Eileen M.
2006-10-29 18:52:46 UTC
What a worthless human being he was, raping a 16 year old kid.
Hopefully his death was extremely painful.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2006/10/29/2165332-sun.html
October 29, 2006
Ex-champ hacked to death
Suspect arrested after body of Trevor Berbick found in church
courtyard
By MURRAY GREIG, EDMONTON SUN
In life, Trevor Berbick was a forgotten bit player in the pantheon of
world boxing champions. In death, however, he joins Hall of Famers
Sonny Liston and Stanley Ketchel as the victim of a gruesome homicide.
Early yesterday, the body of the 52-year-old Berbick was found in a
church courtyard in Kingston, Jamaica, with chop wounds to the head.
Police later arrested a man and were interrogating him at the Port
Antonio police station in the Portland parish, Const. Sheldon Francis
told the Canadian Press.
Reuters, quoting an unidentified source at the scene, said the
ex-fighter had a "gaping chop wound" to the head, consistent with that
made by a machete or hatchet.
The Jamaican-born Berbick, who represented his native country at the
1976 Olympics in Montreal, became a landed immigrant in 1979 and the
following year defeated Earl McLeay to win the Canadian heavyweight
title that had been stripped from George Chuvalo for inactivity.
Two years later Berbick defeated Muhammad Ali in what was billed as
"Drama in the Bahama," and on March 22, 1986, he won the World Boxing
Council's version of the championship by decisioning Pinklon Thomas in
Las Vegas.
Berbick held the title for just eight months before being knocked out
in two rounds by Mike Tyson, who at age 20 became the youngest
heavyweight champion in history.
Between his victory over Ali and his loss to Tyson, Berbick won the
British Commonwealth title. He defended it against Edmonton's Ken
Lakusta at Northlands Coliseum (now Rexall Place) on Sept. 15, 1983,
scoring a 10th-round knockout.
"Trevor had his problems, but nobody deserves that ... it's a hell of
a way to leave this world," Chuvalo said from his home in Toronto
yesterday.
"He seemed to have some inner demons, but who knows what's going on in
a guy's life when something like this happens?
"The first time I met Berbick was in Halifax in the late '70s. He
actually broke into my hotel room and was sitting there when my wife
and I returned from dinner. We walked in, and there he was, large as
life. He kept smiling and saying he just wanted to meet me and be my
friend, but I got mad and threw him out.
"Years later, when I got to know him a bit, he always struck me as
being a little wacky."
Berbick's career wound down in 2000 after a decision win over Shane
Sutcliffe in Vancouver. His 50-11-1 record included 33 KOs and
victories over the likes of Iran Barkley, Greg Page and John Tate.
Among his losses were those to Buster Douglas, Renaldo Snipes, Larry
Holmes and Lyle McDowell, who decisioned him for the lightly regarded
International Boxing Organization title in Edmonton in 1997.
"He was a handful, no doubt about it," Edmonton promoter Glen Carriere
recalled yesterday. "We brought him up for fights in Slave Lake in
1998 and '99, and he could be a real difficult guy to deal with. You
never knew which Trevor Berbick you were going to get."
In 1991, Berbick was convicted of misdemeanour assault for attacking
his former business manager, who testified he put a gun to her head
and accused her of stealing $40,000 from him. 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 in Miramar, Florida.
Berbick was ordered deported from the U.S. to Jamaica after serving 15
months in prison on those convictions, but before the order could be
enforced he returned to Canada, living in Montreal and later
Vancouver.
He was finally deported to Jamaica after returning to Florida in 2002.
Hopefully his death was extremely painful.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2006/10/29/2165332-sun.html
October 29, 2006
Ex-champ hacked to death
Suspect arrested after body of Trevor Berbick found in church
courtyard
By MURRAY GREIG, EDMONTON SUN
In life, Trevor Berbick was a forgotten bit player in the pantheon of
world boxing champions. In death, however, he joins Hall of Famers
Sonny Liston and Stanley Ketchel as the victim of a gruesome homicide.
Early yesterday, the body of the 52-year-old Berbick was found in a
church courtyard in Kingston, Jamaica, with chop wounds to the head.
Police later arrested a man and were interrogating him at the Port
Antonio police station in the Portland parish, Const. Sheldon Francis
told the Canadian Press.
Reuters, quoting an unidentified source at the scene, said the
ex-fighter had a "gaping chop wound" to the head, consistent with that
made by a machete or hatchet.
The Jamaican-born Berbick, who represented his native country at the
1976 Olympics in Montreal, became a landed immigrant in 1979 and the
following year defeated Earl McLeay to win the Canadian heavyweight
title that had been stripped from George Chuvalo for inactivity.
Two years later Berbick defeated Muhammad Ali in what was billed as
"Drama in the Bahama," and on March 22, 1986, he won the World Boxing
Council's version of the championship by decisioning Pinklon Thomas in
Las Vegas.
Berbick held the title for just eight months before being knocked out
in two rounds by Mike Tyson, who at age 20 became the youngest
heavyweight champion in history.
Between his victory over Ali and his loss to Tyson, Berbick won the
British Commonwealth title. He defended it against Edmonton's Ken
Lakusta at Northlands Coliseum (now Rexall Place) on Sept. 15, 1983,
scoring a 10th-round knockout.
"Trevor had his problems, but nobody deserves that ... it's a hell of
a way to leave this world," Chuvalo said from his home in Toronto
yesterday.
"He seemed to have some inner demons, but who knows what's going on in
a guy's life when something like this happens?
"The first time I met Berbick was in Halifax in the late '70s. He
actually broke into my hotel room and was sitting there when my wife
and I returned from dinner. We walked in, and there he was, large as
life. He kept smiling and saying he just wanted to meet me and be my
friend, but I got mad and threw him out.
"Years later, when I got to know him a bit, he always struck me as
being a little wacky."
Berbick's career wound down in 2000 after a decision win over Shane
Sutcliffe in Vancouver. His 50-11-1 record included 33 KOs and
victories over the likes of Iran Barkley, Greg Page and John Tate.
Among his losses were those to Buster Douglas, Renaldo Snipes, Larry
Holmes and Lyle McDowell, who decisioned him for the lightly regarded
International Boxing Organization title in Edmonton in 1997.
"He was a handful, no doubt about it," Edmonton promoter Glen Carriere
recalled yesterday. "We brought him up for fights in Slave Lake in
1998 and '99, and he could be a real difficult guy to deal with. You
never knew which Trevor Berbick you were going to get."
In 1991, Berbick was convicted of misdemeanour assault for attacking
his former business manager, who testified he put a gun to her head
and accused her of stealing $40,000 from him. 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 in Miramar, Florida.
Berbick was ordered deported from the U.S. to Jamaica after serving 15
months in prison on those convictions, but before the order could be
enforced he returned to Canada, living in Montreal and later
Vancouver.
He was finally deported to Jamaica after returning to Florida in 2002.