James Pritchard (boxer)

James Pritchard (born April 28, 1961, in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1997. He challenged once for the IBF cruiserweight title in 1991.

Amateur

Pritchard had a stellar amateur career, becoming the 1985 National Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion.^[1]

Professional career

Pritchard turned pro in 1985 and went undefeated in 17 bouts, including a draw with Mike 'The Bounty' Hunter, before facing ex-world heavyweight champion Mike Weaver in a crossroads fight. Pritchard was stopped by the big punching Weaver on his feet in six, but returned to win three fights in a row before meeting another former world champion, this time Michael Dokes. Pritchard was stopped in seven, but gained a reputation for toughness as Dokes, like Weaver, could not drop Pritchard.

Pritchard travelled to apartheid South Africa for several fights, boxing to a controversial draw with Johnny DuPlooy when he had apparently got the better of DuPlooy. He was stopped in 10 in a rematch, then stopped in eight by DuPlooy's rival Pierre Coetzer. Pritchard returned to the States where he was a chief sparring partner of Frank Bruno prior to his Tyson fight. He also put together a string of wins including a KO of novice Lionel Butler. A trip to England to face world-ranked Gary Mason resulted in a 9th-round stoppage loss, although yet again Pritchard gained respect for his durability – no one could knock him down.

World title fight

Having been relegated to opponent status in the heavyweights, the 26–5–2 Pritchard moved down to the Cruiserweight division. He beat two-time world title challenger Siza Makathini in his debut winning an IBF Intercontinental title, but in his 1991 fight with James Warring for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title he was dropped for the first time in his career and stopped in 36 seconds, a record for a world title fight.

Journeyman

Pritchard returned to the heavyweights after his cruiserweight title disaster, but was relegated to journeyman status. He knocked out undefeated West Turner to win the USBA heavyweight title, but lost to the likes of Tim Witherspoon, Orlin Norris, Michael Moorer and Herbie Hide.

By the mid to late 1990s he was an aged heavyweight and not much more than cannon fodder for Corrie Sanders, Brian Nielsen and Wladimir Klitschko. He retired in 1997 with a respectable record of 30–18–2 (25 KOs).

Professional boxing record

30 Wins (25 knockouts, 5 decisions), 18 Losses (12 knockouts, 6 decisions), 2 Draws ^[2]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	30–18–2	Darroll Wilson	TKO	2	29/11/1997	Vineland, New Jersey, U.S.
Loss	30–17–2	Wladimir Klitschko	TKO	3	20/09/1997	Aachen, Germany
Loss	30–16–2	Damon Reed	UD	10	11/08/1997	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Loss	30–15–2	Brian Nielsen (boxer)	KO	3	13/06/1997	Slagelse, Denmark
Win	30–14–2	Greg Suttington	TKO	4	13/05/1996	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:14 of the fourth round.
Loss	29–14–2	Corrie Sanders	TKO	1	05/08/1995	Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Loss	29–13–2	Brian Morgan	SD	8	20/03/1995	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	29–12–2	Ralph Jackson	TKO	3	13/02/1995	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Loss	28–12–2	Zeljko Mavrovic	UD	10	18/06/1994	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Loss	28–11–2	Kenny Keene	PTS	10	05/12/1993	Caldwell, Idaho, U.S.
Loss	28–10–2	Michael Moorer	TKO	3	22/06/1993	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Loss	28–9–2	Herbie Hide	TKO	2	12/12/1992	London, England
Win	28–8–2	West Turner	TKO	3	10/07/1992	Ringgold Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.	USBA Heavyweight Title.
Loss	27–8–2	Tim Witherspoon	UD	10	23/03/1992	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Loss	27–7–2	Orlin Norris	PTS	8	13/12/1991	Bercy, France
Loss	27–6–2	James Warring	KO	1	07/09/1991	Salemi, Italy	IBF Cruiserweight Title. Pritchard knocked out at 0:36 of the first round.
Win	27–5–2	Siza Makathini	DQ	6	06/04/1991	Darlington, England	IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight Title. Makathini disqualified for low blows.
Loss	26–5–2	Gary Mason (boxer)	TKO	9	12/12/1990	London, England	Referee stopped the bout at 2:09 of the ninth round.
Win	26–4–2	Rick Enis	TKO	8	28/07/1990	Saint Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
Win	25–4–2	Lorenzo Boyd	KO	4	01/06/1990	Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Win	24–4–2	Ladislao Mijangos	TKO	6	08/05/1990	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	23–4–2	Lee Moore	TKO	2	02/03/1990	Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Win	22–4–2	Lionel Butler	TKO	6	09/12/1989	Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Win	21–4–2	Rodney Bolden	KO	1	26/08/1989	Murray, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	20–4–2	Larry Givens	TKO	2	25/05/1989	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	19–4–2	Mike Russell	KO	5	25/04/1989	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Loss	18–4–2	Pierre Coetzer	TKO	8	18/03/1989	Johannesburg, South Africa
Loss	18–3–2	Johnny DuPlooy	TKO	10	22/10/1988	Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Draw	18–2–2	Johnny DuPlooy	PTS	10	02/07/1988	Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Loss	18–2–1	Michael Dokes	TKO	7	28/04/1988	New York City, U.S.	WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Title.
Win	18–1–1	Steve Zouski	TKO	4	25/03/1988	Melrose Park, Illinois, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:28 of the fourth round.
Win	17–1–1	Mike Cohen	KO	3	21/02/1988	Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S.	Cohen knocked out at 2:28 of the third round.
Win	16–1–1	Bruce Johnson	KO	5	05/01/1988	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.	Johnson knocked out at 2:09 of the fifth round.
Loss	15–1–1	Mike Weaver (boxer)	TKO	6	24/08/1987	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:30 of the sixth round.
Win	15–0–1	Frankie Hines	KO	2	28/07/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.	Hines knocked out at 2:08 of the second round.
Win	14–0–1	Kevin Casimier	TKO	7	20/04/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	13–0–1	Darryl Peppers	TKO	2	17/03/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:20 of the second round.
Win	12–0–1	Larry Phelps	TKO	2	24/02/1987	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:09 of the second round.
Draw	11–0–1	Mike Hunter (boxer)	PTS	6	20/02/1987	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	11–0	Bobby Crabtree	TKO	2	25/11/1986	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	10–0	Warren Thompson (boxer)	PTS	6	31/10/1986	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	9–0	Michael Johnson	KO	1	03/10/1986	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	8–0	Robert Evans	PTS	6	28/08/1986	New York City, U.S.
Win	7–0	Melvin Epps	UD	6	29/07/1986	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	6–0	Louis Brooks	TKO	1	10/07/1986	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Win	5–0	Tim Miller	KO	2	24/06/1986	Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	4–0	John Morton	TKO	1	25/04/1986	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Win	3–0	Allen Hudson	KO	4	22/03/1986	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	Hudson knocked out at 1:03 of the fourth round.
Win	2–0	Jack Jackson	UD	4	Jan 17, 1986	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Win	1–0	Vince Parker	KO	2	21/09/1985	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.