05-25	Akron, Ohio, United States	Williams knocked out at 1:28 of the first round.
Win	--		KO	1	1966-03-11	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Win	0-2		KO	2	1966-03-02	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	--		PTS	4	1966-02-02	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	1-0		PTS	4	1965-12-16	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	0-1		TKO	3	1965-07-14	Akron, Ohio, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 1:37 of the third round.

References[]

External links[]

• Boxing record for Ray Anderson from BoxRec