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Ibar Arrington-The Sailor Man


BoztheMadman
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Remember this guy? Arrington was surely most known for his amazing upset knockout of John L Gardner in 1 round in 1977. Gardner was 24-0 and highly rated, and a dangerous puncher to boot, but Ibar Arrington annihilated him before Gardner's own crowd at Wembley. He would then go on to fight Larry Holmes, then not yet the champion, and lose by a late stoppage in a brave performance. Unfortunately, Arrington was actually a cruiserweight, but that division came to existence only late in his career, so he had to fight naturally bigger guys for most of his career. He has stopped guys that outweighed him by as much as 18 kilos or 40 pounds and 24 kilos or 53 pounds. Not only that, but he had to overcome some health issues and despite it all, became a rather successful prizefighter. He fought between 1974 and 1982 and left behind a record of 28 wins with 21 ko's, 7 losses (only 1 by ko) and 2 draws.

 

Dale "Ibar" Arrington was born on November 30 1951 in Everett, Washington, and grew up in Monroe, in the same state. He had two older brothers and three sisters. He was born with mild mental retardation and epilepsy and attended only a few days of school before he started getting private classes. After his mother Gladys died, he was placed in an institution and then several group homes, where he worked hard to learn to cook, clean and develop the skills needed to live on his own. He was a caring person who often brought home other people in need, even though they sometimes stole his money and ate all his food. As a young boy, he was interested in baseball and dreamed of becoming a major league player. But it was soon discovered his talents lay elsewhere. With his athletic skills, he soon developed as a boxer, another sport he enjoyed as a young boy. He turned pro in September 1974, still aged 22. He was trained by Harry Matthews, who was a former pro boxer himself, and managed by Butch Fuller and Pete Toro. His first fight ended as a draw after 4 rounds. He then won his next 10 bouts, scoring 7 knockouts. His first loss came by a split decision in 10 to Ed Bytheway (fun name, lol), but he avenged that loss in the rematch by TKO5. In October 1976 he beat the former George Foreman-challenger, Jose Roman of Puerto Rico, by MD10. He lost the rematch to him however, by SD10, in February next year. He then stopped Randy Neumann, a semi-contender, by TKO5 after cutting him badly. After dropping another split decision in 10 to Greg Sorentino, he went to England to fight the 24-0 ko artist John L. Gardner. As mentioned, the bout was at Wembley, 27 September '77. The underdog from Washington pulled off a great upset by knocking out Gardner with a vicious right and stopping him in 2 minutes and 20 seconds! This was such a great upset that Arrington was matched against one of the hottest contenders back then: Larry Holmes. However, he was brought up too soon and had no chance against Holmes. He still managed to last 10 rounds and give Holmes a good fight, before being stopped in the 10th and the last round by TKO, due to cuts over both eyes, 5 November at Caesars Palace in Vegas. Holmes would win the WBC belt 7 months later. "It was a good fight, a close fight, a real tough fight", Arrington said later,"Holmes was in his prime, he was hitting me as hard as he could, and I was just smiling at him...he didn't like that. I was arrogant."

 

He went back on track next year by scoring three TKO wins and then beating Jose Roman again, this time by TKO8. He then had his first cruiserweight fight in August, fighting Marvin Camel, a 6'2 fighter who would soon become the first world champion at this new weight class. Arrington dropped a 10-round decision to Camel in North Idaho JC Gym. He also lost his next fight the same way and then fought Gerrie Coetzee, the future WBA hw champion, 15 December that year. The fight was in South Africa and Coetzee won by decision in 10. Ibar retired after losing three in a row, but he came back in 1982 and first drew against Harvey Steichen, before knocking out the no-hoper Val Kid Gasaway in 1 round and then stopped Steichen in his final bout 20 November that year, by TKO7. Arrington retired then, at the age of 31. After retirement, he worked as a car salesman and then became a deputy sheriff, before taking a law enforcement education that led to him being a police officer for 17 years. He is the living proof that toughness and grit can overcome physical or mental impairments. As a boxer, he was a very hard hitter and could take as much punishment as anyone. His only stoppage loss was in that Holmes fight and it was a cut one. That makes you wonder-what if he had better boxing IQ?

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