Billy Joiner (10 May 1938 – 2019), was an American professional boxer from Cincinnati, U.S.

Early life edit

Joiner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 10 May 1938.[1] His father was a former professional boxer, as was his uncle who had once knocked out Freddie Miller in a bout.[2]

Amateur career edit

Joiner was the 1962 National Golden Gloves and National AAU Light-Heavyweight Champion and compiled an Amateur record of 86–6 (The Ring, March 1964), and won the National Golden Gloves with a win over Gerald McClure of Toledo, Ohio. He also fought Cassius Clay twice as an amateur between 1960–61. He made his professional debut in August 1962, stopping Jukius Dickins in two rounds.. Training in the Reading Hill Gym. Sparing partner. Rocky Susshine. Was training for his first bought in the Grater Cincinnati Golden Gloves. Greater Cincinnati included Cincinnati. Kentucky and Indiana. In the first year Rocky Susshine won 38 fights by TKO. Rocky going from Sub-Novice to Open Division in the first year. Soon after Rocky was sent to Vietnam.

Professional career edit

He was a promising heavyweight prospect in the 1960s who failed to live up to his promise. A slick boxer with little punch, Joiner is best remembered for lasting the distance with former world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston on March 28, 1969, during Liston's comeback. This was in fact their second fight. They'd fought in May the year before with Liston winning a seventh round stoppage.

He also fought (and lost) to top heavyweight contenders Zora Folley, Oscar Bonavena, Mac Foster, Alfredo Evangelista and Larry Holmes.

Later life edit

After retiring from the ring Joiner worked for thirty years with the Ohio State Highway Maintenance Department, finishing as a Superintendent. He was also employed as an amateur boxing coach.[2]

Death edit

Joiner died at the age of 81 in June 2019.[3]

Professional boxing record edit

12 Wins (5 knockouts, 7 decisions), 13 Losses (5 knockouts, 8 decisions), 3 Draws[1]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Win 12-13-3   Young Louis PTS 10 13/11/1981   Northwest Activities Center, Detroit, Michigan
Loss 11-13-3   Alfredo Evangelista KO 1 27/05/1978   Leon, Spain
Win 11-12-3   "King" Jim Fletcher TKO 5 19/08/1976   Washoe Fairgrounds Pavilion, Reno, Nevada
Loss 10-12-3   Oscar Bonavena UD 10 26/02/1976   Reno, Nevada 44-49, 45-48, 42-49.
Loss 10-11-3   Larry Holmes TKO 3 20/12/1975   Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Hato Rey Referee stopped the bout at 2:29 of the third round.
Loss 10-10-3   Bernd August PTS 8 28/09/1973   Berlin
Loss 10-9-3   Mac Foster KO 5 29/07/1971   Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California Joiner knocked out at 2:55 of the fifth round.
Loss 10-8-3   Juergen Blin PTS 10 09/10/1970   Hamburg
Loss 10-7-3   Alvin Lewis UD 10 15/07/1970   Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss 10-6-3   Zora Folley UD 10 05/11/1969   Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win 10-5-3   Bob Cleroux SD 10 31/07/1969   Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec 47-45, 48-47, 47-48.
Loss 9-5-3   Sonny Liston UD 10 28/03/1969   Kiel Auditorium, Saint Louis, Missouri
Loss 9-4-3   Sonny Liston RTD 7 23/05/1968   Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Draw 9-3-3   Chuck Leslie PTS 10 27/03/1968   Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada
Draw 9-3-2   Dante Cane PTS 10 12/02/1968   Bologna, Emilia-Romagna
Draw 9-3-1   Piero Tomasoni PTS 10 26/12/1967   Brescia, Lombardy
Loss 9-3   "King" Jim Fletcher PTS 10 04/12/1967   Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss 9-2   Hubert Hilton TKO 9 08/09/1966   Freeport Stadium, Freeport, New York
Win 9-1   Mert Brownfield KO 2 13/06/1966   Cincinnati, Ohio
Win 8-1   Lee Wallace Carr UD 10 13/11/1964   Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss 7-1   Amos Johnson SD 10 11/09/1964   Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio Ohio Heavyweight Title.
Win 7-0   Oron Johnson TKO 8 22/05/1964   Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio Referee stopped the bout at 2:50 of the eighth round.
Win 6-0   Harvey C. Jones UD 8 17/04/1964   Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win 5-0   Lloyd Washington UD 10 11/03/1964   Painesville Armory, Painesville, Ohio 98-89, 97-92, 98-90.
Win 4-0   Lou Bailey PTS 10 17/01/1964   Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win 3-0   Amos Johnson PTS 10 19/11/1963   Akron, Ohio
Win 2-0   Marion Connor TKO 5 06/02/1963   Canton Auditorium, Canton, Ohio Referee stopped the bout at 2:05 of the fifth round.
Win 1-0   Julius Dickens KO 2 25/08/1962   Madison Square Garden, New York City Dickens knocked out at 1:24 of the second round.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Billy Joiner". BoxRec.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-07.
  2. ^ a b 'The man who fought Liston and Cassius Clay four times', 'Boxing.com', 28 July 2016. http://www.boxing.com/the_man_who_fought_liston_and_cassius_clayfour_times.html Archived 2019-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Obituary for Joiner, 'Boxing 247.com', 14 June 2019. https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/r-i-p-billy-joiner-1938-2019/120566

External links edit