RIP Jerry "The Bull" Martin

[scorpio83]

I just heard the news from Philly Boxing History website that former light heavyweight contender Jerry "The Bull" Martin had passed away this past Thursday at 67 years old while a few weeks shy of his 68th birthday. RIP Champ

[Ambling Alp II]

Sorry to hear that. He was a very good fighter and fun to watch. He kind of was overshadowed fighting in a stacked era for the division.

[scorpio83]

RIP Jerry "The Bull" Martin. He was a hard-punching, strong, rough fighter who made his mark in a "Golden Era" of light-heavyweight talent.

One interesting fact about Martin concerns the way he made his mark in boxing. At first, he didn't do it by winning any big amateur tournaments or beating any notable pros. At least not at the beginning. Rather, Martin achieved notoriety as a sparring partner.

Jerry first appeared on boxing's radar screen in 1978 because he "failed" as sparring partner for Mike Rossman, Matthew Saad Muhammad, and Marvin Johnson. He failed because he hit too damned hard. All three leading light-heavyweights (one of whom was a champion by then) just couldn't take Martin's bazooka-like power shots in gym. So they gave him his pink slip and told him to hit the road. But the word travelled around the boxing world pretty fast, and soon the magazines were talking about this new Jerry Martin guy from Philadelphia, and up-and-comer who could bang.

After that, Martin achieved three notable wins, beating Jerry Celestine, Willie "The Bull" Taylor, and Jesse Burnett. Finally, in 1980, Jerry cracked the big time by defeating James Scott in a torrid brawl at Rahway State Prison, a major upset televised live by CBS Sports. After that, "The Bull" a known quantity and a respected contender.

Does anyone know the cause of death? Martin was only 68 years old.

That website didn't tell us the cause of death of Jerry "The Bull" Martin, but they may revealed it later.

[bennie]

More sad news. Jerry took on fellow American Otis Gordon in a bizarre match in a smoky London hotel in December 1980. It was F rank Warren's first ever licensed promotion and he lost £17,500 on the show. Jerry stopped Gordon but didn't impress, although the man could undoubtedly fight.

[Nile4000]

RIP Jerry, different time, would have been champion.

[JMac]

He went into Rahway prison in New Jersey to fight James Scott who was 18-0-1 at the time and was a top ranked lt heavy that had several of his fights televised back then from the prison. Scott didn't know any thing about Martin except that his nickname was "The Bull" and he trained in Joe Fraziers gym. Martin was 18-1 at the time. Scott said he expected some stocky Frazier clone but the guy who showed up was tall, had on wrinkled trunks and beat up Pony boxing shoes. Scott said he thought to himself, this guy came to fight and fight he did knocking Scott down on the way to winning by decision.

[Riddick Bowie]

Came over from Antigua, turned pro at 25 without any amateur experience and won all those fights, including the USBA and NABF titles, and gave hell to several greats. They don’t make them like the Bull anymore!

A really strong fighter from a golden age for the light heavies. It’s trite to say ‘he would have been a champion today’ but I don’t think you can write about him without making the observation. He doesn’t beat Michael Spinks but he picks up a belt in the long fragmented era post Spinks and pre Roy Jones. I also see him having too much for Tarver and the mediocre alphabet champs that followed him (Dawson, Pascal, ancient Hopkins etc).

You couldn’t do what Jerry Martin did without having some special qualities both in character and talent. I really enjoyed watching him fight.

[Ambling Alp II]

Always thought he got screwed in the Saad Muhammad fight.

He seemed in control of the fight and looked like he was going to win. Then the referee (Larry Hazzard) stopped the fight the second he got in trouble.

That fight should not have been stopped. Saad was hurt a few times before that just as badly if not worse.
Not sure the judges were going to let him win anyway. One judge had it even, another had Martin down by two points. The other actually had Marin down by four points. He probably should have been up by 4 points.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened in the final rounds. Maybe Saad would rally and knocked him out. Maybe Martin would have stopped Saad. And if it went the distance, it would have been very interesting to see the final scorecards.

As has been mentioned, he was very unlucky to have fought in such a tough era. He later lost a close decision to Richie Kates, another very good light heavy from the 1970-early 1980s.

[Riddick Bowie]

Peak Mustafa, Saad and Qawi in less than two years will definitely shorten a man's prime. There are contemporary consensus 'greats' who haven't fought three opponents of anything like equivalent quality!

Surprised given his timeframe (and brave manager) the Bull wasn't led into a ritual slaughter by Spinks.

[Ambling Alp II]

Those 3 fights seem to to take something out of him. At the time, though, it made sense for him to fight these guys. He couldn't just give up a shot at the title.

[JMac]

I remember back in the late 70's Martin, Quai and Spinks all trained at Frazier's gym. There was also many of the great Philly middleweights training there at the same time like Bennie Briscoe, Bobby "Boogaloo" Watts, Willie "The Worm" Monroe. James Shuler was an amateur. I was also an amateur there at the time but man watching the sparring sessions was a treat. That gym was loaded at the time. Meldrick Taylor was like 12 yrs old, Heavyweights like Marvis Frazier, Jimmy Clark, Marvin Stinson, even Tex Cobb was there. Fun place to train in.

[goose 5]

Are the stories true about Mike Spinks owning Qawi in sparring ?

[JMac]

I’m sure they sparred but I never saw them together. Spinks had the height and experience at the time to own him. Spinks beat him when they fought for the title.