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Livingstone Bramble


BoztheMadman
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Livingstone Bramble was a lightweight world champion from Virgin Islands who made a great upset by taking the WBA title from Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, but his career rapidly declined after getting knocked out by Edwin "Chapo" Rosario in his third defense. He lost many fights after that and retired with a record of 40 wins and 26 losses, but only 5 of them by knockout. At 5'8 he was a tall lightweight and had a very big reach of 74". He was somewhat of an odd persona and went by the nickname of Ras-I Alujah Bramble and was known for his crazy demeanor and flashy outfits in the ring, including his famous colourful hat. There were also rumours he practiced witchcraft and he often went into the ring carrying his pet python around his neck. He was even said to shadow box with it and also with chickens! Nevertheless, he was a solid and tough fighter and his performance in the Mancini fights were truly remarkable.

 

Bramble was actually born on St. Kitts and Nevis on 3 September 1960, but was raised in Saint Croix, the Virgin Islands. He started boxing professionally in late 1980 and won his first fight by TKO 1. He won 7 fights and drew one before he lost to undefeated Anthony Fletcher by MD8 in 1981. In October 1982 he beat the former Arguello-challenger James Busceme by MD10. He also beat Gaetan Hart, the former title-challenger of Aaron Pryor, by UD10. In 1984, after defeating the 19-0 Rafael Williams by UD12, he received a shot against the WBA champ and one of the greatest warriors of his time, Ray Mancini. The fight took place 1 June at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, NY. It was Mancini's fifth defense and naturally, he was a big favorite but the much taller and rangier Bramble gave him problems from the start, blocking many of his punches with his long arms and countering with his own combinations led by right uppercuts. Already in the first round, Mancini was badly cut on his right eyelid from a left hook. He bled thruout the fight and also his nose and left eye were both cut. Mancini had trouble breathing because of blood streaming through his nose and he was getting pummeled when the fight got stopped early in the 14th round. The great underdog from the Virgin Islands had done the impossible: he got the better of Boom Boom Mancini in a dogfight. Mancini had to stay in a hospital for a while after the fight, such was his condition. He also had to get eight stitches in one eyelid and six in the other.

 

Still, despite the bad beating he recieved, Mancini asked for a rematch, convinced that he could do better. And he did better-but not that much better. In the rematch he went the distance but still lost by a very close but unanimous decision. He again received a beating and was cut up badly over the eyes, but went the distance thanks to his machismo and toughness. All three judges gave the fight to Bramble by 1 point only, despite him surely being more dominant than that. The fight was definitely more competitive this time around however. Before the fight, there was animosity between the fighters and Bramble said "Mancini is an arrogant fool and I hope he gets seriously hurt in this fight." However, after the fight ended, the two embraced and Mancini told him "You are the champion", to which Bramble replied "I love you Ray, you fought a great fight." Mancini later also stated he couldn't see the punches coming due to the blood going into his eyes. That fight was fought on 16 February 1985 and would be Mancini's last in 4 years, while Bramble went on to defend his title for the second time against Tyrone Crawley, a slick Philadelphian southpaw, exactly a year after his fight with Mancini. It was a very even fight, despite Crawley getting knocked down in the 2nd, but eventually Bramble gained the upper hand and halted Crawley in the 13th after flooring him twice. One judge had scored 7 rounds even and the other one 4, but Bramble was ahead on all 3 scorecards.

 

And then came the downfall. The man who would become Bramble's bane: Edwin "Chapo" Rosario. He was only 5'6 but a great puncher with good boxing skills and able to cut off the ring well. And that's just what he did against Bramble. The fight was held 26 September and Rosario made it hard for Bramble to land many shots with his movement. He opened cautiously in the first round, measuring him up and landed a left hook and a right hand, while Bramble landed just a couple lighter punches. Then in the second, hell broke loose as Rosario hurt him with a left hook and a follow up combination-Bramble looked wobbly. Rosario continued firing away with Bramble leaning against the ropes mostly. Rosario continued to tee off on him until he finally dropped him with a right hand. Bramble was on his knees, unable to beat the count and that was the end of his championship reign. Next year he had a fight against the future IBF champion Freddie Pendleton and it ended with a majority draw, one judge having Pendleton as the winner and the other two having it even. He then stopped the trialhorse John Kalbhenn by TKO 5 and beat Edwin Curet by TKO 8 in a fight where Bramble himself was down once. In July '88 he then rematched Pendleton for the USBA lightweight title: again the fight was close and competitive and the judges were divided. 2 had it for Pendleton and 1 for Bramble after 10 rounds when the fight had to be stopped because Bramble had been cut and subsequently Pendleton won by TKO.

 

Bramble decided to move up to light welterweight after that, having already fought a few fights at that limit. After winning 2 fights at 140, he made his last hoorah when he stopped the veteran Harold Brazier by TKO 2 in August '89. Brazier was only stopped once more in over 100 professional fights, in his last one much later. In his next fight against Kenny Vice, he had Vice in trouble after 6 rounds when his cornermen entered the ring to save their fighter, making Vice disqualified. In February next year he fought against the up and coming Puerto Rican Santos Cardona for the NABF title but lost by a majority decision after 12 rounds. In his next fight he was unlucky, dislocating his shoulder and losing the fight to Tony Martin by UD10. Next year he also lost to Carl Griffith and Oba Carr; despite knocking Carr down twice in the first round, the dodgy Carr came back to earn a split decision. He then beat a few lighter opponents, journeyman Derrick McGuire he stopped by TKO 5 and he also beat Anthony Stephens, the future Felix Trinidad-victim, by SD10. He then again hit the losing streak against Ricky Meyes and Rodney Moore and was disqualified against Roger Mayweather in the 5th, when his trainer came in the ring to stop the fight. He then drew against Darryl Tyson before facing the young Kostya Tszyu in August '93. He was down once but managed to last the 10 round distance against the future kingpin of the division.

 

Bramble continued fighting until 2003, when he was almost 43 years old, when he finally quit. He had suffered a couple more knockout losses by then, to Shannan Taylor (KO1) and Wilfredo Rivera (KO3). His record, as mentioned, is 40 (25), 26(5) and 3. He's the only St. Kitts and Nevis-born fighter to win a world title. Today, Bramble is an avid marathon runner and lives in Las Vegas. He has several times announced that he considers returning to the ring, but luckily he never did it. What else to say about him? He was a colorful personality and a good boxer in his own right, who is hated by Ray Mancini fans for ruining his career but I think Ray was already ruined by then. But he was a tough guy who loved a good fight and was only destroyed by Edwin Rosario in his prime. He used his physical attributes well and could both box and slug it out.

 

http://static.boxrec.com/d/d1/Bramble-Mancini_164130615.jpg

Edited by BoztheMadman
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Re: Livingstone Bramble

 

This is how to take somebody apart.............

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lKs1MWkM4c

 

:thumb: Rosario was unbelievable when he was at his best, but it seems the drugs ruined him in the end. Perhaps his loss to Chavez was also due to substance abuse, he really got worked over there and Chavez was not a better boxer than him.

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