- Ray Lathon
Ray Lathon, (born
1966-10-27 inSaint Louis, MO , died2000-12-12 inSaint Louis, MO ) was an American boxer.Amateur career
Known as "Lethal", Lathon was a stellar amateur, and in 1989, he was the U.S. Amateur Middleweight champion and won the
Golden Gloves andUSA Boxing titles. He also fought as part ofTeam USA at the World Championships in Moscow.Pro career
Lathon turned pro in 1990, and suffered his only pro defeat to
Montell Griffin in 1994. Lathon's career record is a stellar 22-1 with 21 knockouts overall.Murder
On December 12, 2000, after finishing a workout in a St. Louis gym [http://robots.cnnsi.com/more/news/2000/12/15/charges_boxer_ap/] , Lathon was shot and killed execution-style by a masked gunman [http://www.newnation.org/Archives/black-sports-010329.html] . Lathon had been in training for an upcoming shot at the NABF Cruiserweight title. Ahmad Adisa, age 27, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-51289847.html] . At trial, evidence suggested that Adisa was hired to kill Lathon for a $10,000 payment, though no one else has been charged in the case. Assistant Circuit Attorney Dwight Warren told jurors that Lathon was killed in retaliation for his suspected involvement in the kidnapping and torture of a drug dealer in 1999. Authorities said the drug dealer was beaten and burned with cigarettes, but Lathon was never charged.
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