Carl Davis (born November 16, 1973) is an American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed between 2003 and 2017. He scored Notable Victories over Former Cruiserweight World Champion Arthur Williams and Former Heavyweight Title Challenger

Bert Cooper Bertram Cooper (January 10, 1966 – May 10, 2019), nicknamed Smokin' Bert Cooper, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2012. He fought Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Ray ...

Amateur boxing career

Davis attended

Percy Lavon Julian Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. Julian was the first person to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pio ...

High School in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Davis won the

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

Novice Heavyweight Championship in 2000 by knocking out all opponents in the first round. Davis won the

Open Heavyweight Championship in 2002 by knocking out the first two opponents, decisioned regional champion William Terry in the semifinal, and decisioned defending champion Russell Felger in the final round. Davis traveled to

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in 2002 and decisioned British amateur heavyweight champion Brian Robinson, in a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

versus

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competition.

Professional boxing career

Davis turned pro in the heavyweight division on April 25, 2003, with a 38-second knockout of Michael Shanks in

Rosemont Rosemont may refer to: People Rosemont is a surname. Notable people with this surname include: * David A. Rosemont, American television producer * Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009), American poet, artist, historian * Norman Rosemont (1924–2018), ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He compiled a record of 14-3 as a heavyweight. Under Schaefer's tutelage and guidance, Davis converted over thirty-five pounds to muscle mass, and returned to the ring as a cruiserweight. On Friday, December 17, 2010, at

UIC Pavilion Credit Union 1 Arena (previously known as UIC Pavilion) is a multi-purpose arena located at 525 S. Racine Avenue on the Near West Side in Chicago, Illinois. It opened in 1982. Description and history Credit Union 1 Arena is located on the campu ...

in Chicago, Davis won the vacant USBO Cruiserweight title with a ten-round unanimous decision over former world cruiserweight champion 'King'

Arthur Williams (boxer) Arthur James Williams (November 12, 1964 – April, 2023) was an American former professional boxer who competed between 1989 and 2010. He held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1998 to 1999 and challenged twice for the WBA cruiserweight title ...

. Bout scoring was 97–93, 96–93, 96-93 for Davis. Davis returned to fighting at heavyweight above 200 pounds and made a successful comeback on September 9, 2012, at the

Hammond Civic Center Hammond Civic Center is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in Hammond, Indiana. The arena opened in 1938. It is well known for hosting various local concerts, and sporting events such WWE Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, mixed martial arts figh ...

in Indiana with a second record stoppage of former number one heavyweight contender

after knocking Cooper down for a count of nine. He subsequently lost to Andy Ruiz Jr., who went on to win the world heavyweight championship and was recognized as the best heavyweight in the world after defeating

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He held the unified champion, unified world heavyweight championship twice between 2016 and 2021. At regional level, he held the British Boxing Board of C ...

Successful comeback attempt

On December 2, 2017, at Carnivore Grounds, in Nairobi, Kenya, Davis made a successful comeback at age 44, opening an eight bout card by scoring a third round stoppage of Mbaruku Kheri of Tanzania, in the opening preliminary bout to the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

female super bantamweight world championship main event.

Professional football career

Davis played professional football as an outside linebacker and defensive end for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

in 1996 and 1997. Carl retired from pro football after the 1997 season

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

football to resume his professional boxing career.

Martial arts and work life

Davis is an expert practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and

Shaolin Kung Fu Shaolin kung fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is the largest and most famous style of Chinese martial arts, kung fu. It combines Chan Buddhism, Chan philosophy and martial arts. It was developed in the Shaolin Temple in ...

, a background which assists him in the security field. Davis co-owns and operates Respect One's Family Security, a private security firm which provides personal security for athletes and entertainers at public events, and security teams at concerts and sporting events handling crowd control. Davis also works with developmentally challenged students with

developmental disability Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

ages 13–19 in public school and private school settings as a

crisis intervention Crisis intervention is a time-limited intervention with a specific psychotherapeutic approach to immediately stabilize those in crisis. Cross-national approaches Across different countries, crisis intervention following mass trauma events su ...

worker and

mental health professional A mental health professional is a health care practitioner or social and human services provider who offers services for the purpose of improving an individual's mental health or to treat mental disorders. This broad category was developed as a ...

Personal life

Davis resides with his wife, Tywanda, and children in

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Carl Boxers from Chicago Living people 1973 births American male boxers 20th-century American sportsmen