James Broad (January 27, 1958 – November 20, 2001) was an American heavyweight

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who was a Notable Contender throughout the 1980s, who beat Future World Champion James Smith and gave Heavyweight Champion Greg Page a very tough fight only losing by Majority Decision. He won the NABF heavyweight title and was a regular sparring partner of a peak

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

. He fought the likes of James Smith, Razor Ruddock,

Tony Tucker Tony Craig Tucker (born December 27, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He won the IBF heavyweight title in 1987, and was the shortest-reigning world heavyweight champion at just 64 days. In an inte ...

Tim Witherspoon Tim Witherspoon (born December 27, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. He beat heavyweight ...

, Johnny du Plooy,

Francesco Damiani Francesco Damiani (born 4 October 1958) is an Italian former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1993. He was the first WBO heavyweight champion, having held the title from 1989 to 1991, as well as the European heavyweight title from 19 ...

, and Greg Page.

Military service

James Broad took up boxing while serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, being a Specialist 4th class stationed at

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

Amateur career

Broad took up boxing when he joined the army in 1976. He beat Chris McDonald on points, and scored a first-round-knockout victory over

Marvis Frazier Marvis Frazier (born September 12, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who fought in the heavyweight division. The son of Joe Frazier, he challenged once for the heavyweight title. Early life Marvis was born September 12, 1960, in Phil ...

in the 1980 Olympic Trials finals,James Broad Amateur Record
at the BoxingRecords. Last updated: April 12, 2006. where he qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Boxing team which ultimately did not compete due to President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

's order to boycott the Olympics. He also lost a decision to Tony Tubbs.

Highlights

Interserivce Boxing Championships,

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ( or ) is a United States Armed Forces, United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault training, an ...

, April 10, 1980: *Finals: Defeated Stan Butler by decision U.S. All-Army Championships,

Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, March 1980 *Finals: Defeated Woody Clark by decision U.S. Olympic Trials,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, June 1980: *1/4: Defeated Freddy Guzman KO 1 *1/2: Defeated

KO 1 *Finals: Defeated Chris McDonald by split decision, 3–2 FRG–USA Duals, West Berlin, West Germany, July 1980: *Defeated Peter Hussing (West Germany) RSC 2 *Defeated Georg Helm (West Germany) KO 1 Gold Cup,

Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a reference to the Nairobi Riv ...

, September 1980: *Finals: Defeated Abdallah Kent (Kenya) by decision USA–Hungary Duals,

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

, February 1981: * Defeated József Réder (Hungary) by decision

Professional career

Nicknamed "Broad-Axe", Broad turned pro in 1981 and put together 12 wins, including a 4th-round knockout of future Heavyweight Champ

James "Bonecrusher" Smith James "Bonecrusher" Smith (born April 3, 1953) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1999 and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1986 to 1987. Early life Smith was born in Magnolia, North Carolina. After graduati ...

. His weight was already a problem at this early stage of his career, but Broad worked down to 228 for his first big fight, against fellow undefeated prospect

. Broad rocked Frazier with his signature uppercuts but was unable to replicate his knockout victory in the amateurs, and he was outworked over 10 rounds. Broad bounced back to outpoint Larry Alexander over 12 rounds in 1983 then knockout contender Eddie Gregg in 8 rounds to win the NABF title in 1984. For his first title defense Broad scaled a whopping 261 lbs and was knocked out in 2 rounds by once and future world champion

in 1985.

Later years

Broad was unable to get back into serious shape for the remainder of his career, and his results suffered. He lost a 12-round decision to top contender and future world champion

for the USBA title in 1986, and in 1987 was twice outpointed over 10 rounds, by

in Italy and then by ex-world champ Greg Page, in a fight where both men were down. Broad outpointed future cruiserweight world title-challenger Patrick Lumumba but went to South Africa and was poleaxed in 4 rounds by

Johnny DuPlooy Johnny du Plooy (27 September 1964 – 12 April 2013) was a South African former heavyweight boxer best known for his win over former WBA World Heavyweight champion Mike Weaver. He challenged once for the WBO World Heavyweight title in 1989. B ...

. In his next fight he was stopped on his feet, in questionable circumstances, by rising contender Donovan "Razor" Ruddock. During all this time Broad was a sparring partner for a peak

and took many punches in the gym.

