Gerald Washington (boxer)

Early life

Washington was born to an African American father and a Mexican American mother, and lived in Mexico for part of his childhood. He served in the United States Navy. He went on to play tight end and defensive end for the University of Southern California. In the NFL, he was member of the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills practice squads.

Early fights

At the somewhat advanced age of 30 Washington made his pro debut in 2012. In his first professional fight, Washington knocked out Blue DeLong at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. A month later in August, Washington defeated Gary Cobia via 1st round TKO at the Fantasy Springs Casino in California. Washington's first decision win came in his 3rd professional fight against Terrance Perro. Perro was knocked down once in round 1, after 4 rounds the scorecards were 40-34, 39-35 twice) in favour of Washington.

On June 8, 2013, Washington fought 40 year old veteran Sherman Williams (35-12-2, 19 KOs) to an 8 round unanimous decision victory at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The three judges all had it 79-72 in favour for Washington. In April 2014, Washington scored a 2nd round knockout of fellow American Skipp Scott (16-1, 10 KOs). There was controversy after the fight as Scott took a knee, but was hit with a body shot after he was on the canvas.

Washington fought veteran journeyman Travis Walker (39-11-1, 31 KOs) in June 2014. The fight ended when Washington stopped Walker in round 2. Two months later, Washington was taken the 8 round distance for the first time when he fought 28 year old Nagy Aguilera (19-8, 13 KOs). Washington won on the scorecards 78-74, 78-74, 77-75.

Washington next fought in December 2014 against 39 year old journeyman Mike Sheppard (22-17-1, 9 KOs) at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The fight lasted just 1 minute and 26 seconds as Washington dropped Sheppard twice.

Career from 2015-2016

On March 13, 2015 Washington went the 8 round distance, winning a wide decision of 78-71, 79-70, 79-70 78-71, against 37 year old journeyman Jason Gavern (26-18-4, 11 KOs). The fight took place at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California on the undercard of Andre Berto vs. Josesito Lopez interim welterweight title fight.

Washington vs. Mansour

In a controversial decision, Washington and Amir Mansour (22-1, 16 KOs) ended in a 10 round draw on October 13, 2015 on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox Sports 1 from the Little Creek Casino Resort, in Shelton, Washington. The final judges’ scores were 97-93 for Washington, 96-94 for Mansour, and 95-95. Washington looked to be fading after round 4, he previously had a reputation of being gassed out after 5 rounds in previous fights. Washington appeared to lose the last 6 rounds of the fight due to his running, holding and low punch output. Washington was mostly just holding and running away from Mansour from rounds 5 to 10. Mansour was able to land a lot of body shots that clearly bothered Washington and him holding on and doing a lot of shoving. The crowd loudly booed the outcome.

Washington vs. Chambers

On April 6, 2016 it was announced that Washington would fight former World title challenger Eddie Chambers (42-4, 23 KOs) on April 30, 2016 at the StubHub Center, Carson, California. it was scheduled to be a 10 round bout, but this changed to 8 rounds. Washington threw three times the amount of punches and used his big size advantage to beat former world title challenger Chambers by an 8 round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 79-73, 80-72 and 80-72.

Washington vs. Austin

It was announced that Washington would fight 47 year old American Ray Austin (29-7-4, 18 KOs) on the undercard of Wilder–Arreola on July 16, 2016 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Washington delivered by stopping veteran Austin in round 4 via knockout. Washington unloaded a flurry of punches followed by a straight right which put Austin flat on his back.

Washington vs. Wilder

On January 26, 2017, Washington became a front runner to land a fight against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 25 on Fox. This came after Wilder's original opponent for the fight, Polish boxer Andrzej Wawrzyk, tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid, during testing for the WBC's Clean Boxing Program. The fight was officially confirmed on January 30, 2017. Washington released a statement following the announcement, "I’m very happy to get this opportunity to fight for my first world championship. I know that I’ll be fighting Deontay Wilder in his backyard, but that adds more excitement ... I’m looking forward to going to Birmingham and coming away with a victory just like I did in my last fight there."

Wilder would win the bout by TKO in the 5th round. Washington started off strong with power punches as Wilder moved around with jabs. Midway through the 5th, Wilder got Washington against the ropes and landed a combination of power shots, the last shot being a left to the head of Washington, dropping him backwards against the ropes. Washington recovered quickly on unsteady legs. The fight resumed, and Wilder unloaded heavy blows the head of Washington, missing some, but eventually leading referee Michael Griffin to halt the fight at 1 minute and 45 seconds of the round. Washington attributed his loss due to lack of experience, saying after the fight, “I just got a little impatient. I was trying to go for it. It was an even boxing match. I could have kept it like that and kept it boring. I don’t know why I fell asleep there. I guess I lost a little focus."

Washington earned $250,000 from the fight while Wilder earned $900,000. The fight was watched by an average audience of 1.76 million viewers, peaking at 1.86 million. The bout was the most watched boxing match in the United States for 2017 until the Thurman-Garcia unification fight drew 3.74 million on March 4.

Washington vs. Miller

On June 27, it was announced that Washington would fight unbeaten heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller (18-0-1, 16 KOs) on the undercard of Garcia-Broner at the Barclays Center in New York on July 29, 2017 in a 10 round bout. Miller weighed in a career high 298.8 pounds and Washington weighed 248 pounds, 9 pounds heavier than when he challenged Wilder for the WBC title in February 2017. After the weigh in, the face off was tense as Miller trash-talking to Washington, who never did any trash-talking back. Miller then threw his promotional cap towards Washington as the face off was broken up. Miller broke down Washington over 8 rounds eventually forcing the corner and referee stopping the fight. Washington had a good opening round, but Miller took control landing power shots and causing heavy punishment. By the end of the fight, both fighters looked tired. Washington suffered his second consecutive stoppage loss and Miller fought for the first time in 11 months. Stephen Espinoza, Showtime Sports general manager praised Miller and said he could soon feature on 'Showtime Championship Boxing' soon. Miller had a $70,000 purse for the win, while Washington earned $50,000.