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Forgotten Warriors: ST Gordon


BoztheMadman
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ST Gordon was one of those fighters that just came out of nowhere and scored a big upset victory by knocking out a top rated fighter. He did that most notably against then-WBC cruiser champion Carlos De Leon. He also upset Trevor Berbick at heavyweight later on and stopped Yaqui Lopez and Jesse Burnett, both former top light heavyweight contenders. This is the story of ST Gordon, the killer from Pasco.

 

He was born in Pasco, Washington on 18 April 1959 and seemingly bust on the boxing scene out of nowhere. He claims to have had no amateur fights before turning pro in February of '77. His first fight was a points loss against the guy who interestingly shared the same birth name as the guy who he would later defeat: Alvaro Lopez. It was a 5-rounder and Gordon was defeated in Las Vegas, Nevada. He rebounded by scoring 2 first-round knockouts and then scored a UD4 and then another first round kayo. Much of his early career is shrouded in mystery however and some of his fights have been called into question by the boxing journalists. He wouldn't even disclose what S.T. stood for. He again dropped a 5 round decision, this time it was split, to a 0-1 fighter called Mike Creel. After this unimpressive start, few would have thought this man would become a world champion one day, even at such an unglamourous weight class such as cruiserweight. After winning two more easy fights by ko, on 17 March '78 he faced Gerry Cooney; Cooney at 6'6 and 219 pounds was much bigger and heavier than the 6' foot and 187 pound-Gordon. Gordon appeared exhausted for some reason and kept holding and hugging, until he got disqualified for it in round 4, by all accounts prematurely. The commentator Gil Clancy was very critical of the whole bout, since Gordon was not a heavyweight and said: "This is a bout which doesn't make Cooney look good. It's the wrong opponent. People are actually laughing. Hang in there, S.T." He was also very down on S.T.'s boxing ability.

 

But, somewhere down the lane and sometime after this fight, Gordon's skills improved. After losing two decisions to Eddie Lopez and Earl Tripp, Gordon would not lose again for some time. On 6 June '79 he knocked out Earl Tripp in 7 to capture the Nevada cruiserweight title. He never defended it and set his sights higher. After scoring 3 more knockouts, in 1980 he challenged for the vacant NABF title against Ivy Brown. It was 6 August at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica and Gordon would be victorious again, knocking out Brown with a right uppercut in round 2. He again beat Earl Tripp later that same year, this time in 4 rounds, and then next year he also won the vacant USBA title by TKO 5 against Harry Terrell. He also won the California State title a month later, in March '81, this time by decisioning David Smith. He made his first defense of the NABF title against his first big name: Yaqui "Indian" Lopez. Lopez had recently moved up to cruiserweight from light heavyweight and though he at 6'2 was taller than Gordon, he was no match for Gordon's punching power and in the end, after a brave fight, Gordon stopped him by TKO 7. He then received his first world title shot, against the WBC champ Carlos "Sugar" De Leon of Puerto Rico. The fight happened on 27 June '82 at the Front Row Theatre in Highland Heights in Ohio. De Leon had defeated the first WBC champ, Marvin Camel, twice before that and was making his second defense. The first round was close but 2 judges gave it to the defending champion while the third had it even. And then, in second round Gordon made history as he caught De Leon with a perfect left hook which sent the champion down. He got up but then took a heavy beating trapped into a corner, before the fight was ended by the referee at 2:51 of the round. The underdog from Pasco had done the seemingly impossible: he was now a world champion!

 

His first defense as world champion came on 16 February next year, in the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey. Don King was the promoter and the opponent Jesse Burnett, a former light heavyweight contender. Burnett was a skilled, crafty fighter, but at 37 had seen his best days and was much older as well as smaller than Gordon. He had just lost a fight against Leon Spinks for the NABF title. Gordon weighed in at as much as 194 for the fight, 11 pounds more than Burnett. Burnett had only been stopped twice in 42 fights, both times late and he gave a brave performance but was ultimately overpowered by the younger, stronger and harder hitting Gordon, who stopped him by TKO 8. After this, obviously struggling to make the weight, Gordon took a fight at heavyweight, against none other than future WBC champion Trevor Berbick, on 28 May. Berbick was the favorite but oddly enough he hardly threw a punch, mostly advancing with his arms wrapped around his head. In the end, Gordon won by a unanimous decision, while some claimed the fight had been fixed. Berbick later claimed he was ill with the flu. There are suspicions he was doped even. Gordon was managed by Don King, which means everything was possible. However, the high times would soon come to an end for the big underdog champion, when he took on De Leon again in his second defense as the WBC champion, actually on today's date, 1983. Wether going up and back down in weight proved too much or perhaps fighting another big fight only 2 months later, S.T. didn't look as impressive this time and was dropped in the first and twelfth rounds and lost convincingly on the scorecards, also losing his world title of course.

 

He then retired for over 3 years before coming back to the ring, far from his old self. On 15 October '87, he was stopped in one round by clubfighter Dwain Bonds, who had a record of 13-14-2. The fight was stopped after only 49 seconds and after this debacle Gordon retired for good, aged only 28. His final record was 20 (some say 21) wins, 17 by ko, and 7 losses, only 1 by ko. His current whereabouts are unknown but he is supposed to be living in Las Vegas. S.T. Gordon was a warrior and a dangerous fighter in his best days, who rose from obscurity to capture world title glory, but he couldn't keep it for long, perhaps he wasn't disciplined enough. Whatever the case, he made some notable and exciting upsets and therefore qualifies for the mantle of a forgotten warrior. Very few today have even heard of him and those who have only know him as the guy who knocked out Sugar De Leon. Which is perhaps not the worst way to be remembered.

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