# Gary Mason (boxer)

Gary Mason (15 December 1962 – 6 January 2011) was a Jamaican professional boxer who was based in Chatham, Kent, England. He was born in London. Mason fought at the heavyweight level and became the British heavyweight champion in 1989. Mason was a top ten contender, his main strengths being his punching power and physical strength.

## Professional career

Mason fought 38 times as a professional in a career that spanned 10 years from 1984 to 1994, with 37 wins (34 by knockout) and only one loss, that being to Lennox Lewis when he challenged for the European title in 1991. Mason gave Lewis his hardest fight up to that point in his career.
Mason defeated a number of well known heavyweights, including Tyrell Biggs, James Tillis, Alfonzo Ratliff, Ricky Parkey, James Pritchard, Louis Pergaud, Hughroy Currie and David Jaco.
Mason sparred with the former WBA World cruiserweight number one and British heavyweight champion David Pearce. Pearce helped him with sparring in preparation for Mason's title fights, he praised Pearce and said he was instrumental in his helping his career.
He suffered a detached retina in a bout with Everett Martin in 1990. After a short retirement he staged a comeback, which ended with a TKO defeat by Lennox Lewis, which aggravated Mason's eye injury. He came back once again, but after winning two fights in the US he retired for good.

## Rugby
### Club career

Mason played three rugby league matches for the London Crusaders (now London Broncos), scoring a try in his first game. Mason also played in occasional soccer matches as part of an 'Arsenal Celebrities' team at the old 'Highbury' football ground in North London.

## Television appearances

Mason appeared in a special celebrity show of Gladiators that raised money for charity in 1993 which John Fashanu won. Mason also appeared on the panel of the ITV show You Bet!, and the second episode of the first series of GamesMaster in 1992 playing Sonic Blast Man arcade. Mason's home was also one of those featured on the panel show Through the Keyhole.

## Death

On the morning of 6 January 2011 Mason died after being hit by a van in Sandy Lane South, Wallington, South London whilst cycling. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

## Professional boxing record

| 38 fights | 37 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 34 | 1 |
| By decision | 3 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 38 | Win | 37–1 | Martin Foster | TKO | 3 (10), 0:53 | 10 Sep 1994 | Flamingo Hilton, Laughlin, Nevada, US | |
| 37 | Win | 36–1 | Kevin P Porter | TKO | 2 (10), 2:58 | 29 Jan 1994 | UND Sports Center, Grand Forks, North Dakota, US | |
| 36 | Loss | 35–1 | Lennox Lewis | TKO | 7 (12), 0:44 | 6 Mar 1991 | Wembley Arena, London, England | Lost British heavyweight title; For European heavyweight title |
| 35 | Win | 35–0 | James Pritchard | TKO | 9 (10), 2:09 | 12 Dec 1990 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 34 | Win | 34–0 | Everett Martin | PTS | 10 | 14 Mar 1990 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 33 | Win | 33–0 | Mark Anthony Wills | PTS | 10 | 6 Dec 1989 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 32 | Win | 32–0 | Tyrell Biggs | KO | 7 (10), 3:00 | 4 Oct 1989 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 31 | Win | 31–0 | Jess Harding | KO | 1 (12), 0:30 | 28 Jun 1989 | International Centre, Brentwood, England | Retained British heavyweight title |
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Terry Armstrong | KO | 3 (10) | 29 Mar 1989 | Wembley Grand Hall, London, England | |
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Hughroy Currie | KO | 4 (12), 3:00 | 18 Jan 1989 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Won vacant British heavyweight title |
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | James Tillis | TKO | 5 (10), 1:50 | 30 Nov 1988 | Elephant & Castle Centre, London, England | |
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | David Jaco | TKO | 4 (10), 2:52 | 24 Oct 1988 | Blazers Nightclub, Windsor, England | |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Manoel De Almeida | TKO | 7 (10) | 13 Apr 1988 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Ricky Parkey | TKO | 1 (10), 2:47 | 9 Mar 1988 | Wembley Grand Hall, London, England | |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Alfonzo Ratliff | TKO | 6 (10), 1:17 | 3 Feb 1988 | Wembley Grand Hall, London, England | |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Sammy Scaff | TKO | 2 (8) | 3 Dec 1987 | Cliff's Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, England | |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Andrew Gerrard | TKO | 6 (8) | 24 Oct 1987 | White Hart Lane, London, England | |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Andre van den Oetelaar | KO | 2 (8) | 25 Sep 1987 | Cliff's Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, England | |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Eddie Richardson | TKO | 7 (8) | 30 Aug 1987 | Plaza de Toros, Marbella, Spain | |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Billy Joe Thomas | TKO | 2 (8) | 26 May 1987 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Woody Clark | TKO | 2 (8), 2:39 | 18 Apr 1987 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Richard Scott | TKO | 1 (8), 1:27 | 24 Mar 1987 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Rodney Smith | TKO | 1 (8), 1:04 | 22 Feb 1987 | Wembley Grand Hall, London, England | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Oscar Holman | PTS | 8 | 26 Nov 1986 | Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Donnie Long | KO | 1 (8), 1:31 | 4 Nov 1986 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Lorenzo Boyd | KO | 2 (8) | 17 Sep 1986 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Mark Young | KO | 5 (8) | 19 Jul 1986 | Wembley Stadium, London, England | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Ivy Brown | KO | 2 (8) | 20 May 1986 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Maurice Gomis | TKO | 3 (8), 1:17 | 24 Apr 1986 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Louis Pergaud | RTD | 4 (8), 3:00 | 9 Apr 1986 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Charles Hostetter | TKO | 1 (8), 2:35 | 4 Mar 1986 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Denroy Bryan | KO | 1 (6), 1:20 | 19 Feb 1986 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Steve Gee | TKO | 5 (6), 1:25 | 4 Dec 1985 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Steve Gee | TKO | 5 (6), 1:38 | 5 Nov 1985 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Luc Goossens | KO | 1 (6), 2:33 | 6 Mar 1985 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Frank Robinson | TKO | 1 (6) | 18 Jan 1985 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Al Malcolm | TKO | 2 (6), 0:20 | 14 Dec 1984 | Wembley Conference Centre, London, England | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Al Malcolm | KO | 1 (6) | 16 Oct 1984 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |