Ronald Hatcher Jr. (born June 28, 1959), better known as Gene Hatcher, 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 was world

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

champion. His nickname was "Mad Dog."

Amateur career

Hatcher was a United States Amateur Champion. In 1980, he became National AAU Welterweight Champion.

Early professional career

His most notable early win came against former WBC

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

champion

Alfredo Escalera Alfredo "El Salsero" Escalera (born March 21, 1952) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer and is the former World Boxing Council Super Featherweight world champion. A native of Carolina, his nickname was "Salsero" because he was a fan o ...

in 1982, when he won a ten-round decision. His next notable opponent, Tyrone Crawley, defeated him by a ten-round decision. He followed that with a rematch in 1983 with Escalera. In that fight, Hatcher was dropped in round six and subsequently lost a unanimous ten-round decision.

Champion

After racking up a few wins, Hatcher faced WBA

champion

Johnny Bumphus Johnny 'Bump City' Bumphus (August 17, 1960 – January 31, 2020) was an American professional boxer who held the WBA super lightweight title in 1984 and challenged once for the WBC and IBF welterweight titles in 1987. Amateur career Bumphus ...

on June 1, 1984, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. In what

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 ...

called its "Upset of the Year," Hatcher scored an eleventh-round technical knockout over Bumphus. When Hatcher knocked Bumphus down, he slipped and fell on a follow-up attempt. He then threw Bumphus down to the mat when both fighters clinched. A post-fight melee in the ring ensued after the stoppage. Hatcher's first defense was against Uby Sacco in December of the same year. He won a fifteen-round split decision. Sacco, however, won their July 1985 rematch (and title) with a ninth round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

win in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(the fight was stopped by the referee because of a Hatcher cut). In Hatcher's next and last chance at a world crown, he lost by knockout in 45 seconds to

Lloyd Honeyghan Lloyd Honeyghan (born 22 April 1960) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1995. He reigned as the undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed welterweight champion from 1986 to 1987, and held the World Boxing Counci ...

in August 1987, with Honeyghan's WBC and IBF welterweight belts being at stake.

Post-championship career

After losing to Honeyghan, Hatcher continued to fight. He had seven more fights, losing two (one of which was to future world champion Aaron Davis). After a victory in Ft. Worth over Juan Martin Galvan in 1995, Hatcher retired.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatcher, Gene 1959 births Living people American male boxers Boxers from Fort Worth, Texas Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers Welterweight boxers World light-welterweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions 20th-century American sportsmen