Gary Mason (15 December 1962 – 6 January 2011) was a Jamaican-British professional boxer. At regional level, he held the British heavyweight title from 1989 to 1991; and challenged once for the European title in 1991.
Professional career Mason fought 38 times as a professional in a career that spanned 10 years from 1984 to 1994, with 37 wins (34 by knockout) and only one loss, that being to Lennox Lewis when he challenged for the European title in 1991. Mason gave Lewis his hardest fight up to that point in his career.
Mason defeated a number of well known heavyweights, including Tyrell Biggs, James Tillis, Alfonzo Ratliff, Ricky Parkey, James Pritchard, Hughroy Currie and David Jaco.
Mason sparred with the former WBA cruiserweight number one and British heavyweight champion David Pearce. Pearce helped him with sparring in preparation for Mason's title fights, he praised Pearce and said he was instrumental in his helping his career.
He suffered a detached retina in a bout with Everett Martin in 1990. After a short retirement he staged a comeback, which ended with a TKO defeat by Lennox Lewis, which aggravated Mason's eye injury. He came back once again, but after winning two fights in the US he retired for good.
Rugby Club career Mason played three rugby league matches for the London Crusaders (now London Broncos), scoring a try in his first game. Mason also played in occasional football matches as part of an 'Arsenal Celebrities' team at the old Highbury football ground in North London.
Television appearances Mason appeared in a special celebrity show of Gladiators that raised money for charity in 1993 which John Fashanu won. Mason also appeared on the panel of the ITV show You Bet!, and the second episode of the first series of GamesMaster in 1992 playing Sonic Blast Man arcade. Mason's home was also one of those featured on the panel show Through the Keyhole.
Death On the morning of 6 January 2011 Mason died after being hit by a van in Sandy Lane South, Wallington, South London whilst cycling. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes38Win37–1Martin FosterTKO3 (10), 10 Sep 199437Win36–1Kevin P PorterTKO2 (10), 29 Jan 199436Loss35–1Lennox LewisTKO7 (12), 6 Mar 1991 35Win35–0James PritchardTKO9 (10), 12 Dec 1990 34Win34–0Everett MartinPTS1014 Mar 1990 33Win33–0Mark Anthony WillsPTS106 Dec 1989 32Win32–0Tyrell BiggsKO7 (10), 4 Oct 1989 31Win31–0Jess HardingKO1 (12), 28 Jun 198930Win30–0Terry ArmstrongKO3 (10)29 Mar 1989 29Win29–0Hughroy CurrieKO4 (12), 18 Jan 1989 28Win28–0James TillisTKO5 (10), 30 Nov 1988 27Win27–0David JacoTKO4 (10), 24 Oct 1988 26Win26–0Manoel De AlmeidaTKO7 (10)13 Apr 1988 25Win25–0Ricky ParkeyTKO1 (10), 9 Mar 1988 24Win24–0Alfonzo RatliffTKO6 (10), 3 Feb 1988 23Win23–0Sammy ScaffTKO2 (8)3 Dec 1987 22Win22–0Andrew GerrardTKO6 (8)24 Oct 1987 21Win21–0Andre van den OetelaarKO2 (8)25 Sep 1987 20Win20–0Eddie RichardsonTKO7 (8)30 Aug 1987 19Win19–0Billy Joe ThomasTKO2 (8)26 May 1987 18Win18–0Woody ClarkTKO2 (8), 18 Apr 198717Win17–0Richard ScottTKO1 (8), 24 Mar 198716Win16–0Rodney SmithTKO1 (8), 22 Feb 1987 15Win15–0Oscar Holman826 Nov 198614Win14–0Donnie LongKO1 (8), 4 Nov 198613Win13–0Lorenzo BoydKO2 (8)17 Sep 1986 12Win12–0Mark YoungKO5 (8)19 Jul 1986 11Win11–0Ivy BrownKO2 (8)20 May 1986 10Win10–0Maurice GomisTKO3 (8), 24 Apr 1986 9Win9–0Louis Pergaud4 (8), 9 Apr 1986 8Win8–0Charles HostetterTKO1 (8), 4 Mar 19867Win7–0Denroy BryanKO1 (6), 19 Feb 19866Win6–0Steve GeeTKO5 (6), 4 Dec 19855Win5–0Steve GeeTKO5 (6), 5 Nov 19854Win4–0Luc GoossensKO1 (6), 6 Mar 19853Win3–0Frank RobinsonTKO1 (6)18 Jan 1985 2Win2–0Al Malcolm2 (6), 14 Dec 1984 1Win1–0Al Malcolm1 (6)16 Oct 1984
References
External links (archived by web.archive.org) Sutton Guardian