Background
The son of Buster Mathis, a heavyweight boxer from the 1960s, who left his son a great legacy, being invited to the Olympics, and was a contender with boxing champions such as Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
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Buster Mathis
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Mathis Junior. was a heavy man and took up boxing because he was bullied as a child until the age of 14, and also for the benefit of losing extra weight. Mathis Junior. turned pro in 1991 and quickly put together 12 wins. A busy, crowding fighter, Mathis was small for a heavyweight at around 220 lbs but skilled enough to beat fairly respected fighters like Levi Billups, Justin Fortune and Mike Dixon very early in his career.
He was considered a weak puncher (3 KO"s in those 12 fights) but his opposition was above average.
In 1993 he challenged Mike "The Bounty" Hunter (23-3) for his USBA heavyweight belt. The loss however was soon voided after Hunter later tested positive for cocaine.
After a good effort bobbing and weaving out of the way of Bowe"s best shots, Mathis began to fall behind and took a knee in the fourth. Bowe knocked Mathis out while he was on the floor, yet instead of being disqualified, referee Arthur Mercante Senior and New Jersey commission boss Larry Hazzard agreed to void the contest.
This was Tyson"s second fight since being released from prison earlier in the year.
Mathis Senior did not see his son"s fight with Tyson, his final battle was health problems of diabetes and kidney issues. Mathis Senior died a few weeks before the Tyson fight. In the third round Tyson knocked Mathis out with a right uppercut.
A 1996 fight with prospect Obed Sullivan ended with a no contest in the 5th round, after Sullivan was badly cut in a clash of heads.
This was the third no contest in Mathis"s relatively brief career. In November 1996 Mathis lost his USBA belt to undefeated Lou Savarese.
Mathis retired at the age of 26 with a 21-2 (7 KO"s) record, and 3 no contests. After his boxing career he studied education receiving a bachelor"s degree from the University of Miami.
He currently resides in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan and spends his free time speaking to youth to encourage and motivate them, signing autographs and speaking to foster children.
Buster Mathis is now the vice president of a non-profit, Buster Mathis Incorporated. (wwwthebullybusterorg) and offers elementary children the Bully Buster Prevention Program through a boxing technique called the "peek-a-boo". Buster Mathis is single and has no children at this time.
Achievements
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Hunter won a close decision over Mathis. In 1994 Mathis again contested the USBA belt (stripped from Hunter), this time winning an impressive 12 round decision over ex-Olympic champion Tyrell Biggs (27-7). In August of that year Mathis was brought in as the comeback opponent for former undisputed champion Riddick Bowe. In 1995 Mathis retained his USBA belt with a point win over contender Alex Garcia, thus setting up a fight with Mike Tyson. Many believed that if Mathis Senior had been alive that Buster could have won the fight.
