Keith Mullings, former junior middleweight champion, dies at age 53

Keith Mullings, the tenacious overachiever who ended Terry Norris’ ultimate championship reign, has died at age 53.

Gary Pippa, the top coach at Be First Boxing in Peekskill, N.Y. introduced the information on Twitter. Mullings had been a coach there years prior, Pippa mentioned. Pippa mentioned he had been knowledgeable of Mullings’ passing by his daughter, however had no additional particulars concerning the trigger.

Mullings, who fought professionally from 1993 to 2001, had an inauspicious file of 16-8-1 (11 knockouts), but it surely was one night time in December of 1997 that etched his identify in boxing historical past perpetually.

Norris was in line for a multi-million greenback payday in opposition to Oscar de la Hoya if he acquired previous Mullings, which many felt was a given. Solely Mullings didn’t appear to get the memo. Late in eighth spherical, Mullings took benefit of an over-aggressive Norris and landed a wonderfully positioned proper hand to Norris’ chin to attain a knockdown. Norris survived the spherical however was pummeled the next spherical by Mullings, prompting the referee to cease the combat and award Mullings the WBC title.

Simply acquired unhappy information that our pal, Keith Mullings former JR middleweight champ was discovered useless this morning. Keith was shut associates with our govt director. He spent a whole summer season a couple of years in the past teaching with us. My coronary heart goes out to his household, he was a giving man. pic.twitter.com/waIC6NLZpP

— Gary Pippa (@PippaGary) May 29, 2021

Mullings’ toughness was obvious earlier than he had ever stepped within the ring. Born in Jamaica in 1968, Mullings relocated to Brooklyn, N.Y., the place he attended James Madison Excessive College, which additionally counts Senators Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, and Supreme Court docket decide Ruth Bader Ginsburg amongst its alumni.

He started boxing whereas served as an Military infantryman in Operation Desert Storm, which impressed the road from HBO commentator Larry Service provider throughout the Norris combat: “How would you wish to go to conflict with a couple of thousand [Keith] Mullings?” Mullings advised The Candy Science in a 2006 interview that he suffered from put up traumatic stress dysfunction from his navy days.

Mullings received his first 13 bouts earlier than a sequence of determination losses derailed him. He turned his profession again round in July of 1997 when he defeated Donald Stokes, who was 39-1-1, by a unanimous determination. Two months later gave IBF junior middleweight titleholder Raul Marquez all he may deal with in a cut up determination loss. Three months later, he was within the ring in opposition to Norris.

Mullings made one profitable protection, carving up the beforehand unbeaten Davide Ciarlante to win a fifth spherical stoppage attributable to a reduce. He’d lose his title the next 12 months on a cut up determination to Javier Castillejo in Spain.

Mullings would combat three extra instances, shedding selections to WBA titleholder David Reid and future Corridor of Famer Winky Wright (which featured Mullings dancing to the ring to Mystikal’s “Hazard” within the ring stroll), earlier than being stopped in two rounds by Steve Roberts in England in 2001.

Even after changing into champion, Mullings was by no means too removed from his navy ties, holding his coaching camps on the U.S. Military base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Ron Katz, the matchmaker who made plenty of Mullings’ fights, remembered him as “a child who gave every little thing within the ring every time he confirmed up.”