On This Day In Boxing History!
1967: “Iceman” John Scully Was Born!
John "Iceman" Scully, born in Hartford, Connecticut, began his boxing journey in 1982 and graduated from Windsor High School in 1985. As an amateur middleweight (165 pounds), he amassed a verified record of 57-13, notably never being stopped or knocked down throughout his amateur career. He won several prestigious championships, including the 1987 Ohio State Fair (defeating Melvin Foster), the 1987 National PAL (defeating Kertis Mingo), and the 1988 Eastern U.S. Olympic Trials (defeating World 165 pound Amateur Champion Darin Allen). Scully also earned Outstanding Boxer awards at the 1987 Western Massachusetts Golden Gloves and the 1988 Eastern U.S. Olympic Trials. Between 1985 and 1988, he won four consecutive Western Massachusetts Golden Gloves titles and three consecutive New England Golden Gloves titles. In 1988, he was named to the Western Massachusetts Golden Gloves All-Time team alongside Mike Tyson. Scully defeated future world title challenger Joey DeGrandis to win the 1988 New England Golden Gloves championship and twice reached the National Golden Gloves finals, narrowly losing on split decisions in 1987 and 1988.
Turning professional in 1988, Scully compiled a record of 38-11 with 21 knockouts before retiring in 2001. His professional career highlights include fighting for the IBF World Light Heavyweight Championship in 1996 in Leipzig, Germany, where he lost a 12-round decision to unbeaten champion Henry Maske. In 1995, he challenged two-time world champion Michael Nunn for the WBO NABO super middleweight title, losing by unanimous decision despite a close fight. Scully's notable victories included ten-round decisions over Art Baylis and WBC International 154-pound champion Billy Bridges, a second-round stoppage of former IBO 168-pound world champion Willie Ball, and a unanimous decision over former #1 nationally ranked amateur Alphonso Bailey in 1989. In 1992, he won the World Boxing Federation Intercontinental Super Middleweight title by unanimous decision against Melvin Wynn. Throughout his career, Scully frequently served as a sparring partner for top world champions including Henry Maske, Mike McCallum, Vinny Pazienza, Roy Jones Jr., and James "Lights Out" Toney.
While still boxing professionally, Scully trained standout amateur champions such as 1997 National Junior Olympics Champion Sammy Vega, 1995 Ohio State Fair Champion Greg Cuyler, 1998 National PAL Champion Dwayne Hairston, and 2000 U.S. Armed Forces Champion Orlando Cordova. After retiring, since 2003, he successfully transitioned into a professional trainer role, guiding multiple champions. He trained Isabel "Liz" Mueller to the WIBF Lightweight Championship, Jose Antonio Rivera to the WBA Junior Middleweight Championship in May 2006, and Mike Oliver to the IBO Super Bantamweight Championship. Scully also worked with numerous pros including Israel "Pito" Cardona, Matt Godfrey, Ray "Sucra" Olivera, Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton, Lawrence Clay-Bey, Matt Remillard, Francisco "The Wizard" Palacios, George "Monk" Foreman III, and notably Artur Beterbiev, whom he trained as Beterbiev held multiple world light heavyweight titles. He played a significant role in Chad "Bad" Dawson's development, training him through three fights leading to Dawson's WBC Light Heavyweight World Championship win in 2012.
Recognized for his insightful boxing commentary, Scully frequently appeared as a ringside analyst on ESPN Classic, working alongside Joe Tessitore. In 2015, he joined the cast of the Nuvo-TV boxing reality show KNOCKOUT alongside Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Sugar Shane Mosley. Scully is also the author of The Iceman Diaries, a respected boxing memoir.
Scully has been honored with multiple Hall of Fame inductions: he was inducted into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame in November 2009 (with some events held at Mohegan Sun Casino in 2010) and into the Billy C. Boxing Hall of Fame in South Glens Falls, New York, in November 2011.
Reflecting on the pressures of the sport, Scully famously said in 2002, “The wait in the dressing room before a professional boxing match, that last hour, could be enough to strip a man who never fought before of whatever pride, desire, heart or courage he thought he had.”
As of his late fifties, Scully remains actively involved in boxing, currently training former World Amateur Champion and multi-title IBF/WBC/WBO World Light Heavyweight Champion Artur Beterbiev, preparing him for a highly anticipated bout against Russian rival Dmitrii Bivol.
As correctly described in Ring Magazine by Ron Georges as “the former contender Scully’s life-long love affair with boxing includes a One-Man Charitable Crusade to help fighters who are struggling with the effects of their trade.”
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John Scully
Born: July 28th, 1967
Birth Place: Hartford, Connecticut
Residence: Hartford, Connecticut
Pro-Debut: September 16th,1988
Alias: The Iceman
Division: Light Heavyweight
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 11½″
Record: 38-11, 21Ko’s
Bouts: 49
Rounds: 318
Ko’s: 43%
July 28th
1931: Al Iovino KO3 Henry Armstrong – Armstong’s pro-debut
1933: Jersey Joe Walcott TKO1 Henry Taylor
1948: Willie Pep KO1 Young Junior
1952: Rocky Marciano KO2 Harry Matthews
1967: John “Iceman” Scully was Born
1969: Johnny Famechon W15 Fighting Harada
1974: Antonio Cervantes KO2 Victor Ortiz
1975: Takanori Hatakeyama was born in Aomori, Japan
1979: Sung Jun Kim W15 Siony Carupo
1980: Rafael Orono D15 Willie Jensen
Shoji Oguma W15 Sung Jun Kim
1985: Mike McCallum KO8 David Braxton
Joey Olivo W15 Moon Jin Choi, Seoul
1988: Michael Nunn KO9 Frank Tate
1989: Adrien Broner is born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1990: Dennis Andries KO7 Jeff Harding
Leopard Tamakuma KO10 Yul Woo Lee
1992: Michael Dokes W10 Jesse Ferguson - Ferguson tried to punch Dokes after the fight ended
1994: Kenya’s Robert Wangila dies after an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain following a July 22nd 9th round TKO loss to David Gonzalez in Las Vegas
Ray Mercer SDRAW10 Marion Wilson
Tommy Morrison SDRAW10 Ross Puritty
1996: Amateur boxer Reginaldo Tavares Da Silva Jr., 18, dies if internal injuries suffered during a bout in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
1997: Jorge Eliecer Julio WSD12 Oscar Maldonado
2001: Roy Jones Jr. W12 Julio Gonzalez.
Andrew Lewis NC2 Ricardo Mayorga
Erik Morales W12 In Jin Chi
2007: Vernon Forrest W12 Carlos Baldomir
Edgar Sosa WDQ10 Luis Lazarte
2012: Robert Guerrero W12 Selcuk Aydin
Orlando Salido KO3 Moises Gutierrez
2017: Sho Kimura TKO11 Shiming Zou
Gideon Buthelezi W12 Ryan Rey Ponteras
2018: Katie Taylor TKO3 Kimberly Connor
Dillian Whyte W12 Joseph Parker
Dereck Chisora TKO8 Carlos Takam
Masayuki Ito W12 Christopher Diaz
Mikey Garcia W12 Robert Easter Jr.
2019: Gervonta Davis TKO12 Yuriorkis Gamboa
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