Terry Norris (boxer)

Terry Wayne Norris (born June 17, 1967) is an American former boxer, prizefighter and a three time world champion in the light-middleweight (super-welterweight) division. Originally from Lubbock, Texas, he fought out of San Diego.

Early years and amateur career

A star baseball player during his high school years, Norris bypassed a career on the diamond for one in the ring, claiming an amateur record of 291–4, winning 4 Texas State Golden Gloves titles. Displaying a stunning combination of hand and foot speed as well as the ability to throw dizzying combos, Norris' athletic ability was an uncanny attribute in the ring.

Professional boxing career

Norris turned professional in August 1986. He outpointed future middleweight title holder Quincy Taylor in August 1988. Norris beat future super-middleweight champion Steve Little to win the vacant NABF light-middleweight title in December 1988, and defended it against former IBF title holder Buster Drayton. Norris also picked up two losses; a unanimous decision to Derrick Kelley, and a disqualification loss to Joe Walker in the first round after Norris hit Walker when Walker was down.

In July 1989 at Atlantic City Convention Center, New Jersey, Norris challenged Julian Jackson for the WBA light-middleweight title. Norris won the first round with his speed and movement, but a big right cross from the champion knocked Norris down in round two. Norris made it to his feet before the count but was deemed unfit to continue by referee Joe Cortez.

First championship reign

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} After winning three comeback fights, including a victory over former welterweight champion Jorge Vaca, Norris traveled to Tampa, Florida, in March 1990 to challenge John Mugabi for the WBC light-middleweight title. Norris wasted no time in stopping the champion, flooring him twice in the first round - the second time for the full count - and thus starting what would be the first of three reigns as champion.

After defending his belt against Rene Jacquot, Norris faced the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard in Madison Square Garden in February 1991. Norris scored two knockdowns and easily beat the faded Sugar Ray via a 12-round unanimous verdict. His next defense, a June victory over another former undisputed welterweight champion - Donald Curry - further cemented Norris' place in the history of the 154-lb division as Norris wore down his foe and knocked him out in the eighth.

Other prominent foes in that first reign included the tough future middleweight titlist Jorge Castro, and two reigning welterweight champions; WBA title-holder Meldrick Taylor, and IBF title-holder Maurice Blocker.

Losing and regaining titles

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In a shocking upset in December, 1993, Simon Brown, former WBC and IBF welterweight titlist, knocked out Norris in four rounds to win the title and halt Norris' defense streak at ten. Ring magazine named this fight as their "Upset of the Year" for 1993. In their rematch, Norris then regained the title by unanimous decision over Brown in May 1994.

His second reign proved short when he lost the title by disqualification to Luis Santana in November, 1994. The decision to disqualify Norris was controversial. Norris hit Santana in the back of the head and Santana went down, claiming he was unable to continue. Some at ringside, however, felt that Santana refused to get up in order to gain the disqualification win. Because of the controversial nature of the match, a rematch was ordered. Norris also lost the April, 1995, rematch by disqualification, this time for hitting Santana after the bell had sounded to end the round. Norris was given yet another shot at regaining the title, and in their third fight in August of that year, Norris knocked out Santana in two rounds.

Unification

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In December 1995 Norris won a unanimous decision over San Diego rival Paul Vaden to add Vaden's IBF title to his WBC title, plus the vacant Lineal championship.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Norris made defenses against former IBF champion Vincent Pettway, Nick Rupa, and Alex Rios, before being stripped of the IBF title in 1997.

Keith Mullings ended Norris's championship career by way of ninth-round stoppage in December 1997, which also ended plans for superfights with WBC welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya and with IBF Welterweight champion Felix Trinidad of Puerto Rico.

Post-championship career

Norris fought twice more after losing his title. Dana Rosenblatt defeated him by unanimous decision in a middleweight bout and then WBA junior middleweight champion Laurent Boudouani ended his boxing career with a ninth-round knockout.

Norris was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.

