Monte Barrett (born May 26, 1971) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2014. He challenged once for the WBA heavyweight title in 2006, and fought many top heavyweight champions and contenders during his career.

Amateur career Barrett had 40 amateur fights, finishing his amateur career with 37-3 record, signed a contract with Joe De Guardia and turned pro in 1996.

Professional career As a professional, Barrett had 21 consecutive wins before losing against Lance Whitaker on August 28, 1998. Later, he won a regional heavyweight title. Barrett fought Phil Jackson for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight title on April 3, 1999. On July 15, 2000, Barrett rose 5 times against future International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, but ultimately was knocked out after 3 knockdowns in the 7th round. He also fought contender Joe Mesi in a fight that saw both fighters go down but one in which, ultimately, Mesi prevailed by ten round majority decision. Barrett defeated prospects Dominick Guinn and Owen Beck, the latter in an elimination bout for a shot at either the IBF title (then held by Chris Byrd) or the WBC title (then held by Vitali Klitschko). After Klitschko injured his back, Barrett fought Hasim Rahman for the WBC interim title and lost by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

Despite his loss, he fought World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev in October at Rosemont, Illinois. Barrett lost via technical knockout in the 11th round. Barrett was knocked down in the eighth and eleventh rounds, but managed to get up. After being knocked down for the second time in the eleventh round, his trainer, James Ali Basheer, jumped into the ring to stop the fight.

Barrett was beaten in the second round in a July 2007 bout against Cliff Couser. Barrett avenged this loss in a December 2007 rematch in which he stopped Couser in the second round. After knocking out Damon Reed, Barrett knocked out Tye Fields in the first round on June 28, 2008, his last win.

Barrett lost to former cruiserweight champion David Haye (who was also the promoter of the fight) on November 15, 2008, at the O2 arena in London, by knockout at 1:28 fifth round, after being put down five times in the fight. Haye then beat Nicolai Valuev, who had beaten Monte by an eleventh round stoppage in October 2006, to win the WBA's share of the world heavyweight title.

Monte fought Odlanier Solís on October 10, 2009, but lost by second round technical knockout. He then fought Alexander Ustinov on December 12, 2009 but lost a unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

On July 17, 2010 Barrett drew against David Tua. Tua dominated the early rounds through aggression, but Barrett took control in the later rounds and scored a knockdown in the 12th (knocking down Tua for the first time in his professional career). The bout resulted in a controversial draw (as a point was also deducted from Tua in round 12 for throwing Barrett to the canvas)Michael Woods (July 18, 2010) "David Tua And Monte Barrett Battle To Draw In AC". The Sweet Science. with two judges scoring the fight 113–113 and the third a 115–111 result to Tua. On August 7, 2010, appearing ringside at a fight card at Aviator Arena in Brooklyn, New York, in a brief interview, Barrett confirmed his retirement from the ring and his intention to take a job offered to him in private industry. On August 21, 2010, Barrett entered the ring at The Prudential Center in Newark after IBF International heavyweight champion Tomas Adamek won a decision over Michael Grant. Seeking to come out of retirement, Barrett congratulated and challenged Adamek to a 12 round bout. However, after fighting to an eight round draw in Virginia with Charles Davis in January 2011, Barrett began training for a rematch with David Tua which was held in New Zealand. On August 13, 2011, Barrett defeated Tua via unanimous decision and won the WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental Heavyweight titles. In December 2011, it emerged Monte Barrett tested positive for banned stimulant methylhex-anemine following a urine test after his August 13 points decision over the Kiwi-Samoan boxer. Blair Edwards Tua'a lawyer, called for action against the 40-year-old New Yorker requesting the return of Tua's WBO Asia-Pacific and Oriental titles and restoration of ranking points.

Barrett fought New Zealander Shane Cameron on July 5, 2012 with the winner becoming the number one contender to fight NZPBA title holder Sonny Bill Williams. Days before the fight he admitted the Shane Cameron fight would be "a challenge", but that was spurring him on to win. Barrett also stated that he would look for a third fight with David Tua, after he had beaten Cameron. However he was knocked out in the 4th round with a right hand and lost the titles that he had won against David Tua the previous year.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes48LossLuis OrtizKO4 (10), Apr 3, 201447Loss35–10–2Shane CameronKO4 (12), Jul 5, 201246Win35–9–2David TuaUD12Aug 13, 201145Draw34–9–2Charles DavisMD8Jan 22, 201144Draw34–9–1David Tua12Jul 17, 201043Loss34–9Alexander UstinovUD12Dec 12, 200942Loss34–8Odlanier SolísTKO2 (10), Oct 10, 200941Loss34–7David HayeTKO5 (10), Nov 15, 200840Win34–6Tye FieldsKO1 (10), Jun 28, 200839Win33–6Damon ReedKO2 (8), Feb 2, 200838Win32–6Cliff CouserTKO2 (6), Dec 6, 200737Loss31–6Cliff CouserTKO2 (10), Jul 7, 200736Loss31–5Nikolai ValuevTKO11 (12), Oct 7, 200635Loss31–4Hasim RahmanUD12Aug 13, 200534Win31–3Owen BeckTKO9 (12), Feb 5, 200533Win30–3Dominick GuinnSD10Mar 27, 200432Loss29–3Joe Mesi10Dec 6, 200331Win29–2Eric KirklandTKO10 (10), Oct 3, 200330Win28–2Robert WigginsSD10Mar 8, 200329Win27–2Terry PorterUD6Mar 8, 200328Win26–2Robert DavisUD10Sep 28, 200127Win25–2Tim WitherspoonSD10Jun 8, 200126Win24–2Mario CawleyTKO9 (10), Jan 7, 200125Loss23–2Wladimir KlitschkoTKO7 (10), Jul 15, 200024Win23–1Jimmy ThunderTKO7 (10), Feb 24, 200023Win22–1Derrick BanksUD10Jan 27, 200022Loss21–1Lance Whitaker12Aug 28, 199921Win21–0Tim RayKO1 (8), Jul 25, 199920Win20–0Phil JacksonUD12Apr 3, 199919Win19–0Greg PageUD10Oct 23, 199818Win18–0Bryant SmithUD10Sep 11, 199817Win17–0Derek AmosTKO8 (10)Jun 19, 199816Win16–0Louis Monaco6May 9, 199815Win15–0Jeff PeguesTKO1 (8)Mar 27, 199814Win14–0Guy SonnenbergTKO4 (8), Jan 16, 199813Win13–0Santiago De PaulaTKO3 (8)Nov 21, 199712Win12–0Val SmithTKO6 (8)Nov 1, 199711Win11–0Billy LewisKO1 (6)Oct 2, 199710Win10–0Kevin BristerTKO1 (6)Jul 13, 19979Win9–0Juan QuintanaPTS6May 17, 19978Win8–0Lee AlhassanPTS6May 1, 19977Win7–0Ron McCarthyPTS6Mar 14, 19976Win6–0Russell PerryKO1 (4)Jan 31, 19975Win5–0Frank Grazier1 (4)Jan 21, 19974Win4–0Mitchell Rose4Nov 8, 19963Win3–0Andre HorneTKO1 (4)Oct 5, 19962Win2–0Scott MarcantonioTKO1 (4)Sep 18, 19961Win1–0Jamal Edwards1 (4)Aug 16, 1996

References

External links

BoxingRecords