Montell Griffin

Montell Griffin
Statistics
Real name	Montell Julian Griffin
Nickname(s)	Ice
Rated at	Light Heavyweight
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Reach	70 in (178 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	June 6, 1970 (1970-06-06) (age 41) Chicago, Illinois, USA
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	58
Wins	49
Wins by KO	30
Losses	8
Draws	1
No contests	0

Montell Julian Griffin (born June 6, 1970 in Chicago) is an American boxer. He is best known for his two bouts at Light Heavyweight with Roy Jones Jr.

Professional career

Griffin, nicknamed "Ice," began his pro career in 1993. He rose to fame when he defeated James Toney twice by decision in 1995 and 1996. These wins earned Griffin the lightly regarded WBU title, as well as a lucrative bout against WBC champion Roy Jones Jr.

Gaining and losing the championship

After his 1996 win over Toney, Griffin landed a shot at WBC Light Heavyweight Title holder Roy Jones Jr. Griffin handed Jones his first professional defeat. But the defeat was also filled with controversy. A frustrated Jones dropped Griffin with a series of hard and fast, head and body punches in round nine, and then hit him again twice on the head after Griffin had taken a knee on the canvas, leading to Jones's disqualification. They had an immediate rematch, and on August 21, Jones regained the WBC Light Heavyweight Title by knocking out Griffin in the first round.

Post-championship career

After the loss to Jones, Griffin remained a top-ranked light heavyweight for six years. He won 11 of his next 12 bouts, losing only a split decision to undefeated but unknown southpaw Eric Harding, despite knocking him down and out-landing him according to punchstats.

Four consecutive knockout wins later, the now 38-2 Griffin squared off against 40-0 WBO title holder, Poland's Dariusz Michalczewski, in 1999. The 29-year-old Griffin won the first three rounds on the cards, but was cut by the 31-year-old Michalczewski's jab in the second round. In the fourth, Griffin was twice staggered, and took 14 unanswered shots to the head and gloves, which forced referee Joe Cortez to stop the bout.

In 2002, Griffin earned another WBC and IBF titleshot by defeating 22-2 southpaw Derrick Harmon via a wide decision. In 2003, Griffin went the distance with Antonio Tarver losing a wide decision. After he was in his mid-thirties, he would go on to lose to Rico Hoye by split decision, to Julio César González when the bout was stopped in the early goings on a technicality and sent to the scorecards, and Glencoffe Johnson by TKO11, all three were IBF eliminators. He also lost on points to current light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov.in a bid to capture his 50th win griffin was held to a draw by former jr. middleweight contender ross thompson on May 29 2010

Griffin compiled a very respectable resume over the course of his career: he has two wins over James Toney, a disqualification win over Roy Jones Jr., and wins over contenders Ka-Dy King, Ray Lathon, Randall Yonker, Derrick Harmon and George Khalid Jones.

Other championships

Minor World Titles:

• WBU Light Heavyweight Champion
• IBC Light Heavyweight Champion

Regional/International Titles:

• IBF Intercontinental Light Heavyweight Champion
• NABF Light Heavyweight Champion (twice)
• WBC Continental Americas Light Heavyweight (three occasions)
• USBA Light Heavyweight Champion

Amateur career

Griffin compiled an amateur record of 36-5. He won the 1992 United States Amateur Light Heavyweight title.

At the 1992 Olympic Trials in Worcester, Massachusetts, Griffin was outpointed in the final by Jeremy Williams. However, at the Olympic Box-offs he outpointed Williams twice, to earn an Olympic bid at Light Heavyweight. His Olympic results were:

• France Mabiletsa (Botswana) won on points
• Yo-Da Ko (South Korea) won on points
• Torsten May (Germany) lost on points

External links

• Professional boxing record for Montell Griffin from BoxRec

Achievements
Preceded by Roy Jones, Jr.	WBC Light Heavyweight Champion 21 Mar 1997–7 Aug 1997	Succeeded by Roy Jones, Jr.

Persondata
Name	Griffin, Montell
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 6, 1970
Place of birth	Chicago, IL, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death