Norris suffers from pugilistic dementia and Parkinson's disease caused by his boxing career Template:Citation needed. This affects his speech and coordination.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
56	Template:No2Loss	47–9	Laurent Boudouani	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	Nov 30, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
55	Template:No2Loss	47–8	Dana Rosenblatt	UD	12	Sep 25, 1998	Template:Small
54	Template:No2Loss	47–7	Keith Mullings	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	Dec 6, 1997	Template:Small	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	47–6	Andres Arellano Sandoval	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Sep 10, 1997	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	46–6	Joaquin Velasquez	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Aug 8, 1997	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	45–6	Nick Rupa	TKO	10 (12), Template:Small	Jan 11, 1997	Template:Small	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	44–6	Alex Rios	TKO	5 (12), Template:Small	Sep 7, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	43–6	Vincent Pettway	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Feb 24, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	42–6	Jorge Luis Vado	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Jan 27, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	41–6	Paul Vaden	UD	12	Dec 16, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	40–6	David Gonzalez	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	Sep 16, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	39–6	Luis Santana	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Aug 19, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
44	Template:No2Loss	38–6	Luis Santana	DQ	3 (12), Template:Small	Apr 8, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
43	Template:No2Loss	38–5	Luis Santana	DQ	5 (12), Template:Small	Nov 12, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	38–4	Simon Brown	UD	12	May 7, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	37–4	Armando Campas	KO	4 (10), Template:Small	Mar 18, 1994	Template:Small
40	Template:No2Loss	36–4	Simon Brown	KO	4 (12), Template:Small	Dec 18, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	36–3	Joe Gatti	TKO	1 (12), Template:Small	Sep 10, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	35–3	Troy Waters	RTD	3 (12)	Jun 19, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	34–3	Maurice Blocker	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Feb 20, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	33–3	Pat Lawlor	RTD	3 (10), Template:Small	Dec 13, 1992	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	32–3	Meldrick Taylor	TKO	4 (12), Template:Small	May 9, 1992	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	31–3	Carl Daniels	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	Feb 22, 1992	Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	30–3	Jorge Fernando Castro	UD	12	Dec 13, 1991	Template:Small	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	29–3	Brett Lally	TKO	1 (12), Template:Small	Aug 17, 1991	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	28–3	Donald Curry	KO	8 (12), Template:Small	Jun 1, 1991	Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	27–3	Sugar Ray Leonard	UD	12	Feb 9, 1991	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	26–3	Rene Jacquot	UD	12	Jul 13, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	25–3	John Mugabi	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	Mar 31, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	24–3	Tony Montgomery	UD	12	Nov 21, 1989	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	23–3	Jorge Vaca	SD	10	Oct 9, 1989	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	22–3	Nathan Dryer	TKO	4 (10)	Sep 21, 1989	Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	21–3	Julian Jackson	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Jul 30, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	21–2	Ralph Ward	UD	10	Mar 23, 1989	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	20–2	Buster Drayton	UD	12	Mar 28, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	19–2	Steve Little	TKO	6 (12), Template:Small	Dec 9, 1988	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	18–2	Gilbert Baptist	UD	10	Oct 18, 1988	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	17–2	Quincy Taylor	UD	10	Aug 12, 1988	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	16–2	Clayton Hires	KO	2 (10)	Mar 28, 1988	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	15–2	Richard Aguirre	TKO	3 (10)	Feb 3, 1988	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	14–2	Roman Nunez	KO	1 (10)	Jan 21, 1988	Template:Small
15	Template:No2Loss	13–2	Joe Walker	DQ	1 (6)	Nov 25, 1987	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	13–1	Edward Neblett	TKO	6 (8), Template:Small	Sep 4, 1987	Template:Small
13	Template:No2Loss	12–1	Derrick Kelly	UD	10	Aug 13, 1987	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Nathan Dryer	TKO	3 (8), Template:Small	May 27, 1987	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Sergio Nieto Rayos	TKO	1 (6), Template:Small	Apr 3, 1987	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Mauro Veronica	KO	2 (6), Template:Small	Mar 26, 1987	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Tino Leon	KO	1 (4), Template:Small	Mar 16, 1987	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Dick Green	KO	1 (6), Template:Small	Feb 26, 1987	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Gilbert Baptist	UD	4	Mar 5, 1987	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Lang McGowan	PTS	4	Dec 3, 1986	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Carlos Gutierrez	UD	6	Nov 21, 1986	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Daryl Colquitt	KO	4 (4)	Oct 7, 1986	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	George Murphy	PTS	4	Sep 25, 1986	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Carlos Gutierrez	UD	4	Aug 13, 1986	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Jose Luis Cordova	KO	1 (?)	Aug 2, 1986	Template:Small

Additional information

• Once entertaining scholarships to several schools, Norris quit baseball after a brawl on the field. "We were playing another team one day", Norris recalled, "and there were some racial comments made toward me. I was a little thrown off by it. I rushed the guy who said them, and their whole team jumped on me. I put three guys in the hospital, which was the bad thing of it. People said things like, 'Maybe this guy's a troublemaker,' so a lot of my scholarships fell through.<ref>A Champion Who's Fighting Obscurity - New York Times</ref>
• He settled a lawsuit out of court with Don King for a sum of $7.5 million in 2005.
• Brother of former WBA cruiserweight champion Orlin Norris.
• The speech of Terry Norris was noticeably slurred even in his early thirties and quite startling to anyone who remembered him from just a few years earlier. After his last defeat, the Nevada athletic commission turned him down for a new license, basing its decision on his impaired speech, which was indicative of his issues after boxing.
• Norris was known to spar 12 rounds every other day in preparation for fights. Some speculate that this intense training routine is a factor which may have ultimately led to his early expiration as a fighter.
• In preparation for his fight against John "The Beast" Mugabi, his strength trainer put Terry on a regimented weight training program. He went on to KO Mugabi and win the WBC super welterweight title. He continued his strength training for the duration of his career.
• A source close to the Norris camp is quoted as saying "The best boxing I ever watched live was sparring between the Norris brothers."<ref>BDPboxing Template:Webarchive</ref>
• Norris is married to Tanya E. Norris
• Norris and his wife founded his Foundation The Final Fight to assist former pro boxers who are ill, broke and homeless.
• Norris and his wife own World Champion Cardio Boxing, a popular workout program in Los Angeles, California.

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Terry Norris' Official Website.
• Terry Norris' Facebook
• Terry Norris' Twitter
• Terry Norris - Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia