Billy Joiner

American boxer (1938-2019)

Billy Joiner (10 May 1938 – 2019), was an American professional boxer from Cincinnati, U.S.

Early life

Joiner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 10 May 1938.^[1] His father was a former professional boxer, as was his uncle who had once knocked out Freddie Miller in a bout.^[2]

Amateur career

Joiner was the 1962 National Golden Gloves and National AAU Light-Heavyweight Champion and compiled an Amateur record of 86–6 (The Ring, March 1964), and won the National Golden Gloves with a win over Gerald McClure of Toledo, Ohio. He also fought Cassius Clay twice as an amateur between 1960–61. He made his professional debut in August 1962, stopping Jukius Dickins in two rounds.. Training in the Reading Hill Gym. Sparing partner. Rocky Susshine. Was training for his first bought in the Grater Cincinnati Golden Gloves. Greater Cincinnati included Cincinnati. Kentucky and Indiana. In the first year Rocky Susshine won 38 fights by TKO. Rocky going from Sub-Novice to Open Division in the first year. Soon after Rocky was sent to Vietnam.

Professional career

He was a promising heavyweight prospect in the 1960s who failed to live up to his promise. A slick boxer with little punch, Joiner is best remembered for lasting the distance with former world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston on March 28, 1969, during Liston's comeback. This was in fact their second fight. They'd fought in May the year before with Liston winning a seventh round stoppage.

He also fought (and lost) to top heavyweight contenders Zora Folley, Oscar Bonavena, Mac Foster, Alfredo Evangelista and Larry Holmes.

Later life

After retiring from the ring Joiner worked for thirty years with the Ohio State Highway Maintenance Department, finishing as a Superintendent. He was also employed as an amateur boxing coach.^[2]

Death

Joiner died at the age of 81 in June 2019.^[3]

Professional boxing record

12 Wins (5 knockouts, 7 decisions), 13 Losses (5 knockouts, 8 decisions), 3 Draws^[1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	12-13-3	Young Louis	PTS	10	13/11/1981	Northwest Activities Center, Detroit, Michigan
Loss	11-13-3	Alfredo Evangelista	KO	1	27/05/1978	Leon, Spain
Win	11-12-3	"King" Jim Fletcher	TKO	5	19/08/1976	Washoe Fairgrounds Pavilion, Reno, Nevada
Loss	10-12-3	Oscar Bonavena	UD	10	26/02/1976	Reno, Nevada	44-49, 45-48, 42-49.
Loss	10-11-3	Larry Holmes	TKO	3	20/12/1975	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Hato Rey	Referee stopped the bout at 2:29 of the third round.
Loss	10-10-3	Bernd August	PTS	8	28/09/1973	Berlin
Loss	10-9-3	Mac Foster	KO	5	29/07/1971	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	Joiner knocked out at 2:55 of the fifth round.
Loss	10-8-3	Juergen Blin	PTS	10	09/10/1970	Hamburg
Loss	10-7-3	Alvin Lewis	UD	10	15/07/1970	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss	10-6-3	Zora Folley	UD	10	05/11/1969	Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	10-5-3	Bob Cleroux	SD	10	31/07/1969	Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, Quebec	47-45, 48-47, 47-48.
Loss	9-5-3	Sonny Liston	UD	10	28/03/1969	Kiel Auditorium, Saint Louis, Missouri
Loss	9-4-3	Sonny Liston	RTD	7	23/05/1968	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Draw	9-3-3	Chuck Leslie	PTS	10	27/03/1968	Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada
Draw	9-3-2	Dante Cane	PTS	10	12/02/1968	Bologna, Emilia-Romagna
Draw	9-3-1	Piero Tomasoni	PTS	10	26/12/1967	Brescia, Lombardy
Loss	9-3	"King" Jim Fletcher	PTS	10	04/12/1967	Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	9-2	Hubert Hilton	TKO	9	08/09/1966	Freeport Stadium, Freeport, New York
Win	9-1	Mert Brownfield	KO	2	13/06/1966	Cincinnati, Ohio
Win	8-1	Lee Wallace Carr	UD	10	13/11/1964	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss	7-1	Amos Johnson	SD	10	11/09/1964	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio	Ohio Heavyweight Title.
Win	7-0	Oron Johnson	TKO	8	22/05/1964	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio	Referee stopped the bout at 2:50 of the eighth round.
Win	6-0	Harvey C. Jones	UD	8	17/04/1964	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win	5-0	Lloyd Washington	UD	10	11/03/1964	Painesville Armory, Painesville, Ohio	98-89, 97-92, 98-90.
Win	4-0	Lou Bailey	PTS	10	17/01/1964	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win	3-0	Amos Johnson	PTS	10	19/11/1963	Akron, Ohio
Win	2-0	Marion Connor	TKO	5	06/02/1963	Canton Auditorium, Canton, Ohio	Referee stopped the bout at 2:05 of the fifth round.
Win	1-0	Julius Dickens	KO	2	25/08/1962	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Dickens knocked out at 1:24 of the second round.

References

^ ^a ^b "Billy Joiner". BoxRec.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-07.
^ ^a ^b 'The man who fought Liston and Cassius Clay four times', 'Boxing.com', 28 July 2016. http://www.boxing.com/the_man_who_fought_liston_and_cassius_clayfour_times.html Archived 2019-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ Obituary for Joiner, 'Boxing 247.com', 14 June 2019. https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/r-i-p-billy-joiner-1938-2019/120566