Calvin Vance Brock (born January 22, 1975) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2007. He was ranked as the world's No.9 heavyweight by

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

at the conclusion of 2005. Calvin Brock was trained by Tom Yankello. In 2006, he won ''

Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...

's'' Knockout of the Year for his win against

Zuri Lawrence Zuri Lawrence (born June 22, 1970) is an American professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2009. He is most well-known for having never scored a knockout win in 44 professional fights. Career Lawrence has never fought for a major heavyweig ...

and challenged for the IBF and IBO

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

titles. Brock was forced to retire after receiving retinal damage in his right eye following his loss to Eddie Chambers.

Early life

Brock was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina in a middle-class family. He became a fan of boxing as a kid, prompting his father to take him to the gym when he was 10 years old, where he was told to come back when he's 12. Brock returned to that gym five months after turning 12, losing his first six bouts. Brock earned a degree in finance from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1999 and took a job as a banker in the Bank of America. He appeared in a Bank of America ad, in which he was referred to as "The Boxing Banker", which ultimately became his nickname. Brock soon left the job in order to concentrate on his boxing career.

Amateur career

Brock had a notable amateur boxing career. He won the Golden Gloves heavyweight championship in 1998, and the United States national amateur super heavyweight championship in 1999. He qualified at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

super heavyweight tournament after narrowly beating one-time conqueror T.J.Wilson in the qualification, but lost to Paolo Vidoz in the first round. During the Olympics, he was a teammate of future world champions Jermain Taylor, Jeff Lacy, and Brian Viloria. Brock ended his amateur career with 147–38 record.

Professional career

Brock made his professional debut on February 11, 2001, knocking out Zibielee Kimbrough in the third round. He built up a 23–0 record with 19 knockouts before stepping up in competition, facing

Clifford Etienne Clifford Etienne (born March 9, 1970) is an American former professional boxer and convicted robber, who is currently serving a 105-year prison sentence without the possibility of parole. Known for his aggressive, high-volume style despite being ...

. Etienne, once highly regarded prospect, was looking for a way to regain his stock after being knocked out by

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

and Fres Oquendo. Coming into the bout, Etienne was 5–0–1 in his last six fights. The bout took place in Reliant Center in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and was aired on ESPN2. Brock knocked down Etienne three times, once in round two and twice in round three, with the referee stopping the fight after the third knockdown, declaring Brock the winner by third-round TKO. Afterwards, Brock took a big step up in competition when he agreed to face

Jameel McCline Jameel McCline (born May 20, 1970) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged for the world heavyweight title on an unprecedented four occasions, losing all four attempts to Wladimir Klitschko, Chris Byrd, Nikolai Valuev and Samuel ...

on 23 April, just three months after beating Etienne. McCline, ranked No.8 heavyweight in the world by ''The Ring'' at the time, was coming off of a razor-thin split decision loss to Chris Byrd for IBF world heavyweight title in what was described as an entertaining fight, and was viewed as the favorite coming into the Brock bout. The fight was scheduled to take place at

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesars P ...

in Las Vegas, Nevada and was televised on ESPN as part of the undercard of the

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

fight between Antonio Margarito and Kermit Cintrón. Brock weighed in at and was outweighed by McCline by . The fight started with McCline trying to work behind the jab, while Brock tried to close the distance, working primarily McCline's body. In the middle rounds, Brock largely outboxed McCline using bob and weave strategy, but was knocked down in the seventh round with a short left hook followed by a right hand. Brock got up from the knockdown and finished the round strong and proceeded to outbox McCline for the remaining of the fight. The bout went full ten rounds, with Brock being declared the winner by unanimous decision (UD), with scores 97–93, 96–94 and 96–93. The fight was praised by critics, with prominent coach Teddy Atlas predicting a bright future for Brock in the heavyweight division. The win over McCline allowed Brock to enter ''The Ring'' heavyweight rankings. He was also ranked within top ten by all major sanctioning bodies. In an ESPN interview in July of that year, former world heavyweight champion

picked Brock and Samuel Peter as his favorite fighters from the new crop of heavyweights. On November 19, 2005, Brock faced David Bostice for IBA Continental Americas heavyweight title, making it the first fight in Brock's professional career with a title, albeit lightly regarded, on the line. Bostice, who had a 35–9–1 record coming into the fight, was described as a "tough veteran", with most of his previous losses coming at the hands of former world heavyweight champions and contenders, such as Wladimir Klitschko, Tim Witherspoon, Francois Botha and Jeremy Williams. The fight took place at the Cricket Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, Brock's hometown. Both fighters fought aggressively from the opening bell, with Brock seemingly doing the better work in the early rounds, going back-and-forth between combinations to the head and body and not allowing Bostice to fire back. Brock appeared to be tired going into the middle rounds, fighting rather defensively, but picked up his pace after the seventh, hurting Bostice several times and almost stopping him in the ninth round. The twelfth round saw both fighters slugging it out, with the crowd chanting "Calvin! Calvin! Calvin!". The fight ultimately went the distance, with Brock being declared the winner by unanimous decision, with scores 118–110 (twice) and 116–112. The fight was widely praised for being a slugfest. On February 25, 2006, in a stay-busy fight, Brock faced

