Morris East (born August 8, 1973, in Olongapo, Philippines) is a retired Filipino professional boxer and boxing trainer. East is the former GAB Light Middleweight, OPBF and WBA World Light Welterweight champion. Morris has trained world champions Zab Judah and Nonito Donaire.
Amateur career As a teenager, East moved to Cebu City and was spotted by Lito Cortes who brought him to the Cebu Coliseum gym. Promoter Sammy Gello-ani then offered him amateur fights to keep him earning for his meals.
Professional career
WBA Light Welterweight Championship East turned professional in 1989, at the young age of 15, and won the WBA World Light Welterweight Championship by defeating Akinobu Hiranaka with an 11th-round TKO victory in Tokyo on 9 September 1992. With the victory, East became the youngest ever Filipino to hold a world championship in boxing at the age of 19 years and 31 days old. He is also the second youngest boxer to win a world title at 140 lbs., second to Puerto Rico's Wilfred Benítez, who won the WBA World Jr. Welterweight title when he was 17 years old, the youngest ever to win a world title in boxing history. The victory over Hiranaka was named Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 1992. Morris lost the title in his first defense against Martín Coggi.
After winning and defending the Philippines Games & Amusement Board Light Middleweight Championship in 1995, East retired from boxing at only 21 years of age. To this day, East holds the record for the youngest retirement of a former world champion.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes25WinRobert AzumahUD1227 May 199524Win19–4 Jun CastilloTKO1 (12)25 Mar 199523Loss18–4 Jintoku SatoUD1013 Feb 199522Win18–3 Jeff MalcolmUD1026 Nov 199421Win17–3 Lee Yung-YongKO6 (10)14 May 199420Loss16–3 Martín CoggiTKO8 (12), 12 Jan 199319Win16–2 Akinobu HiranakaTKO11 (12), 9 Sep 199218Win15–2 Dindo Canoy9 (10), 17 Jul 199217Win14–2 Kim Pyung-SubKO10 (12), 29 Feb 199216Win13–2 Flash UrsusUD1020 Dec 199115Win12–2 Florencio Pastor Jr.TKO9 (10)19 Oct 199114Win11–2 Tata EscorroTKO7 (10)28 Aug 199113Win10–2 Joey CarpasPTS1012 Jun 199112NC9–2 Jojo Cayson6 (10), 22 Dec 199011Win9–2Armando AnzalezUD1012 Oct 199010Win8–2Ric de la PazTKO4 (10)31 Aug 19909Win7–2Pablo PucayTKO6 (10), 14 Jul 19908Loss6–2Fernando PaladSD1031 Mar 19907Win6–1Alberto SaxonTKO5 (10)21 Jan 19906Win5–1Boy MasuayTKO6 (10)29 Dec 19895Win4–1Armando AndalesUD1030 Nov 19894Loss3–1Boy MasuayMD1030 Sep 19893Win3–0Geronimo MagallanesUD821 Jul 19892Win2–0Fer GuevarraUD623 Jun 19891Win1–0Jessie Miranda6 (6)3 May 1989
Training career East moved to San Diego, California in 1996 and later moved to Las Vegas, where he works as a fight trainer in the Johnny Tocco gym. In 2011, he worked with IBF light welterweight titleholder Zab Judah and WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire. East also worked with Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.
Personal life Born of a Filipina and black American U.S. Navy sailor, East didn't meet his father until he became champion. He traveled from the Philippines to the United States a month after winning his WBA belt to locate his father, John East Sr. With the help of a long-lost sister and the CNN news team, the father was located in Oakland, California and their first meeting was broadcast by CNN. Morris improved his father's living condition but his father, suffering from bad health, died of cancer a few months later.
See also List of southpaw stance boxers List of Filipino boxing world champions List of world light-welterweight boxing champions
References
External links