I just learnt that Berry Gordy was a boxer

yup.

 

But was he berry good?

 

given that a lot of guys back then, particularly in the lower divisions, it probably worked out for the best. He likely made a lot more money in music than he would in boxing. Glad he benefited from boxing though.

I believe Gordy is also related to President Jimmy Carter.

 

Who's Gordy? I'm not American.

 

He was the founder of Mowtown, which was a huge record label that made stars out of groups like the Supremes, the Temptations, Jackson 5, and even individual stars like Stevie Wonder.

 

Here is a piece talking about Berry Gordy's boxing career

The younger Berry Gordy never ran in crowds like that. He was a hard-boiled, unfocused teenager who got into so many brawls in and around school that Pops told him to save his fists for where they could help him - namely, prizefighting. In the city that produced the Brown Bomber, Brown Berry was no Joe Louis, either, but good enough to progress through the amateur Golden Gloves chain, first as a wiry 112-pounder, then a brawny 126-pound featherweight by the time he quit school in the eleventh grade to turn pro. This decision upset his parents and always haunted him, as he would become overly sensitive to the fact that he never fully learned to read and write.

During his fight career, Gordy sparred with a slightly older Golden Gloves winner named Jackie Wilson, who wanted to sing for a living and soon would be fronting the R&B group Billy Ward and the Dominoes. Gordy would never have his glove raised as a Golden Glove winner, but he did ace eight of fourteen bouts. Fighting on the undercard of a few big boxing shows at the Detroit Olympia, he earned up to $500 a fight, and was trained by Eddie Futch, who would take Joe Frazier to the heavyweight title, and with whom he was nearly killed while driving back from a fight in Chicago. He also had fights in California, but if he had the hunger he never had the size to go much further.
https://imgur.com/0wanNhq

Here is a piece with Gordy himself talking about why he gave up boxing.

"I never have had time to set the record straight," Gordy said. "Now, I have the time."

Gordy, a high school dropout was a fairly successful featherweight boxer in the Detroit area, and once appeared on a Joe Louis undercard. But even then, he said, he was writing songs. Eventually he had to choose between pro boxing and music.

"One day, I was in the gym, and I saw two posters," said Gordy. "One was of Stan Kenton and Duke Ellington, who were battling every night. They didn't get hurt and they made money every night."

"I saw another one of some fighters, who were like 23 and looked 50. That was the day I took off the gloves forever. I never boxed again."

Gordy stepped up his songwriting and managed to get a few tunes recorded. But he was having problems getting paid. Finally, the frustrated composer borrowed money from his family and established his own company, then called Tamla Records, in 1958.
https://imgur.com/okjP5pW

 

More importantly, he's the father of Redfoo.

 

You want your mind blown:

Billy Joel was a boxer in his younger years. He took up the sport to defend himself against bullies and even competed in the amateur Golden Gloves circuit, winning 22 out of 24 fights. His boxing career ended when he broke his nose in his final match.

 

I mean, all the music stuff and boxing stuff is all well and good but The Last Dragon is what it's really about.