| Michael Dokes | |
| Realname: | Michael Marshall Dokes |
| Nickname: | Dynamite |
| Weight: | Heavyweight |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in |
| Reach: | 78 in |
| Nationality: | American |
| Birth Date: | 10 August 1958 |
| Birth Place: | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 61 |
| Wins: | 53 |
| Ko: | 33 |
| Losses: | 6 |
| Draws: | 2 |
Michael Marshall Dokes (August 10, 1958 – August 11, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1997, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1982 to 1983. As an amateur he won a silver medal in the heavyweight division at the 1975 Pan American Games.
Dokes won a silver medal at the 1975 Pan American Games. He lost a 5–0 decision to Teófilo Stevenson in the finals. He also lost a close decision to John Tate in the Olympic trials in 1976, after which he turned professional.
Dokes turned professional in 1976. He received national exposure in a televised exhibition with Muhammad Ali in 1977, which saw Ali clown and mug while slipping Dokes's punches, but also revealed glimpses of Dokes's potential. He came to real prominence in 1979 by defeating veteran contender Jimmy Young. His career faltered slightly after fighting to a draw with Ossie Ocasio, but Dokes returned to knock out Ocasio in one round soon thereafter. By early 1982, after a first-round knockout of Lynn Ball to win the NABF title, Dokes was in line for a title shot. He was ranked #2 by the WBC and #3 by the WBA. Dokes became WBA heavyweight champion in 1982 by knocking out Mike Weaver in the first round in a match held weeks after the Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim lightweight title fight that ended in Kim's death. Because of Nevada State Athletic Commission instructions to referee Joey Curtis regarding the stoppage of the fight in light of the incident, some felt it was premature. In the rematch, Dokes retained his title on a majority draw (tie).
Dokes's reign as the WBA title holder was short-lived. He lost his title by a tenth-round knockout to Gerrie Coetzee. He was later knocked out by future champion Evander Holyfield.
Dokes was knocked out by Donovan Ruddock in 1990. In 1993, Dokes faced newly crowned heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe in his first title defense since defeating Evander Holyfield. Bowe won by TKO in the first round. Although Dokes and his team protested that the fight was stopped prematurely, it was obvious that Dokes was in no condition to continue after taking a vicious barrage of punches from the heavy-hitting Bowe. After a nearly three-year hiatus, Dokes returned to the ring winning three of five matches over a two-year period before retiring for good in 1997.
In 1999 Dokes was sentenced to between four and 15 years in prison after being convicted of an attack on his fiancée in August 1998. Late in 2008, Dokes was released on parole.[1] Dokes died of liver cancer at a hospice in Akron in August 2012, a day after his 54th birthday.[2] [3]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | Loss | 53–6–2 | Paul Phillips | TKO | 2 (10) | Oct 11, 1997 | |||
| 60 | Loss | 53–5–2 | Louis Monaco | PTS | 10 | Apr 5, 1997 | |||
| 59 | Win | 53–4–2 | Doug Davis | PTS | 10 | Dec 10, 1996 | |||
| 58 | Win | 52–4–2 | Dave Fiddler | KO | 2 (10) | Jul 27, 1996 | |||
| 57 | Win | 51–4–2 | Dave Slaughter | KO | 3 | Nov 18, 1995 | |||
| 56 | Loss | 50–4–2 | Riddick Bowe | TKO | 1 (12), | Feb 6, 1993 | |||
| 55 | Win | 50–3–2 | Barry Forbes | UD | 10 | Oct 27, 1992 | |||
| 54 | Win | 49–3–2 | Jose Ribalta | UD | 10 | Oct 6, 1992 | |||
| 53 | Win | 48–3–2 | Jesse Ferguson | UD | 10 | Jul 28, 1992 | |||
| 52 | Win | 47–3–2 | Danny Sutton | KO | 3 (10), | Apr 16, 1992 | |||
| 51 | Win | 46–3–2 | Percell Davis | RTD | 5 (10), | Mar 21, 1992 | |||
| 50 | Win | 45–3–2 | Danny Wofford | TKO | 9 (10), | Feb 14, 1992 | |||
