Ringside Report Looks Back at IBF Light Heavyweight Champion William “Kid Chocolate” Guthrie

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

William Douglas Guthrie, 35-4-3, 28 KOs, AKA the KO King, was born just a couple of years after I was. And there, I reckon, the similarity may end. Whilst Mr. and Mrs. Stewart in the west coast of Scotland were sorting out my diapers, this future light heavyweight and cruiserweight star was starting life in St. Louis Missouri, a place where he became involved, apparently, in the local drugs scene.

It was a scene that was to blight his career as he spent time in prison for drug possession later in his life and he was denied an Olympic place in 1988 as he failed a drugs test. But in 1985, Guthrie was the National Golden Gloves middleweight champion. In 1997, he was the IBF light heavyweight champion after beating Darren Allen. People even talked of him being a realistic threat to Roy Jones, JR.!

When he turned professional he made his debut in Saint Louis with a 2nd round knockout of John Moore on the 1st of May 1989. His profile got noticed as his first 9 fights did not last beyond the 3rd round – and he lost none of them. And from there came the nickname, KO King.

His first title was 6 years away but came when he beat Richard Frazier by knockout in the 4th round for the USBA light heavyweight title in New York on the 8th of November 1995. Under two years later, he was the IBF champion.

No matter how he got there, he got there.

In Indio, on the 19th of July 1997, he faced Allen for the vacant title. The title had been stripped from the WBA and IBF title holder Dariusz Michalczewski. Michalczewski had won his titles from Virgil Hill but the IBF were insistent that he face their number 1 contender, William Guthrie. Guthrie had signed to Don King. There was a suggestion that King played too big a hand in this as Michalczewski’s team did not want to deal with him. King then campaigned, apparently, to get the IBF to strip him. Once he accomplished that, allegedly, his man, Guthrie was front and center to fight for the title. Allen had spent most of his career as a super middleweight and was not much of a light heavyweight but no matter how, he got his shot. Allen went down three times in the 3rd, and was eventually stopped in that round, so that Guthrie became the light heavyweight champion for the IBF. Many wondered why Allen got his shot, few speculated that it had nothing to do with Don King, all believed that it was a fortunate opportunity for Guthrie to face him.

And now people talked of him being that threat to Roy Jones, JR. That threat quite literally left the ring on a stretcher in his first defense of his IBF title when former super middleweight world champion, Reggie Johnson, on the 6th of February 1998, in Uncasville, knocked him out. Before that happened Johnson had a point deducted for low blows but he was never in serious trouble from Guthrie who was now finding himself exposed in the ring. His chin was most exposed when Johnson hit it with a right hook which led to Guthrie needing that help to get out the building.

Straight after the loss to Johnson he took on Michael Nunn and got stopped in the 7th round in Minot on the 9th of May 1999. Thereafter he campaigned at cruiserweight, with one more shot at a belt – on the 7th of February 2002, he faced Ravea Springs in Saint Louis for the WBO NABO cruiserweight belt and was stopped in the 11th round.

Guthrie kept on fighting until he retired in 2007 with his last fight was on the 12th of May when he drew on a split decision over 6 rounds against James Johnson in Fairfax. Not many laud Guthrie as anything more than a lucky guy, but you know, anyone who laces a glove gets our respect, and that is due here for Guthrie, at the very least.

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