Toughman Contest

Founded in 1979 in Bay City, Michigan by boxing promoter Art Dore, the Toughman Contest is a chance for the novice amateur fighters (those with no more than 5 sanctioned wins in the past 5 years) to test themselves in the ring.

Using standard boxing rules, 16 oz. gloves, headgear, and 3 rounds of 1 minute with a 60-second rest period, "The Original Toughman Contest" plays across the US in between 75 and 100 cities each year and culminates with the World Championship which in 2008 is slated for Sam's Town Casino in Tunica, MS.

Tournaments feature the local residents of a particular city (generally, participants must live within a 75-mile radius of where the event is to be held) who are at least 18 years of age, pass a standard boxing physical, and meet any other requirements of the State's Boxing Commissions' regulations, and also sign a waiver freeing the parent company from liability. The waiver is mentioned because the rare safety issues have attracted unfavorable press reports. ["Detroit News", "Toughman Bouts with Danger", May 18, 2003. ] [Greg Fagan, "Stupid Fun," Maxim Online, June 1998. http://www.maximonline.com/stupid_fun/articles/article_584.html] ] Since 1979, according to the Journal of Combative Sports, both the Original Toughman Contest and other contests using the elimination tournament format comprise only 1 % of all boxing deaths (Since its inception in 1979, the Original Toughman Contest has had only seven deaths while derivative contests account for a known 10, according to the Journal.) ["Death under the Spotlight: The Manuel Velazquez Collection", "Journal of Combative Sport". [http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_svinth_a_0700.htm] ] Some states, like Florida and Missouri do not sanction Toughman but do license mixed martial arts - or cage fighting- an event many people confuse with the Original Toughman Contest.

Additionally, The Original Toughman Contest is often mistaken with other elimination tournaments and therefore bears the media brunt for those contests which sometimes illegally use the trademarked name, or derivatives of it. [For an article about a spin-off production in Montana, see Michael Moore, "Selling the Show." [http://editorialmatters.lee.net/articles/2003/11/19/stories/features/efea143.txt] ] Toughman holds events only in states that have rules or state code permitting the format.

Toughman made Art Dore a celebrity and generated a Twentieth Century Fox movie called Tough Enough which starred Dennis Quaid and was about Dore and the boxing phenomenon he conceived after finding the crowds wanted to see ordinary people fight.

Toughman alumni include Mr. T; Tommy Morrison; Eric "Butterbean" Esch; and from the fall of 2006, the winner of the "Contender Television Series," the former Lawton, OK Toughman Contest Champion, Grady "Bad Boy" Brewer. Among them is also Maine State Representative Chris Greeley, who fought in 1996, and who was recently elected to a third term in the Maine House of Representatives.

afety comparison

Deaths per 1000 participants: College Football: .03, motocycle racing: .07, scuba diving 1.1, skydiving: 12.3, boxing .13 (citation: Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8/14/95). Professional Wrestling: 65 deaths in 7 years(citation: USA Today, 3/12/2004.

References

External links

*http://www.whitehallprogress.com/articles/2008/03/06/local_news/news1.txt
*http://www.mcalesternews.com/2007/09/28

World Championships

Dore started doing world championships again in 2003

1994 World Champion -Eric Esch aka Butterbean

2003 Champion -Daniel White

2005 World Championship Results

Aubrey Bickerstaff (14-0 5 ko's) is the 2005 World Toughman Light-Heavyweight Champion by defeating Ryan Carroll (13-3 9 ko's)

Glen Sovich (record unknown) is the 2005 World Toughman Heavyweight Champion by defeating Ray Carpenter (8-2)

2006 World Championship Results

Joshua Brown (38-3) is the 2006 World Light-Heavyweight Toughman Champion by defeating Mike Tufariello (record unknown) via Unanimous Decision

Lee McGinnis (15-1) is the 2006 World Heavyweight Toughman Champion by defeating Devo Devuono (30-4) via KO in the 2nd round

2008 World Championship Results

Aubrey Bickerstaff (17-0) defeated Jamal Rogers to win the Light-Heavyweight title

Lee McGinnis (20-1) is the 2008 World Heavyweight Toughman Champion by defeating Darrell Ellis (record unknown) via Unanimous Decision.This is Lee McGinnis second straight World Heavyweight Toughman Championship. No World Toughman Championships was held in 2007.