on the undercard of the fight between Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas on HBO PPV at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Regarded by the public as an experienced journeyman with a record of 20 wins, 10 losses and 4 draws, Lawrence was coming off of upset victory over Jameel McCline. The first five rounds were tentative, with Brock slowly breaking Lawrence down and winning every round. At the end of the sixth round, Brock caught Lawrence with a left hook, knocking him out cold. Lawrence fell flat on his back and was unconscious for several minutes. Brock remains the only boxer to knock Lawrence out. The knockout received ''The Ring'''s KO of the Year award. At the conclusion of 2005, Brock was ranked No.7 heavyweight in the world by ''The Ring'' and No.9 heavyweight by

. With 28–0 record, Brock was offered to fight Wladimir Klitschko for IBF world heavyweight championship in the summer of 2006 by Klitschko's advisor Shelly Finkel, but Brock declined citing disagreement with the offered terms. Instead, Brock opted to face undefeated prospect Timur Ibragimov on June 24, 2006. The fight took place in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Brock had previously defeated Jameel McCline, and was aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

as part of the '' Boxing After Dark'' series. During the fight, the temperature exceeded , which resulted in each fighter unwilling to press the action. Brock ultimately won the bout by unanimous decision, with scores 119–109, 115–113 and 117–111. "His style was a contrast to mine. He was very cautious of being hit, always moving away. In the 6th or 7th round, I rocked him, he was hurt but not too hurt. He had a very good defense and was able to roll with punches. He surprised me because I didn't expect him keep his movement up for the whole fight. I thought at some point he would break down, but he kept running", Brock said after the fight. With a 29–0 (22 KOs) record, numerous boxing insiders considered Brock as one of the most promising American heavyweight prospects at the time, while ESPN journalist Dan Rafael claimed that "a number of promoters" were interested in signing Brock who became a free agent on July 27. Brock finally received a shot at the world title as he agreed to face Wladimir Klitschko for IBF world heavyweight championship. In the build-up to the fight, Brock was confident of his abilities: "I can adopt to every style. He's big like Jameel McCline, but a better fighter. I will beat him and become the heavyweight champion of the world. Klitschko has a good jab, but they also said Timur's best weapon was his jab. I have a good jab myself. I can adapt to anybody's style, anybody's strength and turn their weapon against them." He later added: "The heavyweight division is stacked with a bunch of talent. It's not weak, definitely not weak. The division is pretty strong and that's why the title keeps changing hands." The fight took place at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

on November 11, 2006. In the opening rounds, Brock's economical but effective movement made Klitschko reluctant to throw punches, with Wladimir being unable to fully establish his rhythm. In between the 3rd and 4th rounds, Klitschko's trainer Emmanuel Steward urged Wladimir to press the action. From the fourth round, Klitschko started fighting more aggressively, hurting Brock several times with the right cross. In the fifth round, Brock opened a cut under Klitschko's left eye that started bleeding heavily in the sixth. In round 7, Brock was caught with a counter right hand before being sent to the canvas with another straight right. Brock was able to get up but the referee stopped the bout, deciding that Brock appears to be unable to continue. After defeating two journeymen, Brock was given a spot in the 4-man elimination tournament to receive a shot at the IBF world heavyweight championship. In semifinals, Brock faced undefeated prospect Eddie Chambers. In the build-up to the fight, Brock claimed to be in the best shape of his career. Brock weighed in at 241 lbs, the heaviest in his entire career and almost 17 lbs heavier than in his bout against Klitschko. The additional weight appeared to be muscle. The fight took place in Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington and was aired live on Showtime. Chambers appeared to have the upper hand in the fight, effectively using his hand speed and upper-body movement, and was declared the winner by split decision, with two judges scoring the bout 115–113 in favor of Chambers, while the third judge had the same score but in favor of Brock. During this bout, Brock suffered retinal damage in his right eye. As a result of botched surgery to repair the damage in December 2007, Brock became legally blind in his right eye, and forced to retire permanently from the sport of boxing. Brock can still see images of daylight in the right eye.

