Ray Anderson (born August 31, 1944, in Anniston, Alabama) was a boxer in the light heavyweight division who fought from 1965 to 1977. Anderson became the first challenger to last fifteen rounds against Bob Foster for the world Light Heavyweight title, but he lost what was his only world title try by decision. Anderson currently lives in Anniston.

Professional career

Anderson began his rise to prominence in 1966. As a light heavyweight he took on and beat a formidable heavyweight journeyman named Amos Johnson in a ten-rounder at The Akron Armory in Akron, Ohio. As an amateur, Anderson was one of the few men to beat the young Cassius Clay (known later as Muhammad Ali) who went on to become the Heavyweight Champion of the world. Ray's career continued as he fought Joe Byrd of Flint, Michigan, in 1969, knocking Joe out in round 1. Ray also knocked out Canton's Marion Conner in Round 2, sealing his stature as Ohio's best light heavyweight. He fought John Griffin of Syracuse, New York twice, losing both in close decisions.

Ray Anderson was credited by Joe Frazier, who long used him as a sparring partner because of his tall rangy Ali-like style as assisting him in his preparation to unify the heavyweight title in 1970, with his win over WBA heavyweight titleholder Jimmy Ellis at Madison Square Garden. Later in 1970, Anderson was to bite off more than he could chew when he decided to fight a young prospect at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland, Ohio named Ted Gullick, after providing Gullick with a boxing lesson in rounds 1 through 4, toward the end of the fourth Gullick scored a knockdown with a sharp left hook. Anderson rose and was in part saved by the bell. Later Gullick dominated the fight and finished Anderson in the 9th round by knocking him out. Anderson beat Gregorio Peralta by a ten-round decision in Spain in 1972.

The pinnacle of Ray's career was his challenge to the former Light Heavyweight Champion of the World Bob Foster. Anderson was a tall light-heavyweight of his era, standing 6 feet 1 inch. However, Foster was 6 feet 31⁄2 inches and could punch very hard. Anderson was not used to giving away height; he prided himself in being both handsome and fast. He was not willing to risk being hit by Foster, thus he chose to dance and defend for most of the fight, thus losing a fifteen-round decision. To Anderson's credit he was one of the few men that would last all 15 rounds with Foster. The late Yank Durham, Joe Frazier's trainer, worked Anderson's corner during the Foster fight felt that Anderson should have eliminated the Ali style tactics and take it to Foster and was upset by the outcome. Anderson had proven to be a very respected fighter early on and once joining promoter Don King, seemed to start an altered course in his career which can't be explained. It is thought that King wanted to use Anderson to promote other upcoming boxers in order to propel himself into the limelight instead of using Anderson's talent to help him reach the top of the rankings. Anderson's children Deric and Eric (twins), and Brigitte Anderson were last known to reside in Ohio. In the early 90's one (or both) of Anderson's twin sons; were known for his athletic abilities and had shown glimpses of skills that would advance him into professional football. However, details of his efforts are not recorded.

