Former Canadian Boxing Champ Trevor Berbick Presumed Murdered In Jamaica
Posted October 28, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Trevor Berbick was famous for leaving opponents in the boxing ring bruised and bloodied, but the former world and Canadian heavyweight champion met with a gory end of his own when he was found dead in a Jamaican church courtyard Saturday with chop wounds to his head.
Berbick’s body was discovered about 6:30am Saturday in his hometown parish of Portland. Police are treating his death as a homicide.
Berbick, who fought for Jamaica at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, became a landed Canadian immigrant in 1979 shortly after beginning his pro boxing career while living in Halifax. He won the Canadian heavyweight title before moving to south Florida in the early 1980s as his career was taking off.
In 1981 he beat an aging Muhammad Ali in the final fight of the boxing legend’s career, then in 1986 won the WBC heavyweight title on a decision over Pinklon Thomas.
He then made marked his name in another chapter of boxing history, losing that title eight months later to a 20-year-old Mike Tyson, who became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
Tyson knocked Berbick down multiple times in two rounds, and the Canadian fighter later claimed he was drugged prior to the bout.
Berbick’s career stretched from 1976 to 2000, and he finished with a 50-11-1 record, including 33 knockouts. But as his skills and career began to fade, his legal troubles crept to the foreground.
In 1991 he was convicted of misdemeanour assault for attacking his former business manager, who testified the boxer put a gun to her head and accused her of stealing $40,000.
The following year, he was convicted of raping a 16-year-old Florida babysitter and was sentenced to four years in prison. He was also convicted of second-degree grand theft for forging his ex-wife’s signature to get a $95,000 mortgage on his home.
He served 15 months on those convictions and was to be deported to his native Jamaica upon release.
But before he could be removed, Berbick fled and slipped into Canada where he went from Montreal to B.C. in attempt to revive his career. He would later return to Florida where a warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was deported to Jamaica in 2002.
Berbick was widely believed to be 52-years-old, but there are reports that have him as old as 56 or as young as 49.
“Legally, I’m a spirit,” he once said. “I have no age.”
