Rico Hoye (born November 9, 1974) is an American former professional boxer who competed in the Cruiserweight division. He resides in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, and is a former number one ranked light heavyweight contender ( IBF) and a former world title challenger in the light heavyweight division. Hoye was a Cruiserweight division contestant in the fourth season of the Contender, boxing three 5-round bouts and one 8-round bout on

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

, winning three.

Early life and professional career

Hoye was raised in Monroe, Michigan and Detroit, Michigan. His father, Bobby Hoye (1951–1996) was a professional super middleweight contender. Rico was raised by his grandfather Robert Hoye (1930–1999) a United States Army and Golden Gloves middleweight boxer. Both his father and grandfather brought him to the gym as an infant and he first competed at 7 years old. As a teenager, he was trained by his grandfather, and he was able to amass a 68-12 amateur record, including junior Olympic titles and Golden Gloves titles in Toledo and Detroit, and was hopeful for an opportunity to make the 1992 Olympic team. At that time, however, his grandfather was injured and wasn't able to train him and he strayed from the sport and became involved in street activity around his Detroit neighborhood. In a 1992 altercation at 17 years old, he shot and killed someone and spent 9 years in prison. While in prison, both his father and grandfather died. Upon his release from prison, he immediately began seriously training and was soon back in the ring competing. Hoye made his professional debut in June 2001 with a third round stoppage of Omar Pucci in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Over the next two years, Hoye scored twelve consecutive wins. He won the vacant IBA Continental Light Heavyweight title by decisioning Prince Badi Ajamu over 12 rounds in June 2003.

Defenses and challenges

Hoye made three defenses of his IBA regional title. He defeated Etienne Whitaker in October 2003, Donnell Wiggins in March 2004, and

Montell Griffin Montell Julian Griffin (born June 6, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2011. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight title in 1997. At regional level, he held multiple light heavyweight cham ...

in September 2004 in a bout which was also an International Boxing Federation eliminator for a world title shot. In March 2005, the 18-0 Hoye traveled to England to challenge Clinton Woods for the vacant IBF title, losing on a fifth-round technical knockout. In May 2007, Hoye challenged unbeaten Romanian boxer Adrian Diaconu for the WBC International light heavyweight title, an eliminator for the full WBC world title, and lost when the fight was stopped in the 3rd round.

Contender

In late 2008, Hoye moved up to the cruiserweight division to compete in the fourth season of the boxing reality show, The Contender. Hoye defeated Mike Alexander and Joell Godfrey by decision in separate five round bouts. In the semifinal, Hoye lost by unanimous decision to Ehinomen Ehikhamenor of Nigeria. In February 2009, Hoye defeated Akinyemi Laleye by 8 round unanimous decision to win third place in the televised competition.

Return from retirement

Hoye, who lived in Los Angeles and then

, with his wife and children, operated a boxing and fitness gym in Phoenix during his four years of inactivity, working with clients on physical conditioning, including training such professional athletes as baseball player

Troy O'Leary Troy Franklin O'Leary (born August 4, 1969) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played with the Milwaukee Brewers (-), Boston Red Sox (-), Montreal Expos () and Chicago Cubs (). Over the course of his 11 year MLB career, ...

and football running back Marcel Shipp. Hoye has also sparred with heavyweights

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in , . (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships betwe ...

and

Chris Arreola Cristobal Arreola (born March 5, 1981) is an American former professional boxer who challenged three times for the WBC heavyweight title. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's No.8 heavyweight at the conclusion of 2007 and as No.7 heavyweigh ...

. Hoye returned to the ring on November 2, 2013, at heavyweight with a 1st-round TKO of Brandon Winner and then lost by unanimous decision to cruiserweight contender Lucasz Janik in Poland June 28, 2014.

Professional boxing record

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoye, Rico 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Monroe, Michigan Boxers from Michigan Light-heavyweight boxers Cruiserweight boxers The Contender (TV series) participants American male boxers 20th-century American sportsmen