Lee Roy Murphy


Lee Roy Murphy is a retired American professional boxer. He held the IBF
world cruiserweight title from 1984 to 1986.

Amateur career

Murphy represented Chicago at three consecutive Intercity Golden Gloves dispatching his rivals with the first-round knockouts in 1977 and 1978, and winning the 1979 Light Heavyweight National Golden Gloves and earning a spot on the 1980 United States Olympic team. However, as the USA boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow due to political reasons, Murphy and the rest of his team were not allowed an Olympic berth. Murphy did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes. Instead the U.S. team dispatched first to the West Germany for a match-up with the West German national team, and then to Kenya, to compete in the inaugural Gold Cup international boxing tournament funded partially by the U.S. State Department, for the benefit of countries which boycotted the Summer Olympics.

Highlights

, International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, March 1976:
USA–USSR Duals, Las Vegas, Nevada, January 1977:
National Golden Gloves, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 1977:
Chicago Golden Gloves, International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, March 1977:
35th Intercity Golden Gloves, Madison Square Garden, New York City, April 1977:
AAU National Championships, Ohio State Fair, Columbus, Ohio, August 1977:
USA–Romania Duals, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 1978:
National Golden Gloves, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 1978:
Chicago Golden Gloves, International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, April 1978:
36th Intercity Golden Gloves, Chicago, Illinois, April 1978:
Chemistry Cup, Halle, East Germany, June 1978:
National Sports Festival, Fort Carson, Colorado, July 1978:
USA–USSR Duals, Troy, New York, February 1979:
USA–Poland Duals, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, February 1979:
National Golden Gloves, Indianapolis, Indiana, March 1979:
37th Intercity Golden Gloves, Madison Square Garden, New York City, April 1979:
Pan Am Trials, Toledo, Ohio, May 1979:
USSR–USA Duals, Moscow, Soviet Union, January 1980:
National Golden Gloves, Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana, March 1980:
Olympic Trials, Atlanta, Georgia, June 1980:
FRG–USA Duals, West Berlin, West Germany, July 1980:
Gold Cup, Nairobi, Kenya, September 1980:
He finished his amateur career having 162 victories to his credit.

Professional career

Known as "Solid Gold", Murphy turned pro in 1980 and won the IBF Cruiserweight Title with a 14th-round TKO of Marvin Camel in 1984. He defended the title three times before losing the belt to Ricky Parkey in 1986. After the loss, Murphy's career drifted into obscurity with losses to Dwight Muhammad Qawi in 1987 and Mike Evans in 1991. He retired after the loss to Evans, but launched a brief comeback in 1998, winning both of his bouts.

Personal

Lee Roy's brother, Kenny Murphy, was also a prizefighter and fought Fabrice Tiozzo for the WBA Cruiserweight Title in 1999.he won four Intercity Golden Gloves' championships in 1977 at 165 lb. and in 1978 through 1980 at 178 lb.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
Win30–4 Kimmuel OdumUD607/08/1998 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win29–4 Jerry BrownTKO426/06/1998 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesReferee stopped the bout at 2:40 of the fourth round.
Loss28–4 Mike EvansUD1202/03/1991 Darlington, County Durham, United KingdomIBF Intercontinental Heavyweight Title. 112-117, 112-117, 111-117.
Win28–3 Terry ArmstrongUD1012/09/1990 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Loss27–3 Johnny du PlooyPTS1009/06/1990 Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Win27–2 Alfonzo RatliffKO426/06/1989 Villa Park, Illinois, United StatesIllinois Heavyweight Title.
Loss26–2 Dwight Muhammad QawiTKO615/08/1987 Saint-Tropez, Var, France
Win26–1 Bobby CrabtreeUD1028/04/1987 Chicago, Illinois, United States49-41, 50-40, 50-40.
Win25–1 Steve MorminoPTS827/03/1987 Viareggio, Toscana, Italy
Loss24–1 Rickey ParkeyTKO1025/10/1986 Marsala, Sicilia, ItalyLost IBF cruiserweight title
Win24–0 Dorcy GaymonKO919/04/1986 Sanremo Casino, Sanremo, Liguria, ItalyRetained IBF cruiserweight title
Win23–0 Chisanda MuttiKO1219/10/1985 Monte Carlo, MonacoRetained IBF cruiserweight title
Win22–0 Eddie TaylorTKO1220/12/1984 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesRetained IBF cruiserweight title
Win21–0 Marvin CamelTKO1406/10/1984 Billings, Montana, United StatesWon IBF cruiserweight title
Win20–0 Darnell HayesKO215/03/1984 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win19–0 Steve ZouskiUD1020/12/1983 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win18–0 Ralph CuomoTKO102/12/1983 Shirley, New York, United States
Win17–0 Willie CrawfordTKO107/11/1983 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win16–0 Frank PayneUD1018/10/1983 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win15–0 Keith AllenTKO605/10/1983 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesReferee stopped the bout at 0:39 of the sixth round.
Win14–0 Ivy BrownKO107/08/1983 Las Vegas, Nevada, United StatesBrown knocked out at 2:13 of the first round.
Win13–0 Rahim MuhammadKO922/05/1983 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win12–0 Charles AllenKO407/02/1983 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesAllen knocked out at 1:25 of the first round.
Win11–0 Terry DennyKO319/07/1982 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesDenny knocked out at 1:28 of the third round.
Win10–0 Eddie SmithKO419/03/1982 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesSmith knocked out at 2:09 of the fourth round.
Win9–0 Charles PresswoodKO105/02/1982 Danville, Illinois, United StatesPresswood knocked out at 2:39 of the first round.
Win8–0 Frank DiaperTKO222/01/1982 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesReferee stopped the bout at 2:43 of the second round.
Win7–0 Elvis ParksPTS603/10/1981 Rosemont, Illinois, United StatesParks down twice in the sixth round.
Win6–0 John TrollingerKO127/07/1981 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesTrollinger knocked out at 0:35 of the first round.
Win5–0 Darnell HayesK0205/06/1981 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesHayes knocked out at 2:01 of the second round.
Win4–0 Reggie WalkerTKO216/04/1981 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesReferee stopped the bout at 2:25 of the second round.
Win3–0 Floyd CrossKO309/03/1981 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesCross down three times in the first round and knocked out at 2:53 of the third round.
Win2–0 Gary HunterKO111/12/1980 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesHunter knocked out at 1:34 of the first round.
Win1–0 Roger MooreKO213/11/1980 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesMoore knocked out at 1:22 of the second round. Father of Roger, Archie Moore offered to fight Murphy to avenge his son's loss.