Ringside Report Looks Back at Jerry “The Bull” Martin
Jerry “The Bull” Martin, 25-7, 17 KO’s was a “tough as nails” light heavyweight contender during the 1980’s who failed in three attempts to win the world title. Martin, born in Bolans, Antigua and Barbuda, travelled to Philadelphia, PA, to begin his journey as a prize fighter. “The Bull”, who was a fan favorite in the “City of Brotherly Love”, went on to capture both the USBA and NABF light heavyweight belts during his career.
With no amateur background, Jerry began his professional career on February 25, 1976 at the Arena in Philadelphia by easily defeating his first opponent, Sixto Martinez, by first-round knockout. Martin would win fourteen of his first fifteen fights, nine of those victories coming by via knockout.
The only blemish on his record early on was a ten-round decision loss to undefeated prospect Pablo Paul Ramos on May 25, 1977, in his seventh professional bout. In an experimental trial, at the Public Hall in Cleveland, OH, the officials decided to use an electronic scoreboard to display the judge’s scores per round. “I kept watching the scorecard and couldn’t believe I was losing”, Jerry later recalled. His most notable wins during that span were over Jerry Celestine and Ivy Brown.
On August 7, 1979, Jerry Martin floored Dale Grant five times and went on to win by technical knockout to claim the vacant NABF light heavyweight title at the Steel Pier Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Two fights later, Martin would add the USBA title to his collection when he defeated Jesse Burnett by twelve-round unanimous decision at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on November 14th of that same year.
Defeating then-unbeaten James “Great” Scott was the catalyst that gave Martin the big push in his career. Scott, who was an inmate at the Rahway Prison in New Jersey, was allowed to fight under a special penal program. Scott was a legitimate prospect, having beaten Yaqui Lopez, Jerry Celestine, Bunny Johnson, and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.
On May 25, 1980, at the Rahway Prison, “The Bull” pulled of the upset and won a unanimous decision over Scott. “No one gave Martin a chance”, said J Russell Peltz, Jerry’s promoter, “but he went in there, knocked Scott down in each of the first two rounds and won a clear-cut decision”. “Everyone was afraid to fight him”, recalled Martin, “I was too.” Jerry claimed that arriving at the prison the day before the fight had settled him down, and allowed him to give a great performance.
The victory over Scott propelled Martin into a title-shot opportunity against Eddie Mustafa Muhammad for the WBA World Light Heavyweight belt. On July 20th, at the Great Gorge Playboy Club in McAfee, N.J, Martin lost by technical knockout when the referee stopped the bout at the 2:25 mark of the tenth round. The champion Mustafa Muhammad landed a big right hand near the end of the fourth round that badly hurt the challenger, and then followed up with flurry of punches that floored Martin right before the bell. Martin would recover from the knockdown, but would attempt miserably to outbox Mustafa Muhammad for the rest of the fight. The end of the fight came when Mustafa landed a counter right over Martin’s left jab and dropped the challenger. The champion jumped all over Martin, who was on shaky legs after getting off the canvas, and continued to land heavy shots until the referee intervened. At the time of the stoppage, one judge had the fight even on his scorecard while the other two judges had Martin slightly behind.
Martin rebounded nicely, winning his next three fights by technical knockout, and positioning himself again for another opportunity to the win the world title. On September 26, 1981, at the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City, Jerry would square off with reigning WBC World Light Heavyweight champion Matthew Saad Muhammad, who was making his eighth title defense. The champion had duped Martin into punching himself into exhaustion early on in the contest and before finally stopping the challenger in the eleventh-round by technical knockout. Muhammad controlled most of the fight, tagging Martin almost at will from the third round onward. By the 11th, Martin was wobbly and exhausted from Muhammad’s roundhouse lefts. Referee Larry Hazzard halted the bout at the :28 mark of the round when it appeared that Martin was out on his feet after getting tagged by two right hands from the champion. At the time of the stoppage, Martin trailed on two of the three judges’ scorecards (96-94,97-93) but the third judge had it even after ten rounds.
Despite the loss, Martin would immediately get his third opportunity for a world title in his very next fight. Matthew Saad Muhammad would lose his title in his next fight to Dwight (Braxton) Muhammad Qawi when he was stopped in the sixth round of their championship match. Martin, who was still the reigning NABF light heavyweight title-holder, was given first crack at dethroning the new champion.
On March 21, 1982, at the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, WBC Light Heavyweight champion Muhammad Qawi would stop Martin in the sixth round of their scheduled 15-round contest. Martin would not benefit from his six-inch height and five-and-half inch reach advantage, as the champion easily chopped down the challenger on the inside. The champion dropped Martin twice in the second round before ending the contest in the sixth round when the referee intervened and stopped the onslaught at the 2:30 mark of the round.
“The Bull” would go on and win only three of the last six fights of his career. On April 10, 1984, Jerry would drop a decision to Prince Mama Muhammad in Atlantic City. In 2011, Jerry Martin was inducted into the Philadelphia Boxing Hall of Fame. J Russell Peltz remembered Jerry fondly and recalled the prison battle with Scott as the highlight of Martin’s career. Peltz would say, “To go in there and take down that monster was an amazing thing”.
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