| Willie Monroe | |
| Nickname: | The Worm |
| Weight: | Middleweight |
| Height: | 6 ft.[1] |
| Birth Date: | June 5, 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Alabama, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Sicklerville, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 51 |
| Wins: | 40 |
| Ko: | 26 |
| Losses: | 10 |
| Draws: | 1 |
Willie "The Worm" Monroe (June 5, 1946 - June 22, 2019)[2] was a middleweight boxer who competed from 1969 to 1981. He was most notable for defeating Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1976 before Hagler went on an eleven year undefeated streak.[3]
Monroe received his nickname "the Worm" for his slippery fighting style from Yank Durham.[4] He died on Saturday, June 22, 2019, after complications with Alzheimers.[3]
He was inducted into the Pennsylvania boxing hall of fame in 1990 [5] and is the great uncle of American boxer Willie Monroe Jr.[4]
Monroe was born in Alabama as the 13th of 17 children and spent his early years in Crestview, Florida.[3] He started boxing in Rochester, New York where he claimed an undefeated 43-0 amateur record.[4] He arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1969 to train for his pro-debut.[6]
Monroe started his professional career with a perfect record of 20-0 before being stopped in a controversial split decision against Max Cohen.[7]
A string of mixed results would follow with a notable win over Eugene Hart and losses to Alvin Philipps and Bobby Watts.[6]
Monroe would go on to defeat Marvelous Marvin Hagler on March 9, 1976 in decisive fashion. Unfortunately no footage of the fight exists as a snowstorm in the area prevented filming.[6] Two rematches would follow which were both won by technical knockout by Hagler [8]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Loss | 40–10–1 | Willie Edwards | KO | 4 (6) | Oct 24, 1981 | ||
| 50 | Win | 40–9–1 | Jimmy McClain | UD | 10 | Jul 28, 1980 | ||
| 49 | Loss | 39–9–1 | Dwight Davidson | UD | 10 | Nov 15, 1979 | ||
| 48 | Loss | 39–8–1 | Curtis Parker | UD | 10 | Jul 16, 1979 | ||
| 47 | Win | 39–7–1 | Keith Broom | UD | 10 | May 31, 1979 | ||
| 46 | Loss | 38–7–1 | Richard Ofosu | PTS | 10 | Mar 3, 1979 | ||
| 45 | Win | 38–6–1 | Frank Lucas | TKO | 8 (10) | Apr 22, 1978 | ||
| 44 | Loss | 37–6–1 | Marvelous Marvin Hagler | TKO | 2 (12), | Aug 23, 1977 | ||
| 43 | Win | 37–5–1 | Larry Davis | PTS | 10 | Jun 15, 1977 | ||
| 42 | Loss | 36–5–1 | Marvelous Marvin Hagler | TKO | 12 (12), | Feb 15, 1977 | ||
| 41 | Win | 36–4–1 | Lenny Harden | TKO | 3 (10) | Jan 21, 1977 | ||
| 40 | Win | 35–4–1 | Angel Robinson Garcia | TKO | 7 (10), | Dec 3, 1976 | ||
| 39 | Loss | 34–4–1 | David Love | TKO | 4 (10), | Aug 16, 1976 | ||
| 38 | Win | 34–3–1 | Felton Marshall | TKO | 7 (10), | May 19, 1976 | ||
| 37 | Win | 33–3–1 | Marvelous Marvin Hagler | UD | 10 | Mar 9, 1976 | ||
| 36 | Win | 32–3–1 | Carlos Marks | UD | 10 | Jan 28, 1976 | ||
| 35 | Win | 31–3–1 | Carlos Marks | 10 | Jun 2, 1975 | |||
| 34 | Win | 30–3–1 | Rennie Pinder | KO | 4 (10) | Apr 28, 1975 | ||
| 33 | Loss | 29–3–1 | Bobby Watts | UD | 10 | Nov 12, 1974 | ||
| 32 | Win | 29–2–1 | Billy Douglas | UD | 10 | Aug 19, 1974 | ||
| 31 | Win | 28–2–1 | Stanley Hayward | TKO | 7 (10) | Apr 8, 1974 | ||
| 30 | Win | 27–2–1 | Eugene Hart | UD | 10 | Feb 18, 1974 | ||
| 29 | Draw | 26–2–1 | Fabio Bettini | PTS | 10 | Nov 5, 1973 | ||
| 28 | Win | 26–2 | Jose Gonzalez | UD | 10 | Aug 14, 1973 | ||
| 27 | Win | 25–2 | Roy McMillan | TKO | 3 (10), | May 10, 1973 | ||
| 26 | Win | 24–2 | Don Cobbs | UD | 10 | Mar 5, 1973 | ||
| 25 | Win | 23–2 | Roy Lee | TKO | 1 (10), | Jan 22, 1973 | ||
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | George Davis | TKO | 6 (10), | Dec 5, 1972 | ||
| 23 | Win | 21–2 | Leroy Roberts | KO | 1 (10) | Oct 24, 1972 | ||
| 22 | Loss | 20–2 | Alvin Phillips | SD | 10 | Sep 6, 1972 | ||
| 21 | Loss | 20–1 | Nessim Max Cohen | 10 | Mar 27, 1972 | |||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Luis Miguel Galvan | UD | 10 | Mar 21, 1972 | ||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Alvin Phillips | 10 | Jan 15, 1972 | |||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Willie Warren | UD | 10 | Oct 19, 1971 | ||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Elgie Walters | TKO | 4 (10) | Jul 14, 1971 | ||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Abraham Cabrera | KO | 3 (10), | May 27, 1971 | ||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Adam Moore | KO | 2 (10) | Apr 12, 1971 | ||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Alvin Phillips | 10 | Jan 18, 1971 | |||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Luis Vinales | TKO | 6 (6), | Nov 17, 1970 | ||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Nojeen Adigun | KO | 4 (8) | Oct 6, 1970 | ||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Adam Moore | TKO | 3 (6) | Sep 14, 1970 | ||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Oscar Coor | TKO | 2 (6), | Jul 20, 1970 | ||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Santiago Rosa | TKO | 2 (10), | Jul 13, 1970 | ||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Harold Glaspy | TKO | 2 (6), | Jul 6, 1970 | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Ruben Figueroa | KO | 2 (8) | Jun 15, 1970 | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Alberto Millan | KO | 3 (8) | May 18, 1970 | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Luis Ted Hamilton | KO | 1 (6) | Apr 22, 1970 | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Luis Rivera | TKO | 1 (6) | Mar 25, 1970 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Fred Thomas | KO | 1 (6) | Feb 25, 1970 | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Joe Williams | 4 (4) | Dec 9, 1969 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Vince Neratka | 1 (4) | Nov 11, 1969 | |||