Obviously James Scott had quite a career fighting inside the Rahway prison in New Jersey. He actually learned to box as an amateur in a program at Trenton State Prison, also in NJ, and turned pro in Miami after he was released on parole from that stint … resuming his pro career behind bars when he convicted for robbery (and later murder that iirc occurred during that same robbery). There are other successful fighters who learned to box in prison. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that list includes: Dwight Muhammad Qawi Ron Lyle Clifford Etienne Who are some others?
I believe James Scott was a sparring partner of Ruben Carter and it was Muhammad Qawi who was a sparring partner of James Scott, Pretty neat. I believe Sonny Liston got his first boxing lessons in Prison? Mike Tyson got his in juvi to start him on the way. Fighters purely built in prison? I don’t think there are any elite ones besides James.
The obvious nod to Bernard Hopkins. The not so heard about Dewey bozella; did 26 years (last I remember) for a crime he didn't commit. Worked out on the prison boxing league as a light heavyweight, fought a man named Lou delvalle (lemme boxrec that to be sure) and beat him. As soon as they reversed the conviction and got him out, Dewey had a chance to fight pro, all he needed was his license to fight in LA. Well, he failed the test. Trained hard but came up short. Dewey who was now a heavyweight had to take on a cruiserweight in sparring as part of the test. He failed because he was supceptible to the right hand and was prone to getting hit without much defense and lateral movement. Dewey blamed the application on the fact that he was drained, doing jump rope, and other excercises that wore him out. While Dewey was in jail, he met a woman who was free on the outside world, he married her and also got his degree in school. Dewey was about to throw in the towel on his hw dream, but his wife urged him to try again. This time word got out about Dewey bozella. A man named Bernard Hopkins heard of his story and offered him the chance of a lifetime, to train in Philadelphia with alongside his trainer, with de la Hoya adding morale support. So basically Dewey tightened up his skills and stamina and got the license to fight pro in California. President barrack Obama made a phone call to Dewey , because he was proud of him: for fighting on his freedom to now fighting on the outside in the pro ranks to see what could have been had he been a free man. On the undercard to Hopkins- Dawson, Dewey fought a heavyweight with also the last name Hopkins. I believe he was 52 at the time. Well bozella kicked butt and went on to retire from the sport to train the youth. Max Kellerman called him "champ" . Bernard did one of the nicest things helping Dewey bozella reach his goals. Bhop said " we were both incarcerated, but the difference was I was guilty while he was innocent." Shortly after, Dewey won the Arthur Ashe award for most courageous person that year, as actor Keifer Sutherland handed him the award. Dewey instilled a nice uplifting speech, a champion in and out of the ring. Paulie Malignaggi said "I want to be like dude when I grow up." The video is on YouTube narrated by a famous actor. The one thing that stood out was that Dewey wasn't bitter about his wrongful conviction. He was just happy for his freedom. His innocence proved he was special and to quote his wife "he was gonna think about everything that happened in his life up until he got into the ring, and it's gonna be emotional for him." He went on to win a decision and retired as undefeated at 1 and 0, and he captivated the hearts of millions.
