Marion Wilson (born October 19, 1956) is an American former heavyweight

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 from 1989 to 2007. Wilson, despite having faced some of the hardest punchers of his era, has never been stopped in his professional career. As a result, he is considered by many to have one of the best

chins The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be one ...

in boxing history, and boxing writer James Slater included him on a list of boxing's best "chins" and Livefight.com ranked him as #8 in terms of best heavyweight chins ever. Wilson faced virtually all notable prospects of his time with perfect records, stopping several promising winning streaks as well as taking former heavyweight champion

Ray Mercer Raymond Anthony Mercer (born April 4, 1961) is a former American professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist who competed from 1989 to 2009. Mercer won a heavyweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics as an amateur, and later ...

to a draw. In the words of the ABC Sports Network's boxing analyst Al Bernstein, Wilson is a veteran fighter, who "has not won many fights, but always gives these youngsters a tough time." He holds wins over

Corey Sanders Corey Sanders (born March 7, 1975) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Known as "T-Rex", Sanders' most notable victory came in an upset knockout against future WBC world champion Oleg Maskaev in 2002, which temporari ...

, Mike Hunter, and

Paea Wolfgramm Paea Wolfgramm (born December 1, 1969) is a Tongan retired boxer. Nicknamed "The Tongan Warrior", Wolfgramm earned the Super Heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making him the first and only athlete from Tonga to win an Olympi ...

Amateur career

Wilson took up boxing at the age of 27.

Professional career

Nicknamed "The Creep" and "Jackhammer", Wilson turned professional in 1989 and immediately established himself as a tough

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

opponent for the heavyweight elite. Despite a lackluster record, he has faced, and has lost decisions to, fighters including

Oliver McCall Oliver McCall (born April 21, 1965) is an American professional boxer who began competing professionally in 1985. A veteran of the sport for over three decades, he is best known for winning the WBC heavyweight title in 1994 by scoring an upset k ...

Samuel Peter Samuel Okon Peter (born September 6, 1980) is a Nigerian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2019. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title in 2008. At regional level, he held multiple heavyweight championships, ...

Hasim Rahman Hasim Sharif Rahman (born November 7, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2014. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified World Boxing Council, WBC, International Boxing Federation, ...

Andrew Golota Andrzej Jan Gołota (; born 5 January 1968), best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as a ...

Shannon Briggs Shannon Briggs (born December 4, 1971) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1992 and 2016. He held the lineal heavyweight title from 1997 to 1998, and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title from 2006 to 2 ...

and

Ike Ibeabuchi Ikemefula Charles "Ike" Ibeabuchi (born February 2, 1973) is a Nigerian former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 1999 in the heavyweight division. He defeated the previously undefeated highly ranked contender David Tua in 1997 and ano ...

(the latest caught him on a two-days notice, Ibeabuchi was scheduled to fight

for the Tuesday Night Fights, but Sanders quit a few days prior to the scheduled fight, event promoters in a hurry began to look for a substitute, and Wilson took the chance.) One of his notable victories was against rising, undefeated Thomas Williams, who was Wilson's roommate at the time, and who is best known for being the only fighter to be jailed for fight fixing. Wilson, despite losing 41 fights, was never knocked down, nor received a standing eight count in a bout. Hence, he is considered one of boxing's "best chins". Wilson also defeated boxers such as Mike Hunter,

, and

, while his fight against WBO heavyweight champion

resulted in a draw. Wilson felt he was "robbed" of his victories in fights against Orlin Norris, and

Obed Sullivan Obed Benjamin Sullivan (born January 17, 1968) is an American former professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Fighting Marine", Sullivan was at times a highly ranked heavyweight who fought many significant fighters of his era. Sullivan turned pro in 1 ...

, via the judges' decision (holding

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. King's career highlights include, among multiple other enterprises, promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the ...

responsible).Ike Ibeabuchi vs Marion Wilson
comments by Earnie Rosenthal and John Saracino.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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history

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Marion 1956 births Living people American male boxers Boxers from South Carolina Sportspeople from Florence, South Carolina Heavyweight boxers 20th-century American sportsmen