Nickname: "Downtown"
Indiana's "Downtown" Jerry Brown turned professional on June 2, 1987
with a 3rd round tko over 24 fight veteran - George Reedy, and then
followed that with a 7-fight win streak before tasting his first defeat
at the hands of a much bigger Bill Robinson on the undercard of the
Marlon Starling/Fujio Ozaki WBA Welterweight title bout held at the
Atlantic City Convention Center. After that promising 8-0, 5 ko start,
Brown stepped onto a pretty big stage only to taste an upset defeat.
Brown followed his first loss with a draw, and then took his 2nd loss by
decision to a young 1-0 midwest circuit upstart named Tim Dendy.
Starting 8-0 and then going 0-2-1, Brown's record now stood at 8-2-1.
Still promising and having shown plenty of good skills, Jerry battled
on.
The popular Indiana fighter battled on and ran off a nice 6-0-1 streak fighting on local midwest
circuit
cards. Putting his record at 14-2-2 and earning him the call to travel
to Denmark and face world ranked Mads Larsen (14-1) on the undercard of
Brian Nielsen vs Larry Holmes for the IBO Heavyweight Title. Brown was
fighting out of his weight division and was stopped by the much bigger
Denmark hero in the first round. That loss did nothing to tarnish the
reputation of Brown. He was not expected to win against a world ranked
contender, on the road, and against a fighter who held an 8 pound
advantage. It came as no surprise that Brown lost that fight, but it did
show his willingness to take on any fighter that would challenge him,
and not only did it not hurt his reputation, but it actually strengthened
it, and "Downtown" Jerry Brown got the call to take his 14-3-2 record
into the ring to face Freeman Barr (14-1) for the vacant IBO
middleweight world title. Again, Brown would travel to the country of
the home-town favorite, which was Nassau in the Bahamas, but this time
he was inoculated against the power of the big stage, and Brown gave
Barr all he could handle for 12 action packed rounds. The world ranked
local favorite prevailed by a unanimous decision, but, the fight
demonstrated Jerry Browns much improved skills and ring savvy.
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| Jerry Brown was a welcomed additon to every local card! |
Brown returned to Indiana and dropped a surprising 4 round majority
decision to fellow Indiana local Michael Smith, and then followed that
with a 4 round win over "traveling road show" - Reggie Strickland, a
veteran of over 240 professional fights!
Jerry's reputation was cemented as one of the best boxers on the
midwest circuit of boxing, and he was given a shot at highly respected
Craig Cummings (40-3-1) for his WBA North American Super Middleweight
title belt. That fight was held Feb. 24, 1999 at the Station Casino in
Kansas City, MO. The fight went the full 12 round distance, and it was
Cummings successfully defending his title belt on a close Majority
decision. Cummings also added the vacant Mid American title belt to his
collection. Jerry Brown was unsuccessful for the 2nd time at winning a
title belt, but he returned with a 6 round decision win over Reggie
Strickland in their rematch. And after a convicing 6 round win over
Donnie "The Spoiler" Penelton, Brown was offered one more chance to put a
title belt around his waist.
Oct. 2, 1999 was the date and Brown (17-6-2) would have to win a 3rd
meeting with fellow Indiana fighter Reggie Strickland. Strickland had
many reasons to give this battle all he had, including wanting to prove
that he could beat Brown after losing 2 decisions to him, and to get
that cherished Indiana State Title belt. Brown had failed in two
previous attempts at winning a title, and this could be his final shot,
so he went in with intentions to come away with a title belt around his
waist. The bout was set for 8 rounds and the venue was the arena at the
Aztar Casino in Evansville, Indiana. It was a raucous crowd who were
there to root for their local favorites, and it was a great night for
Jerry Brown who won the State title via unanimous decision in front of
that appreciative crowd!
Jerry Brown never defended that title, but he finished with 2 more pro
fights, scoring a 2nd round tko over Larry Hyatt, and then finishing his
pro campaign with an unsuccessful NABA Light Heavyweight title
challenge against Robert Koon (21-8-1) in Mobile Alabama.
"Downtown" Jerry Brown ended with a final tally of 19 wins, 7 losses,
and 2 draws, winning 9 by knockout. He held the Indiana state
Light-Heavyweight championship, and was a real crowd-pleaser in every
one of those 28 pro fights!
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