Anthony Hembrick

Anthony Hembrick (born February 22, 1966 in Detroit , Michigan ) is a former American professional boxer.

Boxing career

Anthony "Hollywood" Hembrick was one of the best amateur boxers in the USA. He was American middleweight champion in 1986 and 1987 and runner-up in 1988. He defeated William Guthrie and Joe Lipsey several times . In 1987 he won the US Olympic Festival in Raleigh and in 1988 the US Olympic Trials in Concord . He defeated the reigning world champion Darin Allen in the final fight .

He had thus qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul . His first fight should have been against the South Korean local hero Ha Jong-Ho. Since his trainer Ken Adams gave him the wrong date for the fight, Hembrick missed the right bus from the Olympic village to the competition site and could not be there on time. He was then disqualified before his first fight for walkovers (no show). The US team filed an unsuccessful complaint and justified it with the allegedly confusing fight schedule and the inadequate transport options on site.

From then on, Hembrick was known as "the guy who missed the bus" and was heralded before some of his later fights. In 1989 he played his first professional fight and remained undefeated in 14 fights. In June 1990, however, he surprisingly lost in the fight for the US light heavyweight championship in the first round against the eventual IBO world champion Booker Word. Then he remained unbeaten again in ten fights, where he managed a points victory against ex- WBA world champion Leslie Stewart and a draw against world championship challenger Mike Sedillo.

On January 7, 1992, he boxed in Michigan for the WBO World Light Heavyweight Championship, but lost by a narrow point defeat against title holder Leeonzer Barber . In March of the same year he was also defeated prematurely against Orlin Norris . After four construction wins he boxed on September 18, 1993 in Düsseldorf against Henry Maske for the IBF world championship in the light heavyweight division, where he again suffered a point defeat. This was followed by two defeats each to James Toney and Richard Frazier. His last success was winning the US light heavyweight championship against Rudy Nix in January 1995. He ended his career in June 1996 with 31 wins (22 knockout ), 8 losses (5 knockout) and 2 draws.

Web links

• BoxRec