| 49 | Win | 44–3–2 | Danny Stonewalker | TKO | 6 (10), | Jan 21, 1992 | |||
| 48 | Win | 43–3–2 | Tyrone Armstrong | KO | 4 (10), | Dec 27, 1991 | |||
| 47 | Win | 42–3–2 | John Morton | PTS | 8 | Nov 29, 1991 | |||
| 46 | Loss | 41–3–2 | Donovan Ruddock | KO | 4 (12), | Apr 4, 1990 | |||
| 45 | Win | 41–2–2 | Jorge Alfredo Dascola | TKO | 11 (12), | Feb 5, 1990 | |||
| 44 | Win | 40–2–2 | Lionel Washington | TKO | 8 (12), | Nov 13, 1989 | |||
| 43 | Win | 39–2–2 | Wesley Watson | TKO | 3 (10), | Aug 24, 1989 | |||
| 42 | Win | 38–2–2 | Bobby Crabtree | KO | 1 (10), | Jul 13, 1989 | |||
| 41 | Loss | 37–2–2 | Evander Holyfield | TKO | 10 (12), | Mar 11, 1989 | |||
| 40 | Win | 37–1–2 | Rocky Sekorski | UD | 12 | Dec 9, 1988 | |||
| 39 | Win | 36–1–2 | Curtis Isaac | TKO | 4 (10), | Oct 27, 1988 | |||
| 38 | Win | 35–1–2 | Manoel De Almeida | RTD | 4 (10), | Jul 28, 1988 | |||
| 37 | Win | 34–1–2 | Andrew Stokes | TKO | 1 (10), | Jun 27, 1988 | |||
| 36 | Win | 33–1–2 | James Pritchard | TKO | 7 (12), | Apr 28, 1988 | |||
| 35 | Win | 32–1–2 | Eddie Richardson | TKO | 10 (10), | Feb 24, 1988 | |||
| 34 | Win | 31–1–2 | Ken Lakusta | TKO | 7 (10), | Jan 22, 1988 | |||
| 33 | Win | 30–1–2 | Kevin Porter | TKO | 5 (10), | Dec 17, 1987 | |||
| 32 | Win | 29–1–2 | Randall Cobb | 4 (12), | Mar 15, 1985 | ||||
| 31 | Win | 28–1–2 | Young Louis | TKO | 2 (10), | Feb 16, 1985 | |||
| 30 | Win | 27–1–2 | Mike Jameson | UD | 10 | Aug 31, 1984 | |||
| 29 | Loss | 26–1–2 | Gerrie Coetzee | KO | 10 (15), | Sep 23, 1983 | |||
| 28 | Draw | 26–0–2 | Mike Weaver | 15 | May 20, 1983 | ||||
| 27 | Win | 26–0–1 | Mike Weaver | TKO | 1 (15), | Dec 10, 1982 | |||
| 26 | Win | 25–0–1 | Tommy Franco Thomas | KO | 5 (12), | Mar 20, 1982 | |||
| 25 | Win | 24–0–1 | Lynn Ball | TKO | 1 (12), | Jan 30, 1982 | |||
| 24 | Win | 23–0–1 | George Chaplin | UD | 10 | Nov 6, 1981 | |||
| 23 | Win | 22–0–1 | Harry Terrell | KO | 1 (10), | Aug 9, 1981 | |||
| 22 | Win | 21–0–1 | John L. Gardner | KO | 4 (10), | Jun 12, 1981 | |||
| 21 | Win | 20–0–1 | Randall Cobb | 10 | Mar 22, 1981 | ||||
| 20 | Win | 19–0–1 | Tom Fischer | TKO | 7 (10), | Oct 2, 1980 | |||
| 19 | Win | 18–0–1 | Ossie Ocasio | TKO | 1 (10), | Jun 27, 1980 | |||
| 18 | Draw | 17–0–1 | Ossie Ocasio | 10 | Apr 19, 1980 | ||||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Lucien Rodriguez | UD | 10 | Feb 10, 1980 | |||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Earl Tripp | KO | 1 (10), | Jan 13, 1980 | |||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Jimmy Young | UD | 10 | Sep 28, 1979 | |||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Willie McIntyre | KO | 2 (10), | Jul 20, 1979 | |||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Greg Sorrentino | KO | 3 (10) | May 12, 1979 | |||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Wendell Bailey | 10 | Mar 23, 1979 | ||||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Ira Martin | TKO | 8 (8), | Dec 8, 1978 | |||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Eugene Green | UD | 8 | Oct 27, 1978 | |||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Terry Mims | UD | 8 | Sep 26, 1978 | |||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Dan Johnson | UD | 6 | Apr 29, 1978 | |||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Abdul Khan | 8 | Mar 25, 1978 | ||||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | George Holden | 2 (8) | Mar 3, 1978 | ||||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Ed Turner | PTS | 6 | Apr 10, 1977 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Charlie Jordan | TKO | 3 (4) | Mar 6, 1977 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Dave Wilson | 4 | Jan 29, 1977 | ||||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Sergio Rodriguez | 2 | Jan 16, 1977 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Al Byrd | 2 (4), | Oct 15, 1976 |