Ringside Report Remembers the Late Heavyweight Boxer Monte Masters

[AdSense-A]

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

In 1980 he was in the ring with Charles Atlas. In 1984 he divorced his wife and his father in law stripped him of his championship belt. By 1981 and in his mid 20’s the 6 foot 5 fighter was supposed to go to war with Joe Frazier; at the time he was undefeated. This is no simple story, and this was no simple fighter, but heavyweight Monte Masters, 29-4, 25 KO’s was not to be a simple fighter. His destiny may never have been fulfilled but his indelible part in the history of the sport took enough twists and turns to make it worth following and being inspired by his story.

The road to the possible fight with Frazier was filled with a lesser class of opponent and many were less than impressed with his boxing CV but most acknowledge that he was a real handful in the ring. Many thought he would fare poorly against a legend like “Smokin” Joe and to be fair to Masters, even if he had shared a ring with a legend he would have fought the best fight he could because it was all the fight he had; but I can find nobody who thought he would have beat Frazier…

He was meant to be fodder – the guy who would legitimize a comeback. His own promoter and father in law Pat O’Grady was reported at the time, as saying, ”He’s less of a prospect than a suspect. In the Frazier fight, Masters is a late replacement for Scott LeDoux, who dropped out the other day.”

Frazier was due to return with a fee and guarantee that included some work in 1982 that would have been more interesting than enthralling, but Masters was to miss out on his pay day as Frazier fought Floyd “Jumbo” Cummings instead and drew; afterwards Frazier retired permanently.
As I said, though, Masters would have been no patsy and he did have a kind of impressive record leading up to that potential fight. He had managed to catch the eye both in sparring and in the ring and though his win over Rocky Young, 11-6-2, 6 KO’s, was not headline grabbing, nor was the win against Ernie “Big E” Smith he proved he had a solid jab and a decent style.

Those that remember him seem to value his win against Tony Fulangi higher than most when on September 22nd, 1983, Masters knocked out Tony Fulangi in the fourteenth round in Phoenix, Arizona, to win the vacant World Athletic Association version of the World Heavyweight title. This was a belt created by O’Grady when he fell out over his son being stripped of his own title by one of the sports’ legitimate governing bodies.

The fight with Fulangi in one of the last officially scheduled 15 round world heavyweight title bouts to take place of record.

Masters’ career was carefully managed by that man, Pat O’Grady, his wife’s father, the opponents he got were there to fall by the wayside. Masters was all right, as long as Pat was in his corner. Pat was only in his corner as long as his daughter, Rosie, was in Masters’ plan. When Masters and Pat’s daughter parted ways… Masters’ career came off the rails.

Following divorce proceedings, apparently, O’Grady had him stripped of the World Athletic Association title!

Whilst it could be argued that O’Grady was guilty of manipulating the situation – a wholly unusual situation in boxing, I hear NOBODY cry – O’Grady had been trying to get Masters a decent payday and a possible fight against one of the legitimate belt holders – most likely, apparently, Larry Holmes. His failure to do so shows more about his loyalty to his family than his failure as a boxing promoter.

O’Grady, like many who are on the edge of greatness and decent fighters was colorful. He ran a gym that had many a decent prospect including his own son, lightweight Sean O’Grady – WBA lightweight champ in 1981. O’Grady, the father, was however ruthless and would use Masters mercilessly in sparring getting others, lighter than him to take him on. I suppose at the time this was thought to be legitimate. What was not entirely expected was that at least one fighter held his own against Masters over a period of time, leaving Masters as the real patsy in the gym. There must have been some thought from Masters himself that he was being used and abused by his father in law.

At the age of 41, Masters passed away and details of his death is very difficult to find. The only report that I did discover was a suggestion that he died of the 1980’s scourge, AIDS, but that may well be mere speculation. Boxing needs color to maintain its surge in people’s minds. We concentrate on the big names often to the detriment of the smaller and far more interesting peripheral fighters who add so much to the sport. Monte Masters was one such bright spark and no matter how he passed away, his time in the ring added so much to the boxing world.

[si-contact-form form=’2′]