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Buster Mathis (June 5, 1943 - September 6, 1995) had a very successful career as an amateur heavyweight
Heavyweight

Heavyweight is a division, or boxing weight classes, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Organization, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing Organization....
 boxer
Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....
. He qualified for a spot in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics
1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964....
. Unfortunately, he was injured and was unable to compete there. Instead of him, the fighter Mathis beat in the Olympic Trials went to the Olympics. This fighter was the legendary Joe Frazier
Joe Frazier

Joseph William Frazier, known as Smokin' Joe, is a former Olympic and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, active mostly from the later 1960s to the mid 1970s....
, and he went on to win the gold medal, which was ironic because Mathis had beaten Joe to qualify for the games.

Mathis turned professional in June 1965 with a second round knockout
Knockout

A knockout is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving strike ....
 victory over Bob Maynard.






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Buster Mathis (June 5, 1943 - September 6, 1995) had a very successful career as an amateur heavyweight
Heavyweight

Heavyweight is a division, or boxing weight classes, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Organization, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing Organization....
 boxer
Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....
. He qualified for a spot in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics
1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964....
. Unfortunately, he was injured and was unable to compete there. Instead of him, the fighter Mathis beat in the Olympic Trials went to the Olympics. This fighter was the legendary Joe Frazier
Joe Frazier

Joseph William Frazier, known as Smokin' Joe, is a former Olympic and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, active mostly from the later 1960s to the mid 1970s....
, and he went on to win the gold medal, which was ironic because Mathis had beaten Joe to qualify for the games.

Mathis turned professional in June 1965 with a second round knockout
Knockout

A knockout is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving strike ....
 victory over Bob Maynard. Buster Mathis went on to win his next 22 contests as well and qualified for a shot at the World Heavyweight Title, which had become vacant after Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is a retired United States boxing and former three-time List of heavyweight boxing champions.As an amateur, Ali won a gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in the light heavyweight division gold medal....
 was stripped of the title for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
. The fight was to be held March 4, 1968 in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
's Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City....
 and the fighter he had to beat for the championship was Joe Frazier
Joe Frazier

Joseph William Frazier, known as Smokin' Joe, is a former Olympic and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, active mostly from the later 1960s to the mid 1970s....
, his old nemesis.

Mathis made a promising start to the contest but couldn't keep up with the lighter Frazier and lost the fight by an 11th round knockout. Buster Mathis continued to fight over the next couple of years, mostly winning but never able to win the really important fights, like a 1971 fight against Muhammad Ali which he lost by a 12 round points decision.

After Mathis was knocked out in three rounds in August 1972 by Ron Lyle
Ron Lyle

Ron Lyle was a professional boxing....
, he decided to retire from boxing. Mathis suffered from various health problems in later years, such as diabetes and kidney problems. He suffered a heart attack and two strokes. His compulsive eating had ballooned his weight to 550 pounds and, in 1995, he died of a heart attack at age of 52.

He won 30 fights (21 by KO) and lost 4 (with Frazier, Jerry Quarry
Jerry Quarry

"Irish" Jerry Quarry , nicknamed ?The Bellflower, California Bomber,? was an American heavyweight boxing....
, Ali and Lyle).

His son Buster Mathis Jr.
Buster Mathis Jr.

Buster Mathis Jr., born March 24, 1970 in Grand Rapids, MI, was an United States boxing in the heavyweight division.The son of Buster Mathis, one of the elite heavyweight contenders in the 60s and renowned for his overweight physique and flashy skills, Mathis Jr was also a heavy man and took up boxing to lose weight....
 was to later become a successful fighter, and was to take on Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson, also known as Malik Abdul, is a retired United States Boxing. He was the List of undisputed boxing champions#Heavyweight and remains the youngest man ever to win a world heavyweight title at just 20 years old....
 in 1995. His son Cole, was born in China in 1992, in Shanghai.

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