A Boxing Memory: Johnny Bumphus

A Boxing Memory: Johnny Bumphus

Addicted to drugs. Died prematurely. A familiar story. There are many such stories in boxing. Add Johnny Bumphus to that never-ending list.

Born in Tacoma, Washington the boxing journey started when he was just 8 and his amateur career saw him win National AAU and Golden Gloves titles at featherweight and lightweight.

Bumphus should have gone to the Moscow Olympics in 1980, the American boycott of those games, cost him plenty. Ranked the number one 139-pounder in America for three years on the bounce, Bumphus was perceived as the top of the class of the American Team that never was. Bumphus was denied a likely gold medal and a few more zero’s on his entry into the professional world as a result of that American boycott in protest of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.

When he did turn pro, he should have fought Aaron Pryor. He didn’t. And when Pryor retired, Bumphus was left to pick up the pieces. A vacant title wasn’t what it could have been. Or should have been. Maybe the story of his career.

Bumphus turned pro with his signature on a reported $500,000 professional contract after a stellar 341-16 amateur career trained by George Benton with Lou Duva and Main Events at the management and promotional helm and was their very first world champion when he defeated Lorenzo Garcia in 1984 to win the vacant WBA light-welterweight title in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Bumphus rose from a 4th round knockdown to win a close, but unanimous decision over the Argentinian contender.

The southpaw was unbeaten in twenty-two fights when he faced Garcia, on a night where it should have meant more. Pryor, the brilliant but fading fighter had been consumed by his vices and legend has it he avoided Bumphus, and gave up his belt rather than face the lanky and talented Bumphus.

The win over Garcia should have propelled ‘Bump City’ to another level, but he lost his title and his unbeaten record in the first defence of his title. A supposed routine fight against Gene Hatcher was anything but and ended in disaster. Ahead on points going into the 11th round, Bumphus ignored his boxing skills and decided to stand trade with Hatcher. ‘Mad Dog’ hurt Bumphus with a big left hook, and dropped the champion soon after. Bumphus’s legs quivered as he sat on the canvas and they betrayed him further despite beating the count. Bumphus wobbled all over the place desperately trying to survive, but the referee Johnny LoBianco waved it off and the customary Lou Duva melee followed. But the protests changed nothing and Bumphus was now an ex-champion. The fight was named the 1984 The Ring magazine Upset of the Year.

Bumphus had been struggling to make the 140-pound limit for some time and moved up to welterweight. More controversy followed when Bumphus faced Marlon Starling in 1986 with a shot at the world welterweight champion Lloyd Honeyghan on the line. The fight in Providence, Rhode Island had open scoring and Bumphus came off worst after an accidental head-butt in the 6th round the fight went to the scorecards and Bumphus came away with the win. The win, his seventh straight earned him the fight with the rampaging Honeyghan in 1987 who ended the aura around Donald Curry in a sensational upset in his previous fight to become the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. Bumphus looked awful against Honeyghan, reported problems with his equilibrium carried more than a hint of truth.

The one-sided fight in London was stopped in two rounds, and not without further controversy. Honeyghan dropped Bumphus in the opening round with a big right hand and the American was all over the place for the remainder of the round, his legs again seriously failing him. With Lou Duva still in the ring as the bell sounded for the 2nd round, Honeyghan ran across the ring to floor Bumphus again who had barely risen off his stool. Duva did his thing and protested vigorously. This time with much merit. The British fighter was deducted a point, but Bumphus, who hadn’t recovered from his nightmare opening round, was battered relentlessly and the fight was waved off with Bumphus virtually being knocked through the ropes. Despite being just 26, Bumphus never fought again after the defeat to Honeyghan and waved goodbye to the sport with a 29-2 resume.

Retirement wasn’t kind to Bumphus. He got hooked on cocaine, and periods in rehab failed to reverse his decline. There were arrests, and a drug deal in 1991 went badly wrong when Bumphus was stabbed, but he turned the knife on his attacker and killed him but it was ruled self-defence. In many ways, Bumphus was a lucky man. In 2001 Bumphus was enshrined in the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, Bumphus apparently found his peace and was living a clean life and training fighters.

Bumphus sadly lost his lost fight in 2020 in a Washington hospital where he was being treated for a heart ailment. He was just 59.