Whatever Happened To Trevor Berbick?
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Trevor Berbick was born on August 1, 1954, in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Berbick was 21 years old and had only 11 amateur fights when he represented Jamaica in the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games at heavyweight, losing to eventual Olympic Silver medalist Mircea Simon in the second round after receiving a first round bye. Berbick stayed in Montreal, and fought professionally out of Montreal and Halifax, Canada.
Berbick was 18-1-1 when he lost a 15 round decision to WBC World Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes in 1981. Berbick then won a ten round decision in the Bahamas in 1982 over Muhammad Ali, who had lost to Holmes in 1980 before Berbick did. Berbick went on to win the Canadian, Commonwealth British Empire, and United States Boxing Association regional heavyweight titles.
In March 1986, Berbick won the WBC World Heavyweight title by decisioning 26-0-1 Pinklon Thomas by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. In November 1986, Berbick lost the WBC title when he was stopped in two rounds in Las Vegas by 27-0 Iron Mike Tyson.
Though Berbick won many more fights, he lost critical decisions to Carl Williams, James Buster Douglas (who knocked out Tyson), Jimmy Thunder. Hasim Rahman (who knocked out Lennox Lewis), Lyle McDowell (an IBO regional bout) and Tony LaRosa. Berbick won a decision over former world middleweight champion Iran Barkley, and beat Shane Sutcliffe twice, as his career ended, retaining the Canadian Heavyweight title by 12 round decision in Vancouver in May 2000 at age 45. Final professional ring record of Trevor Berbick: 49-11-1 with 33 knockouts between 1976 and 2000.
Berbick, an ordained Pentecostal minister, was married with seven children, and training fighters in Florida, when he was deported from the United States for a parole violation in December 2002. Berbick, 52, was murdered in October 2006 in Norwich, Jamaica, by his 20 year old nephew Harold Berbick, who was sentenced in Jamaica to life imprisonment for killing the former heavyweight champion with a blow from a steel pipe over a land dispute. An accomplice was convicted of manslaughter. Trevor Berbick is buried in the Berbick family plot in Norwich, Portland, Jamaica. Along with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Jimmy Cliff, Trevor Berbick’s name and flashing fame are a legacy to Jamaica. It remains unlikely any Jamaican athlete will rise to world championship status again.
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