Rocky Lockridge
Encyclopedia
Rocky Lockridge is a former boxer
and world champion. As a professional, he is perhaps best known for handing Roger Mayweather
his first defeat, in a first-round knockout
for the WBA
super featherweight
championship.
out of the Tacoma Boys Club. Being one of four world champions to originate from Tacoma
(including Freddie Steele
, Leo Randolph
and Johnny Bumphus
), his highlights as an amateur include:
; he became homeless and suffered a stroke that forced him to walk with a cane. He was recently featured in A&E
's Intervention
TV series, claiming that the intervention and the help of his sons saved his life. His appearance on the show—specifically, a scene in which he is seen crying heavily and loud—has become a popular Internet meme
, known as the "Best Cry Ever". In recent interviews he has expressed a desire to be drug-free, stating that he had never been this clean, even in his fighting days. "I feel so good today that if I hadn't suffered the stroke I would go for a title shot," he stated. He is also interested in becoming a boxing trainer.
Professional Boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided among the fighters and promoters as determined by contract...
and world champion. As a professional, he is perhaps best known for handing Roger Mayweather
Roger Mayweather
Roger Mayweather is a retired professional boxer. He won two major world titles in two different weight classes. Throughout his career, Mayweather fought against many other boxing champions of the 1980s and 1990s. He is a part of the Mayweather boxing family; his brothers are former welterweight...
his first defeat, in a first-round knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
for the WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
super featherweight
Super Featherweight
Super featherweight is a weight division in professional boxing. The maximum weight for this division is 130 pounds or 59 kilograms....
championship.
Amateur career
Lockridge started boxing as an amateurAmateur boxing
Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...
out of the Tacoma Boys Club. Being one of four world champions to originate from Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
(including Freddie Steele
Freddie Steele
Freddie Steele was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as middleweight champion of the world between 1936 and 1938. Steele was nicknamed "The Tacoma Assassin" and was trained by Jack Connor, Johnny Babnick, and Ray Arcel, while in New York...
, Leo Randolph
Leo Randolph
Leo Randolph is a former American boxer, who won the Flyweight Gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.-Amateur career:Randolph had an outstanding amateur career...
and Johnny Bumphus
Johnny Bumphus
Johnny 'Bump City' Bumphus , is a former boxer who was world light welterweight champion.-Professional career:...
), his highlights as an amateur include:
- 1977 National AAU BantamweightBantamweightBantamweight is usually a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds and up to 118 pounds . However, in Mixed Martial Arts it is 134-136 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight...
Champion, stopping David Douglas of the U.S. Army in the second round of the final. - 1978 National Golden Gloves Champion in Bantamweight Class
- 1978 Runner Up in National AAU Championships in Bantamweight Class, losing to Jackie BeardJackie BeardJackie Beard is a former American amateur boxer, hailing from Jackson, Tennessee.-Amateur career:Beard was an amateur boxing standout in the late 1970s. He won the National AAU in the bantamweight division three times 1978, 1979, and 1980. He also won the bantamweight championship in the 1978...
in Biloxi, MS - Defeated in the quarter-finals of the World Amateur Boxing ChampionshipsWorld Amateur Boxing ChampionshipsThe World Amateur Boxing Championships is a biennial amateur boxing competition organised by the International Boxing Association , which is the sport governing body. Alongside the Olympic boxing programme, it is the highest level of competition for the sport...
in BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
by Fazlija Šaćirović (2-3)
Retirement and later years
For the past two decades, Lockridge has suffered drug problemsSubstance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
; he became homeless and suffered a stroke that forced him to walk with a cane. He was recently featured in A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
's Intervention
Intervention (TV series)
Intervention is an American television program about the realities facing addicts of many kinds.Each program follows one or two participants, each of whom has an addiction or other mentally and/or physically damaging problem and believes that they are being filmed for a documentary on their problem...
TV series, claiming that the intervention and the help of his sons saved his life. His appearance on the show—specifically, a scene in which he is seen crying heavily and loud—has become a popular Internet meme
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
, known as the "Best Cry Ever". In recent interviews he has expressed a desire to be drug-free, stating that he had never been this clean, even in his fighting days. "I feel so good today that if I hadn't suffered the stroke I would go for a title shot," he stated. He is also interested in becoming a boxing trainer.