The Last Man to Fight Ali: Trevor Berbick
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by user Josh Q. Public
Josh Q. Public: It’s no fun, being on the run, cause they got me, Public enemy number one.
Public Service Announcement:
You knew it was coming. You knew I was gonna do this. You knew I was going to write the Trevor Berbick story. So here it, here it comes. The Trevor Berbick Story. Hey if they did do a Trevor Berbick movie, the guy who plays Mr. Eko on Lost should play him. Perfect, right? Where was I? Oh ya, The Trevor Berbick Story. Sherman, set the Way Back machine to 1971. Jamaica mun. Age sixteen. We have to start here. To me, it’s the most compelling part of this saga. Age sixteen. He has a vision from God. What God was saying or doing, we do not know. I Googled every combination of Berbick, God and vision. Came up with bupkus. But the dude says he saw God. And that’s where the story begins.
Fast forward to 1976. Montreal. The Olympics. The Howard Davis Olympics. The Michael “the Jinx” Spinks Olympics. The Big John Tate Olympics. The Neon Leon Spinks Olympics. The Sugar Ray Leonard Olympics. The Teofilo Stevens Olympics. The Trevor Berbick Olympics. Trevor does not medal. He doesn’t care. He’s gonna go pro.
Fast forward to 1980. 11-1. Canadian Heavyweight Champion. Under card for the Brawl in Montreal. Sugar Ray Leonard Vs. Roberto Manos de Piedra, El Cholo, No Mas Duran. Trevor Berbick Vs. Big John Tate. Olympic Bronze medalist. Ex-Heavyweight Champeen of the World. For five months. Tonight was his night. Don’t call it a comeback. He’s been here for years. His mama said knock you out! Berbick wasn’t having it. He was relentless. Round after round, Berbick bullied Big John Tate. That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more. Big John Tate caves in the ninth. It’s over, it’s all over. Berbick’s a rock star! Lives large. Five cars. He’s in charge. Cypress Hill style.
Three fights in five rounds later. 1981. It’s go time. Viva Las Vegas. Vegas baby, Vegas. Trevor Berbick Vs. Larry Holmes for the Heavy Weight Championship of the World. Back when being Heavy Weight Champion of the World meant something. Larry Holmes. The Easton Assassin. The Easton Assassin, just coming off giving Muhammed the ever loving beating of his life. Dullsville man, dullsville. Berbick stayed on his bicycle all night. T.O. style. The Easton Assassin, still Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Berbick goes on to beat Ali in the Greastest’s last fight ever. In a cow pasture somewhere in the Bahamas. The ringside bell, a cowbell. He pummels the old man for a solid ten rounds. He’s the under card of the Larry Holmes Vs. The Great White Hope Super fight. Decisions Greg Page. Loses back-to-back fights to nobodies. Slip sliding away. 1984. Berbick leaves Canada for the Sunshine State. Who wouldn’t? 6:30 AM. Busts in to Don King’s room. Bible and cross in his hands. Goes all Billy Graham. Reading from the 91st psalm: “The Lord is on your side… Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.” What the fuck is that? Goony goo goo. Only in America. Only Don King. King did not call the nice men in the white jackets. King signed Berbick on the spot.
Born again. Lazarus style. Wins the USBA title. Defends it against Mitch Blood Green. You remember him? He was the first fighter to face Iron Mike without getting knocked down. You never got me down Ray, you never got me down. He was the guy who called Tyson Michelle. He was the guy whose face broke Tyson’s hand in a street fight up in Harlem. Ok, Ok. Title time. Enter Pinky Thomas. Pinky didn’t care. Pinky had a music career to launch. Ron Artest style. 12 rounds. Berbick’s just beats poor Pinky down. His 1st ever defeat. Berbick wins! Berbick wins! Berbick wins! The new Heavyweight Champion of the World! The beginning of the end.
Next fight. Tim Witherspoon, WBA champ? Michael Spinks, IBF champ? The Great White Hope, Gerry Cooney? Nope, none of the above. Kid Dynamite. Iron Mike Tyson. Back to Vegas. Vegas baby, Vegas. The noise is deafening. Curtis Pride style. People are here not to see Berbick. They are to see the kid. Iron Mike guaranteed victory. Broadway Joe style. Tupac blasting. Ambitionz az a ridah. Black trunks. White terry cloth pull over. No socks. Covered in sweat. Brutally compact. Ready to fight. Kid Dynamite. Two minutes and thirty five seconds later, its over. Simply a beating. Berbick tried to get up. He fell twice, staggering around the ring. “I’m the heavyweight champion of the world, and I will fight anybody!” The destruction of Berbick made Tyson the youngest heavyweight champion in history. The post Ali era has finally ended.
Berbick lost to Carl the Truth Williams. He lost to James Buster Douglas. He went underground. He came back up. Won a couple scrub fights. Then it all became unglued. Berbick got into a street fight with Larry Holmes. Legendary. Berrbick accused Holmes and “Jenny from Jacksonville” of turning Berbick’s wife against him. The Easton Assassin heard about the comments. Didn’t like the comments. Chased Berbick down the driveway of a hotel. Boom goes the dynamite! Fisticuffs. Fight breaks up. Berbick screams: “Everybody saw Larry Holmes punch me and kick me.” Ding ding ding. Round two. Holmes proceeds to jump over a car. Starsky and Hutch style. And beat Berbick again. Goodness! It only gets worse from there. 1991. Accuses his manager of stealing from him. Shoves a gun in her mouth. Forges his ex-wife’s signature, in order to get a mortgage. Worse still. Rapes the baby sitter. Mark Chimura style. Berbick in court: “She’s on the payroll, she is being used.” The judge wasn’t biting. Sentenced to four years. Served 15 months.
1994. Back in the ring again, the ring again. 38 years old. Picks up a few wins. Gets to fight future world heavyweight champion Hasim the Rock Rahman in 1996. Gets crushed by a right in the first. Lennox Lewis style. But is able to stagger through ten. Bye bye Berdick. The US deports him back to Jamaica. So what does he do? Why, flee to Canada of course. Doesn’t pay his taxes. there. Literally sleeps through court. But curiously nothing happens to him. Next thing you know, old Trevor is the Canadian Heavyweight champ again. He beats Iran Barkley. Is looking for another title bid. To no avail. A cat scan revealed a small blood clot on his brain. Berbick was stripped of his title. Begged for someone, anyone to license him. Nothing doing. His career over. 50-11-1(33 KOs). 45 years old. One time Heavyweight Champion of the World. back when being Heavyweight Champion of the World meant something.
And there you have it. The Trevor Berbick Story. The rest you know:
AP Kingston Jamaica: Boxing champion Trevor Berbick was found dead early yesterday in a churchyard close to his home outside of Kingston, Jamaica. Authorities say the 52-year-old Jamaican-born fighter appeared to have been chopped and stabbed to death. “Given the nature of the wounds we can presume with some certainty that he was murdered,” said Det. Sgt. Jubert Llewellyn of the Jamaica Constabulary Force to the Toronto Star newspaper. “Some of the wounds are consistent with those that could have been caused by a machete.”
Meanwhile, the motive allegedly involve the longstanding dispute between close family members of the deceased that came to a head with an assault charge being brought against Berbick by a woman who accused him of punching her. The case was still before the courts at the time of Berbick’s death. There are further allegations that Berbick continued to threaten and intimidate the woman who lived near to their home in Norwich. The woman in question and her 20-year-old son are currently being held as suspects in the case as forensic evidence continues to be processed.
Peace out homies. Six Two and Even! Josh Q. Public
