Arguably the single most experienced, seen-it-all-done-it-all active fighter in the sport today, former WBO 140-pound champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley’s pro record really does read like a who’s who of the 140 and 147-pound divisions. The amazing southpaw from Washington DC has, during his 20 year pro career, fought the following big and recognisable names: Randall Bailey X2 (a win and a loss), Zab Judah (a loss), Floyd Mayweather Junior (a loss), Miguel Cotto (a loss), Ener Julio X2 (two wins), Junior Witter (a loss), Devon Alexander (a loss), Marcos Maidana (a loss), Paul McCloskey (a win), Ruslan Provodnikov (a loss) and Viktor Postol (a loss).
Corley might have suffered his share of defeats but he has almost always been competitive, often losing on points in fights that tested both winner and loser. Corley’s record reads 47-27-1(28) and he could have called it quits years ago. Yet the former champ simply loves to fight, all over the world (fighting everywhere from England to Russia, to Bolivia to Sweden, to Jamaica) and last night in Jamaica he showed he still has the tools needed to get the job done and collect himself a useful payday.
Fighting in the Jamaican version of “The Contender,” the welterweight veteran defeated Richard Holmes in the final, via 7th-round KO, to pocket the two million dollars grand prize money (okay, that’s just over $15,000 in US money, but still a decent payday). Corley has now won his last three bouts, all of them during the tournament, and what’s more, the 42-year-old still looks in great shape, all these years later still making welterweight comfortably.
Where Corley, who has fought an astonishing nine times in the last year, goes next is anyone’s guess. But the veteran who has never ducked a fight in his life has already done more than enough to have earned the respect of the entire boxing world. And, as he showed last night (against accepted limited opposition) Corley can still teach a young fighter a thing or two.
It seems an eternity ago when “Chop Chop” was facing the now retired Floyd Mayweather Junior, hitting and hurting the then 31-0 star, wobbling him in an early round with a straight left and a right hook, before losing a 12-round decision in 2004. Yet here he is, still fighting, and still winning.