Professional boxing record

36 Wins (21 knockouts, 15 decisions), 19 Losses (11 knockouts, 8 decision), 5 Draws[1]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 28-3-3 United States Mike Rossman TKO 4 1977-03-02 New York (state) Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States
Draw 18-8-1 Mali Ba Sounkalo PTS 10 1976-12-04 Germany Hamburg, Germany
Loss 9-0 United States Marvin Johnson TKO 6 1976-04-03 Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Loss 16-0 Argentina Miguel Angel Cuello KO 6 1976-02-20 Germany Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Germany
Win 42-7-2 Argentina Jorge Ahumada PTS 10 1975-11-28 Germany Hamburg, Germany
Draw 86-13-4 Argentina Avenamar Peralta PTS 10 1975-09-12 Germany Offenbach, Germany
Loss 7-2-4 Nigeria Ngozika Ekwelum KO 5 1975-06-24 Germany Berlin, Germany
Loss 42-6 Jamaica Bunny Johnson PTS 8 1975-06-19 Norway Jordal Amfi, Oslo, Norway
Draw 7-2-3 Nigeria Ngozika Ekwelum PTS 8 1975-05-16 Germany Ludwigshafen, Germany
Loss 10-0-1 Norway Harald Skog PTS 10 1975-03-13 Norway Oslo, Norway
Loss 80-12-4 Argentina Avenamar Peralta TKO 8 1975-01-18 Germany Hamburg, Germany
Loss 5-0 United States James "Great" Scott UD 10 1974-04-23 Florida Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Loss 26-6-4 Argentina Victor Galindez KO 2 1974-02-16 Argentina Balcarce, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina Anderson knocked out at 1:23 of the second round.
Draw 39-9-3 United States Jimmy "The Cat" Dupree PTS 10 1973-11-28 Ohio Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Loss 32-5-1 Argentina Jorge Ahumada TKO 8 1973-08-13 New York (state) Felt Forum, New York City, United States
Win 50-16-14 Argentina Miguel Angel Paez PTS 8 1973-03-12 France Palais des Sports (Paris), Paris, France
Loss 13-15-2 United States Roy "Cookie" Wallace SD 10 1973-02-14 Ohio Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Win 90-7-8 Argentina Gregorio Peralta PTS 10 1972-06-09 Spain Madrid, Spain
Loss 9-1-1 Mali Ba Sounkalo PTS 10 1972-03-27 France Paris, France
Loss 23-6-1 United States Joe "Cigarette" Burns KO 9 1972-01-15 Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Win 3-10 United States JD McCauley KO 7 1971-11-10 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Loss 42-5 United States Bob Foster UD 15 1971-04-24 Florida Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, Florida, United States WBC World Light Heavyweight Title. 140-145, 139-148, 138-149.
Win 25-2 United States Hal Carroll PTS 10 1970-11-18 Ohio Ashland, Ohio, United States
Loss 13-3 United States Johnny "70s" Griffin UD 10 1970-09-14 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Loss 12-3 United States Johnny "70s" Griffin PTS 10 1970-08-03 Ohio Norton, Ohio, United States
Loss 12-6 United States Charley "Devil" Green TKO 1 1970-04-28 New York (state) Felt Forum, New York City, United States Referee stopped the bout at 1:36 of the first round.
Draw 27-7-2 United States Allen "Bibliophile" Thomas PTS 10 1970-03-30 Illinois Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win 2-3-1 United States Hydra Lacy KO 4 1970-01-27 Florida Orlando, Florida, United States
Loss 5-0 United States Ted Gullick KO 9 1969-12-10 Ohio Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Win 14-9-2 United States Joe Hopkins KO 1 1969-11-21 South Dakota Rapid City, South Dakota, United States
Win 9-5 Canada Ed Ostapovich KO 1 1969-11-13 Washington (state) Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, Washington, United States
Win 10-6 United States Joe "Nice Guy" Byrd TKO 1 1969-11-06 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 27-6 United States Karl Zurheide UD 10 1969-10-06 Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Win 46-15-1 United States Pete Riccitelli KO 5 1969-08-11 Minnesota Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Win 49-50-12 United States Billy "Boggy" Marsh KO 3 1969-07-23 Florida Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 7-10-1 United States Roy "Cookie" Wallace PTS 10 1969-06-03 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Win 15-34-11 United States Frank "Snakebite" Niblett UD 10 1969-05-27 California Oakland, California, United States 8-1, 7-2, 8-1.
Win 9-7-5 United States Willie McIntyre KO 2 1969-04-01 Florida Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 26-17-1 United States Marion "Thunderbolt" Connor TKO 2 1969-03-23 Ohio Canton, Ohio, United States
Win 15-13-2 United States Willie Tiger TKO 1 1969-03-05 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 26-16-1 United States Marion "Thunderbolt" Connor UD 10 1969-01-26 Ohio Canton, Ohio, United States Ohio Heavyweight Title.
Win 17-8-2 United States Hubert "Happy Wanderer" Hilton TKO 3 1969-01-10 New York (state) Felt Forum, New York City, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:54 of the third round.
Win 22-8-2 United States Amos Johnson PTS 10 1968-11-06 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 11-4 United States Eddie Dembry TKO 1 1968-09-18 Ohio Mansfield, Ohio, United States
Win -- Jimmy "The Poll" Harris TKO 1 1968-02-14 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Loss 8-1 United States Willie "Monster" McMillan TKO 6 1967-07-19 New York (state) Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States Referee stopped the bout at 2:21 of the sixth round.
Win 0-3 United States Bobby Lawson KO 2 1967-05-27 Ohio Columbus, Ohio, United States Lawson knocked out at 1:42 of the second round.
Win 4-2-1 Spain Francisco San Jose PTS 8 1967-04-28 Sweden Stockholm, Sweden
Win 8-7 United States Vic Brown UD 6 1967-03-15 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 0-5 United States James Goree KO 2 1967-02-21 California Winterland Arena, San Francisco, California, United States Goree knocked out at 1:51 of the second round.
Win 2-1 United States Tom "Liberty" Bell KO 1 1967-01-15 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 7-11-2 United States Bob Slaughter PTS 6 1966-12-05 Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win 10-2-1 Canada Bob "Pretty Boy" Felstein KO 5 1966-10-26 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 7-0 United States Jimmy McClain PTS 6 1966-06-14 Pennsylvania Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Win 0-1 United States Al "Hank" Williams KO 1 1966-05-25 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States Williams knocked out at 1:28 of the first round.
Win -- United States Al "Hank" Williams KO 1 1966-03-11 Ohio Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Win 0-2 United States Gene "Ashes to Ashes" Hunt KO 2 1966-03-02 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win -- James "The Boss" Ross PTS 4 1966-02-02 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 1-0 United States Larry Tatum PTS 4 1965-12-16 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States
Win 0-1 United States Gene "Ashes to Ashes" Hunt TKO 3 1965-07-14 Ohio Akron, Ohio, United States Referee stopped the bout at 1:37 of the third round.

Exhibition boxing record

2 fights 0 wins 0 losses
Non-scored 2
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
2 — 0–0 (2) United States Muhammad Ali — 2 Oct 11, 1972 United States Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts U.S. Non-scored bout
1 — 0–0 (1) United States Muhammad Ali — 2 Aug 24, 1972 United States Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland U.S. Non-scored bout

References

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