Morris East

Morris East (born August 8, 1973 in Olongapo, Philippines) is a retired Filipino professional boxer and boxing trainer.[1] East is the former GAB Light Middleweight, OPBF and WBA World Light Welterweight champion.[2] Morris has trained world champions Zab Judah and Nonito Donaire.[3]

Morris East
Statistics
Real nameMorris East
Weight(s)
Nationality Filipino
Born (1973-08-08) August 8, 1973
Olongapo, Philippines
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights25
Wins20
Wins by KO12
Losses4
Draws0
No contests1

Amateur career

As a teenager, East moved to Cebu City and was spotted by Lito Cortes who brought him to the Cebu Coliseum gym. Promoter Sammy Gello-ani then offered him amateur fights to keep him earning for his meals.[4]

Professional career

WBA Light Welterweight Championship

East turned professional in 1989 and won the WBA World Light Welterweight Championship by defeating Akinobu Hiranaka with an 11th round TKO victory in Tokyo on 9 September 1992. With the victory, East became the youngest ever Filipino to hold a world championship in boxing at the age of 19 years and 31 days old.[5] He is also the second youngest boxer to win a world title at 140 lbs., second to Puerto Rico's Wilfred Benitez, who won the WBA World Jr. Welterweight title when he was 17 years old.[4] The victory over Hiranaka was named Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 1992. Morris lost the title in his first defense against Juan Martin Coggi.[6]

East would retire after winning and defending the Philippines Games & Amusement Board Light Middleweight Championship in 1995 at only 21 years of age.

Professional boxing record
24 fights, 20 wins (12 knockouts), 4 loss
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
25 Win 20–4 Robert Azumah UD 12 1995-05-27 Ninoy Aquino Stadium, District of Malate, Manila, Metro Manila Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) super welterweight title
24 Win 19–4 Jun Castillo TKO 1 (12) 1995-03-25 Iloilo City Sports Complex, Iloilo City, Iloilo Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) super welterweight title
23 Loss 18–4 Jintoku Sato UD 10 1995-02-13 Tokyo
22 Win 18–3 Jeff Malcolm PTS 10 1994-11-26 Cebu City, Cebu,
21 Win 17–3 Yung-Yong Lee KO 6 (10) 1994-05-14 Araneta Center, Quezon City, Metro Manila
20 Loss 16–3 Juan Martin Coggi TKO 8 (12), 2:50 1993-01-12 Estadio Super Domo, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Lost WBA World super lightweight title
19 Win 16–2 Akinobu Hiranaka TKO 11 (12), 1:47 1992-09-09 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo Won WBA World super lightweight title

Training career

East moved to San Diego, California in 1996 and later moved to Las Vegas, where he works as a fight trainer in the Johnny Tocco gym. In 2011, he worked with IBF light welterweight titleholder Zab Judah and WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire.[5][7] East also worked with Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.[1]

Personal life

Born of a Filipina and black American U.S. Navy sailor, East didn't meet his father until he became champion. He traveled from the Philippines to the United States a month after winning his WBA belt to locate his father, John East, Sr. With the help of a CNN news team, the father was located in Oakland, California and their first meeting was broadcast by CNN. Morris, Jr. improved his father's living condition but his father, suffering from bad health, died of a massive heart attack a few months later.[8]

References
  1. http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content9094.html
  2. http://www.boxingscene.com/morris-east-signs-juanito-rubillar-rexon-flores--11657
  3. http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Donaire-blazing-trail-up-sport-s-ladder-of-success-3004811.php
  4. http://philboxing.com/news/story-26741.html
  5. http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=500727&publicationSubCategoryId=69
  6. http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=9219
  8. http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php/Morris_East
Preceded by
Akinobu Hiranaka		 WBA Light Welterweight Champion
September 9, 1992 – January 12, 1993		 Succeeded by
Juan Martin Coggi
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.