Death

In 1992 Boxing Illustrated reported that Broad intended to make a comeback and wanted to be world champion, despite the fact he was banned in Nevada and California both for failing a neurological exam and testing positive for

Hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

. He somehow managed to get 4 more fights, losing 3 of them. By 2000 Broad was said to be homeless in Las Vegas and badly brain damaged. He died in 2001.

Professional boxing record

, - , align="center" colspan=8, 23 Wins (15 knockouts, 8 decisions), 10 Losses (3 knockouts, 7 decisions

, - , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Result , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opp
Record , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Type , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Round , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Location , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , - , Loss , , align=left, Calvin Jones , MD , 10 , 20/08/1993 , align=left,

Melrose Park, Illinois Melrose Park is a village in Leyden Township, Cook County, Illinois, Leyden and Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, Proviso Townships, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Philipp Brown , PTS , 8 , 26/06/1993 , align=left, Saint George, Utah, U.S. , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

Daniel Dăncuță Daniel Rică Dăncuță (born 28 May 1971) is a Romanian former professional boxer. Career Daniel Dăncuță won twice the Romanian National Amateur Boxing Championship at the super heavyweight division in 1990 and 1991. He made his professiona ...

, UD , 4 , 14/02/1993 , align=left,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Billy Wright , UD , 6 , 06/10/1992 , align=left,

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Maurice Smith , TKO , 4 , 05/10/1991 , align=left,

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

Donovan Ruddock Donovan "Razor" Ruddock (born December 21, 1963) is a Jamaican-born Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 2001 and in 2015. He is known for his two fights against Mike Tyson in 1991, a fight against Lennox Lewis in 1992, ...

, TKO , 1 , 06/12/1988 , align=left,

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, Canada , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Johnny du Plooy , KO , 4 , 27/02/1988 , align=left,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Patrick Lumumba , PTS , 10 , 01/08/1987 , align=left,

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Greg Page , MD , 10 , 30/05/1987 , align=left,

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

, UD , 10 , 11/04/1987 , align=left,

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Tony "TNT" Tucker , UD , 12 , 26/09/1986 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Wesley Smith , KO , 2 , 28/06/1986 , align=left,

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Bobby Crabtree , KO , 5 , 03/05/1986 , align=left,

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a City (New York), city in Warren County, New York, Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls, New York metropolitan area, Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,83 ...

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Rodney Frazier , TKO , 1 , 25/01/1986 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon , KO , 2 , 29/04/1985 , align=left,

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 ...

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Sterling Benjamin , TKO , 2 , 14/12/1984 , align=left,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Eddie Gregg , TKO , 8 , 23/08/1984 , align=left,

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Tommy Franco Thomas , TKO , 3 , 03/05/1984 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Larry Alexander , SD , 12 , 17/11/1983 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Leroy Diggs , TKO , 8 , 18/08/1983 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

, UD , 10 , 10/04/1983 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Tony Pulu , KO , 3 , 10/03/1983 , align=left,

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Walter Santemore , UD , 12 , 06/01/1983 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Donnie Long , MD , 10 , 17/10/1982 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Randy Mack , TKO , 8 , 16/09/1982 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Art Robinson , DQ , 4 , 04/08/1982 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Lonnie Chapman , KO , 2 , 18/07/1982 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left,

Harold Rice Harold Randolph Rice (May 22, 1912 – July 10, 1987) was an American educator and magic dealer. Early life On June 12, 1937, Rice married Thelma Ryle. He earned his doctorate as an Arthur Wesley Dow Scholar from Columbia University. He earne ...

, PTS , 8 , 02/04/1982 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Lou Benson, Jr. , PTS , 8 , 11/02/1982 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Robert Evans , TKO , 6 , 17/12/1981 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left,

, TKO , 4 , 05/11/1981 , align=left, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Greg Stephany , KO , 3 , 16/09/1981 , align=left,

, U.S. , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Albert Collins , KO , 1 , 11/08/1981 , align=left,

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, U.S. , align=left,

References

External links

*
Olympic team 1980
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broad, James 1958 births 2001 deaths African-American boxers Boxers from North Carolina Sportspeople from Greensboro, North Carolina Heavyweight boxers American male boxers 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen