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Born in 1963, it was not really
in the cards that Tommy Small
would become a professional
boxer, much less a world
champion. But he did, and after
turning pro in 1986 he went on
to capture the WBF World Super
Welterweight title in 1991.
Growing up in Sophia in West
Virginia, USA, with a population
of less than 1400 people, boxing
was not the main
conversation-topic around many
dinner tables in the small towns
588 households. But Tommy Jr.
would often join his father, Tom
Sr., when Toughman Contests were
arranged in the area.
Tommy Jr. was fascinated by what
he saw, watching more or less
untrained men wailing away at
each other, and for years wanted
to give it a go himself,
believing he could beat most of
the competitors he saw in the
ring. Tom Sr. eventually
encouraged his son to give it a
try, and in 1985 Junior became a
“Toughman Champion”.
While there is limited skills
involved in Toughman contests,
Tommy Small proved to have
talent for boxing and used the
experience to launch a
professional boxing career, just
like notables such as fellow
former world champions Tommy
Morrison (WBO) and
Greg Haugen (WBF, IBF, WBO)
before and after him.
In April 1986, aged 22 and
trained by his father, Small
made his paid boxing debut in
Beckley, only a short drive from
Sophia, knocking out another
West Virginian called Johnny
Robinson (0-2) in three rounds.
For some reason a rematch was
found appropriate, and arranged
three weeks later, this time
with Tommy winning on points.
In his next two fights Small
defeated Robert Curry (6-8),
first on points and then by
fourth round stoppage. This was
more of an accomplishment than
beating the aforementioned
Robinson, who would never win a
professional fight and finally
decided on another career after
going win-less in nine starts.
After decisioning Kim Berlt
(0-3) in September 1986, Small
suffered his first set-back the
following December when he
traveled to Philadelphia and was
out-pointed by local man Brian
McGinley (9-5). Things went from
bad to worse three months later,
also in Philadelphia, when he
was stopped on a cut against
Todd Englehart (8-2).
Coming off two losses but still
with a respectable 5-2 ledger,
Small was booked to fight
undefeated prospect Hamilton
Diaz (1-0) on July 31 1987, at
the Lee County Civic Center in
Diaz Florida hometown of Fort
Myers. Perhaps thinking Small
had hit his ceiling as a boxer,
he was brought in as “the
opponent”.
But, fighting on a show that
also featured former World
Heavyweight Champion Trevor
Berbick in his first fight back
after losing his WBC crown to
Mike Tyson, and Joe
Frazier-relatives Joe Jr. and
Tyrone (Smoking Joe´s nephew),
Tommy Small proved that he was
not ready to be a stepping-stone
for anyone.
While it was a close and
competitive bout, Small was the
hungrier fighter and went on to
win a split decision after four
hectic rounds. The victory was
the start of a good run for him,
as he also won his next nine
outings, conquering the West
Virginia State Welterweight
title along the way.
So it was something of an upset
when Small, looking to take the
next step from prospect to
contender, lost an expected
routine tune-up fight against
journeyman Sam Gervins (13-34)
in January 1990. But, choosing
to consider it nothing more than
a bad day at the office, he was
not overly deterred and soon got
back to winning ways.
After adding eight more wins to
his resume, including a rematch
victory over Gervins, Small had
a 23-3 (14) record and was
chosen to fight perhaps the most
adored boxer Mexico has ever
produced, Julio Cesar Chavez,
the reigning WBC and IBF Light
Welterweight World Champion.
Chavez, who amazed a frightening
74-0 record with 66 wins coming
inside the distance, and had won
nineteen world championship
fights while collecting world
titles in three weight classes,
needed a respectable adversary
for a non-title-fight, and Small
was given the assignment.
On April 26, 1991 at the Estadio
General Angel Flores in
Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, in
front of thousands upon
thousands of enthusiastic, loud
and loyal Chavez-supporters,
Tommy Small was in for a rude
awakening far away from West
Virginia.
It was admirable that he
accepted the fight against the
future Hall-Of-Famer, but Chavez
was virtually unbeatable at the
time. Small started the fight
fairly well, and tried to keep
the great champion at bay with
his flicking jab, but by the
third round the pressure of
Chavez was taking its toll and
Small took a knee from a hard
body-shot.
Small beat the count without too
many problems, and gamely made
it to the end of the round
despite the bulldozing Mexican
trying his best to finish him
off. Early in round four a huge
overhand right hurt Small, but
he stayed on his feet as Chavez
went for the kill.
Moments later Chavez landed some
good body-shots, and while Small
looked under severe pressure it
appeared a bit premature when
the referee suddenly stepped in
and waved the fight off with the
American still standing and
Chavez not landing anything
significant immediately prior to
the stoppage.
There was no shame in the
performance of Small that night
in Mexico. In fact, many of the
contenders who had challenged
Chavez for his world titles had
done much worse, and “The Lion
Of Culiacan” would go 89-0-1
before losing for the first time
in 1994, and goes down in
history as one of the best ever!
Only two months after the Chavez
encounter, Small was rewarded
for his gutsy effort when he
headlined a show in Morgantown,
West Virginia. But once again he
was matched tough, taking on
former IBF world champion Harry
Arroyo (38-8) for the vacant WBF
World Super Welterweight title.
And Small showed on the night
that he was not ruined by
Chavez, as he went to war with
Arroyo and became WBF world
champion with a majority
decision victory. It was a big
night for the Small family, and
especially Tommy Sr. and Jr.,
who in the beginning only really
wanted to give Toughman fighting
a try.
Unfortunately Tommy Jr. lost the
world title in his first
defense, but once again he
proved to be a true warrior and
willing to fight anywhere, as he
traveled all the way to
Australia where he lost a
decision to hard-punching
contender Craig Trotter (21-8).
He took more than a year off
after losing to Trotter, and
then went straight back to
fighting at a high level when he
accepted a fight with
world-ranked Puerto Rican Santos
Cardona (26-3) in April 1993.
But lady luck had left the
building, and Small was forced
to retire after six rounds with
a hand-injury.
A decision-loss two months later
to future IBF World Super
Welterweight ruler Raul Marquez,
a 9-0 prospect at the time, was
the beginning of a five-year
stretch for Small as a name
opponent before finally retiring
in 1998.
He did win once in a while
during those last years in the
ring, and while he sometimes
came up short against opponents
he probably would have beaten a
few years earlier, he mostly
lost to top contenders, and
former and future world
champions.
Between May 1995 and July 1997,
Small lost to former WBF World
Middleweight Champion Darrin
Morris (23-2-1), Keith Holmes
(26-1) who went on to win the
WBC World Middleweight title,
Ralph Jones (28-1), former
multiple world champion Meldrick
Taylor (33-4-1), and former WBA
World Welterweight Champion
Aaron Davis (43-6).
In January 1998 he challenged
Freeman Barr (15-1) for the IBO
World Super Middleweight crown
in Nassau, Bahamas, but by that
time he had very little left and
was stopped in seven rounds. His
final fight was against another
legendary name, as Hector
Camacho (63-4-1) halted him in
six in June 1998.
Tommy Small did very well with
what he had to work with. He
became a WBF world champion,
some would say against all odds,
and his final professional
boxing record stands at 35-17
(22) after fighting no less than
nine opponents who were former,
current or future world
champions, some even
Hall-Of-Famers.
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