Troy Dorsey: ‘I never slipped too many punches!’

Troy Dorsey

TEXAN Troy Dorsey holds a unique claim: he is the first man in history to have become a world champion in kickboxing and boxing. Now aged 53 and running a successful karate gym in Mansfield, Texas, Troy speaks in a clear voice, giving no indication of the thrilling bouts he engaged in.

A religious man, who has been married since 1986, Troy walked away with a deceptive-looking 16-11-4 (11) ledger but says his Lord and saviour โ€œprotectedโ€ him, and that is why he is in good health today.

โ€œI had 68 fights in total, 33 in boxing and 35 in kickboxing,โ€ Troy says.

โ€œBoth sports are tough, but getting kicked is a whole lot different to getting punched! But Iโ€™m fine physically and mentally today.

โ€œI do at times have some memory problems but I donโ€™t think thatโ€™s due to fighting.

โ€œIโ€™m just so busy at my karate gym. I have over 400 students, and itโ€™s a lot of work with the phone calls and everything, knowing each one personally.โ€

A father of two, Dorsey is best known to boxing fans for his two close decision losses with Jorge Paez and a slugfest with Kevin Kelley. He was left feeling as though he had been โ€œripped offโ€ on at least two occasions.

โ€œThe first Paez fight, in February 1990, I won that fight. I donโ€™t want anyone to think Troy Dorsey is a whiner, who complains about his defeats. But I get fan mail to this day telling me I won.

โ€œAnd the second fight, well, any time you get a draw with a defending world champion, I think that speaks volumes. But I have no hard feelings. I finally won the [IBF] title, so it all came good.โ€

Dorsey stopped Alfred Rangel in a round just over a year after the return with Paez.

โ€œAfter all Iโ€™d been through with the Paez fights โ€“ I had five cuts, with blood all over โ€“ I dropped to my knees and prayed when I beat Alfred Rangel. I won in a round but the way I look at it, it took me 25 rounds to become world champion!

โ€œRangel died of cancer last year, which was very sad. His son and I talk quite a bit.โ€

Dorseyโ€™s 1992 war with unbeaten Kelley has become a YouTube favourite.

โ€œI threw 1,570 punches against Kelley. With my kickboxing background and the training I did with Casey Malone, who passed away four years ago, I had the stamina to do that. The human mind is the greatest tool we have!

โ€œAgain, no bad feelings, but I think I won that fight. To have not gotten the decision after all those punches! I was on him all night but I guess they had big things planned for him. Iโ€™m glad the fans enjoyed it.

โ€œThat wasnโ€˜t my toughest fight, though โ€“ that was Jesse James Leija. I had such a tough time making weight and he gave it everything he had for five rounds, before they wouldnโ€˜t let me out for the sixth.โ€

Dorsey, hampered by cuts, soldiered on, winning some and losing others after the Leija defeat, before retiring in 1998. Troy didnโ€™t want to walk away.

โ€œI had suffered so many bad cuts, to the point where I underwent surgery,โ€ he said. โ€œI had the bones over my eyebrows shaved to prevent further cuts. I was 35 years old and, letโ€™s face it, I never slipped too many punches!

โ€œWhen I got cut after the surgery, my parents and my wife, my biggest supporters, wanted me to walk away. The cut in the Oscar De La Hoya fight [in 1993] was especially bad. But the funny thing is, Oscar broke his hand in that fight and he had to punch a different way for the rest of his career.โ€

Dorsey says he would have been an MMA fighter had that avenue been open to him in his prime years, and he isnโ€™t too much of a boxing fan these days.

โ€œI prefer MMA but Iโ€™m proud of achieving what I did in boxing; of becoming a world champion there after Iโ€™d won the world title at kickboxing. That was my main goal. I love both sports, but I wanted to make as much money as I could for my family, and boxing allowed me to do that.โ€

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