Jean-Marc Mormeck


Jean-Marc Gilbert Mormeck is a French former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He is a two-time unified world cruiserweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC and The Ring world titles twice between 2005 and 2007. He was the first boxer to hold unified cruiserweight title since Evander Holyfield in 1988, and the first fighter to hold The Ring cruiserweight title since Carlos De León in 1987. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's top 10 cruiserweight from 2001 to 2005 and in 2007, and was ranked No.1 in 2003 and 2004. Mormeck also challenged for the unified world heavyweight title in 2012.

Early life

Mormeck was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe as an only child to Fulbert and Sonia Mormeck. When he was 6, he and his family moved to Paris, France, where he still lives. Mormeck engaged himself in football and Muay Thai as an amateur. After watching some boxing matches on television, he became inspired to excel in it.

Professional career

1990–1998: early career

He fought as an amateur in 1990 and turned professional in 1995. Early in his career, Mormeck lost 2 minor four-round bouts on points but kept winning for years afterwards. On 10 November 1998, Mormeck won the French light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision win over Alain Simon. He defended that title three times before relinquishing it.

2002–2006: first world title and unification bouts

Later, Mormeck captured the WBA cruiserweight title by a 9th-round technical knockout win over Virgil Hill on 23 February 2002. Following three defenses with wins over Dale Brown, Alexander Gurov and Virgil Hill again, he added the WBC cruiserweight crown to his collection on 2 April 2005, by way of unanimous decision over Wayne Braithwaite.
However, Mormeck lost his WBA and WBC cruiserweight titles to O'Neil Bell after being knocked out in the 10th round. This bout, on 7 January 2006, was for the undisputed cruiserweight championship.

2007: regaining cruiserweight titles

In their rematch, Mormeck regained the WBA and WBC titles back from Bell by unanimous decision on 17 March 2007.
In the first defense of his second title reign, Mormeck lost his WBA, WBC and lineal cruiserweight titles as he was bested by mandatory challenger and knockout specialist David Haye on 10 November 2007. Mormeck was dropped heavily in the 7th round after being hit by a strong right from Haye. Although Mormeck rose up just in time, the referee realized that he was dazed and in no condition to go on, which caused the contest to be stopped and Haye winning the fight by knockout.

2009–2010: heavyweight

On 17 December 2009, Mormeck made his return to the ring after a two-year layoff, fighting for the first time as a heavyweight, against Vinny Maddalone. He outpointed the veteran heavyweight over 8 rounds.
Mormeck fought Uzbek heavyweight and WBA #7 Timur Ibragimov on 2 December 2010, at Halle Carpentier, Paris.
Mormeck started slowly but dominated the middle rounds to win a split decision.

2012: Mormeck vs. Klitschko

In October 2011, Mormeck was signed to fight unified Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko on 10 December 2011 at Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany until Klitschko pulled out after having a kidney stone removed on 2 December 2011. The fight was postponed to 3 March 2012. In this fight, Mormeck attempted to be only the third cruiserweight champion to win a world title at Heavyweight, after Evander Holyfield and David Haye. However, he was defeated by fourth round KO.

Return to cruiserweight and retirement

Following another extended layoff, Mormeck returned to the ring in June 2014 against Tamas Lodi of Hungary. Despite his early stoppage win, Mormeck openly expressed weariness for the fight game following the match, calling for a quick title shot before he could put an end to his career.
Instead, Mormeck had to get through a fight with former EBU champion Mateusz Masternak, which he lost via majority decision. As he had promised before each of his final two fights, he retired following his defeat.

Trivia

  • Before his first encounter with O'Neil Bell, Mormeck had no nickname, so he asked his fans to come up with one. He did not know that the fans had selected the moniker "The Marksman" until it was announced at the fight.
  • Mormeck made one appearance in a French television talk-show called "Tout le monde en parle" to raise his mainstream profile.

    Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
43Loss37–6Mateusz Masternak105 Dec 2014Palais des sports Robert Charpentier, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
42Win37–5Tamas LodiTKO4 26 Jun 2014Patinoire olympique, Asnières-sur-Seine, France
41Loss36–5Wladimir KlitschkoKO4, 1:123 Mar 2012Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf, GermanyFor WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles
40Win36–4Timur IbragimovSD122 Dec 2010Halle Georges Carpentier, Paris, FranceWon vacant WBA International heavyweight title
39Win35–4Fres OquendoUD106 May 2010Halle Georges Carpentier, Paris, France
38Win34–4Vinny MaddaloneUD817 Dec 2009Halle Georges Carpentier, Paris, France
37Loss33–4David HayeTKO7, 1:5410 Nov 2007Palais des sports Marcel-Cerdan Levallois-Perret, FranceLost WBA, WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles
36Win33–3O'Neil BellUD1217 Mar 2007Palais des sports Marcel-Cerdan, Levallois-Perret, FranceWon WBA, WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles
35Win32–3Sebastian HillTKO4, 2:328 Jul 2006Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri, US
34Loss31–3O'Neil BellKO10, 2:507 Jan 2006Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USLost WBA, WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles;
For IBF cruiserweight title
33Win31–2Wayne BraithwaiteUD122 Apr 2005DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, USRetained WBA cruiserweight title;
Won WBC and vacant The Ring cruiserweight titles
32Win30–2Virgil HillUD1222 May 2004Carnival City, Brakpan, South AfricaRetained WBA cruiserweight title
31Win29–2Alexander GurovTKO8, 0:321 Mar 2003Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, USRetained WBA cruiserweight title
30Win28–2Dale BrownTKO8 10 Aug 2002Plages du Prado, Marseille, FranceRetained WBA cruiserweight title
29Win27–2Virgil Hill9, 0:0123 Feb 2002Palais des Sports, Marseille, FranceWon WBA cruiserweight title
28Win26–2Franklin EdmondsonPTS88 Oct 2001Palais des Sports, Paris, France
27Win25–2Vinson DurhamTKO2 4 Aug 2001Plages du Prado, Marseille, France
26Win24–2Antonio Fernando Caldas Jr.TKO3 14 May 2001Palais des Sports, Paris, France
25Win23–2Valeriy VykhorTKO3 3 Apr 2001Salle Bellevue, Fréjus, France
24Win22–2Juan Carlos ViloriaTKO10 29 Jan 2001Palais des Sports, Paris, FranceRetained WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
23Win21–2Livin CastilloTKO3, 2:3616 Dec 2000Forum Bicentenario, Maracay, VenezuelaWon vacant WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
22Win20–2Jerry WilliamsTKO6 3 Oct 2000Ice Hall, Helsinki, Finland
21Win19–2Antonio Pedro QuigangaTKO2 16 Sep 2000Châteauroux, France
20Win18–2Kostyantyn OkhreyTKO3 16 May 2000Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
19Win17–2Tim HillieKO4 25 Apr 2000Saint-Quentin, France
18Win16–2Jerry Williams7 7 Mar 2000Dijon, France
17Win15–2Rob BleakleyTKO4 15 Feb 2000Palais des Sports, Épinal, France
16Win14–2Bruce RumbolzTKO4 7 Dec 1999Saint-Vallier, France
15Win13–2Pascal Warusfel1026 Oct 1999Guilherand-Granges, FranceRetained France light-heavyweight title
14Win12–2Ganguina LarmePTS1018 May 1999Noisy-le-Grand, FranceRetained France light-heavyweight title
13Win11–2Joe StevensonTKO2 2 Feb 1999Pont-Sainte-Maxence, France
12Win10–2Alain Simon1010 Nov 1998Pont-Sainte-Maxence, FranceWon France light-heavyweight title
11Win9–2Konstantin SemerdjievTKO5 13 Oct 1998Guilherand-Granges, France
10Win8–2Kamel AmranePTS823 May 1998Noisy-le-Grand, France
9Win7–2Turan BagciPTS820 Jan 1998Levallois-Perret, France
8Win6–2Kalin StoyanovTKO7 20 Dec 1997Bobigny, France
7Win5–2Juan NelongoTKO3 5 Nov 1997Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
6Win4–2Harri HakulinenPTS624 Jun 1997Pont-Audemer, France
5Loss3–2Dominique MansarePTS613 Jun 1997Clermont-Ferrand, France
4Loss3–1Lee Manuel OssiePTS422 May 1997Los Cristianos, Spain
3Win3–0Thierry Vuillemin68 Mar 1997Noisy-le-Grand, France
2Win2–0Frederic GoutalTKO4 19 May 1995Saint-Lô, France
1Win1–0Pierrick Trideau1 25 Mar 1995Noisy-le-Grand, FranceProfessional debut