When it comes to the much-talked-about subject of fighters who ‘fought ’em all,’ the name DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley instantly and swiftly enters the conversation. Why? Because Corley – who may or may not fight again at age 49 (he’s still in shape) – fought the following:
(in career order),
Ener Julio
Felix Flores
Ener Julio!
Randall Bailey
Zab Judah
Floyd Mayweather
Darryl Tyson
Miguel Cotto
Junior Witter
Devon Alexander
Randall Bailey!
Marcos Maidana
Lucas Matthysse
Thomas Dulorme
Ruslan Provodnikov
Paul McCloskey
Viktor Postol
Vivian Harris
Vivian Harris!
Oh, and “Chop Chop” also tried his hand at bare-knuckle fighting!
Can YOU name a modern fighter, one who might still fight again, who possesses a more stunning resume? At a lower weight, I cannot. You must agree, Corley – a jaw-dropping 52-35-1(28) – had some career, he was some fighter.
The skilled and supremely tough and long-lived lefty who ruled as WBO super lightweight champ, did a recent interview with Slater’s Boxing on YouTube, and “Chop Chop” broke it down as he recalled some of his most memorable fights (memorable to him mostly, but also to us).
On the best he ever fought:
“Floyd Mayweather. He was a great fighter. And he listened. Yeah, I thought I had him, in that [fourth] round (Corley wobbling Mayweather with a shot to the head, sending him to the ropes). But he made it outta that round, and then he listened to his uncle. And he [Roger] gave him the best advice he could have had, as he said, ‘don’t bang with him.’ He told him to box. Because the game plan was…..Floyd came out, and he was like, ‘I’m gonna knock you out!’ And I said, in order to knock me out, you’ve got to fight. And that was our game plan – to not run; I don’t f*****g run, I’m a fighter! And to catch him in the exchanges.”
On his fight with Miguel Cotto:
“100 percent, that fight was stopped prematurely. I had Cotto. I hit him and caught him, and the referee could have stopped the fight. But when I took a knee, from getting hit low, the referee just stopped the fight. They gave him a gift. I think that ref got paid under the table. He stopped that fight. The game plan was to take Cotto into the later rounds because we knew he struggled to make the weight. It was at 140 – I came in at 137, and he outweighed me by, I think it was 16 pounds, 17 pounds, the day of the fight. They knew he was real drained [in making weight], and he couldn’t go 12 rounds. So the first chance they got to stop the fight, they did.”
On big fights with Pacquiao and De La Hoya that never happened:
“I would’ve liked to have had a shot at Manny Pacquiao, but he skipped 140 and went to 147. I wanted Oscar De La Hoya also. I wanted a shot at him because I didn’t make Barcelona in ’92 (at the Olympics) – I lost to the fighter that fought him. But I can’t say yeah, I can’t say no [on if I’d have beaten them]. Styles make fights. Manny, he has great power, and I have also great power with the right hook, which the is a shot that a southpaw doesn’t expect from another southpaw…..they’re always looking for the left hand, which Manny has very good power in. So, I know I would catch him with the right hook.”
On the documentary of his life story that is coming:
“Yeah, the documentary is coming. I had a dream and a vision – and this was in 1997 – I dreamt I was in a shoot-out, and then the dream came true the very next day. Yes [I’ve had some tough times in my life], but at the end of the day, you have to make a choice: do you want to live, or do you want to die? If you want to live, then get your ass up and do something! If you wanna die, put a bullet in your mouth – the easy way out. But it’s very scary….the dream actually happened in the neighborhood I was living, where I grew up. My son was living right down the street…..it happened not even a block from where the shooting took place. And I was like, ‘I dreamt this.’ And then it came true. And the people I told about the dream, they told me, ‘Man, that’s scary.’”
This forthcoming documentary promises to be sensational. And ever so inspirational.