Personal life

Brock is now a commercial real estate agent. He has a wife, a daughter, and a son.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" , - ! !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , - , 33 , Loss , 31–2 , align=left, Eddie Chambers , , 12 , 2 Nov 2007 , align=left, , , - , 32 , Win , 31–1 , align=left, Alex Gonzales , UD , 8 , 2 Jun 2007 , align=left, , , - , 31 , Win , 30–1 , align=left, Ralph West , KO , 1 (10), , 17 Mar 2007 , align=left, , , - , 30 , Loss , 29–1 , align=left, Wladimir Klitschko , TKO , 7 (12), , 11 Nov 2006 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 29 , Win , 29–0 , align=left, Timur Ibragimov , UD , 12 , 24 Jun 2006 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 28 , Win , 28–0 , align=left,

, KO , 6 (10), , 25 Feb 2006 , align=left, , , - , 27 , Win , 27–0 , align=left,

David Bostice David Bostice (born April 3, 1972, in Los Angeles, California) is an American retired heavyweight boxer. Nicknamed "The Boss", Bostice is known for being a regular fighter on ESPN fight cards, and is a heavyweight clubfighter who fought several ...

, UD , 12 , 19 Nov 2005 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 26 , Win , 26–0 , align=left, Kenny Craven , TKO , 4 (10), , 25 Jun 2005 , align=left, , , - , 25 , Win , 25–0 , align=left,

, UD , 10 , 23 Apr 2005 , align=left, , , - , 24 , Win , 24–0 , align=left,

, TKO , 3 (10), , 21 Jan 2005 , align=left, , , - , 23 , Win , 23–0 , align=left, Wesley Martin , TKO , 2 (6), , 14 Nov 2004 , align=left, , , - , 22 , Win , 22–0 , align=left, Willie Williams , UD , 6 , 24 Jul 2004 , align=left, , , - , 21 , Win , 21–0 , align=left, Terry Smith , UD , 10 , 15 May 2004 , align=left, , , - , 20 , Win , 20–0 , align=left, Derek Berry , RTD , 6 (10), , 22 Jan 2004 , align=left, , , - , 19 , Win , 19–0 , align=left, David Vedder , TKO , 8 (8), , 12 Dec 2003 , align=left, , , - , 18 , Win , 18–0 , align=left, Ken Murphy , TKO , 3 , 8 Nov 2003 , align=left, , , - , 17 , Win , 17–0 , align=left, Shane Swartz , , 6 (8), , 29 Aug 2003 , align=left, , , - , 16 , Win , 16–0 , align=left, Marcus Rhode , , 2 (8), , 19 Jul 2003 , align=left, , , - , 15 , Win , 15–0 , align=left, Jim Strohl , TKO , 1 (6), , 7 Jun 2003 , align=left, , , - , 14 , Win , 14–0 , align=left, Shawn Robinson , TKO , 1 (6), , 4 Apr 2003 , align=left, , , - , 13 , Win , 13–0 , align=left, Jeff Pegues , TKO , 3 (6) , 23 Jan 2003 , align=left, , , - , 12 , Win , 12–0 , align=left, Franklin Edmondson , TKO , 2 (8), , 22 Nov 2002 , align=left, , , - , 11 , Win , 11–0 , align=left, Leroy Humphries , TKO , 2 (6), , 13 Sep 2002 , align=left, , , - , 10 , Win , 10–0 , align=left, Antonio Colbert , UD , 6 , 27 Jul 2002 , align=left, , , - , 9 , Win , 9–0 , align=left, Don Normand , TKO , 2 (6), , 25 May 2002 , align=left, , , - , 8 , Win , 8–0 , align=left, Craig Brinson , TKO , 5 (6), , 7 Oct 2001 , align=left, , , - , 7 , Win , 7–0 , align=left, Lewis Gilbert , TKO , 1 (6), , 2 Sep 2001 , align=left, , , - , 6 , Win , 6–0 , align=left, Rocky Gannon , TKO , 2 (6), , 18 Aug 2001 , align=left, , , - , 5 , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Shawn Woods , TKO , 1 (6), , 17 Jun 2001 , align=left, , , - , 4 , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Antonio Colbert , , 4 , 1 Apr 2001 , align=left, , , - , 3 , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Jeff Ford , TKO , 2 (4), , 23 Mar 2001 , align=left, , , - , 2 , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Benjamin Garcia , TKO , 1 (4), , 11 Mar 2001 , align=left, , , - , 1 , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Zibielee Kimbrough , , 3 (4), , 11 Feb 2001 , align=left, , align=left,

References

External links

Catching up with Calvin Brock
(Interview)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brock, Calvin 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina African-American boxers Boxers from North Carolina Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Heavyweight boxers National Golden Gloves champions Olympic boxers of the United States Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni American male boxers 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople