Gary Mason (15 December 1962 – 6 January 2011) was a British professional boxer who was based in Chatham, Kent, England. He was born in Jamaica.^[1] Mason fought at the heavyweight level and became the British heavyweight champion in 1989. Mason was a top ten contender, his main strengths being his punching power and physical strength.

Mason died on 6 January 2011 in a cycling accident in South London.

Pro boxing career

Mason fought 38 times as a professional in a career that spanned 10 years from 1984 to 1994, with 37 wins (34 by knockout) and only one loss, that being to Lennox Lewis when he challenged for the European title in 1991. Mason gave Lewis his hardest fight up to that point in his career.^{[citation needed]}

Mason defeated a number of well known heavyweights, including Tyrell Biggs, James Tillis, Alfonzo Ratliff, Ricky Parkey, James Pritchard, Louis Pergaud, Hughroy Currie and David Jaco.

Mason sparred with the former WBA World cruiserweight number one and British heavyweight champion David Pearce. Pearce helped him with sparring in preparation for Mason's title fights, he praised Pearce and said he was instrumental in his helping his career.

He suffered a detached retina in a bout with Everett Martin in 1990. After a short retirement he staged a comeback, which ended with a TKO defeat by Lennox Lewis, which aggravated Mason's eye injury. He came back once again, but after winning two fights in the US he retired for good.

Professional boxing record

37 Wins (34 knockouts, 3 decisions), 1 Loss (1 knockout, 0 decisions)^[2]

Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	37–1	Martin Foster	TKO	3	10 September 1994	Laughlin, Nevada, United States
Win	36–1	Kevin P Porter	TKO	2	29 January 1994	Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:58 of the second round.
Loss	35–1	Lennox Lewis	TKO	7	6 March 1991	Wembley, London	BBBofC British/EBU Heavyweight Titles. Referee stopped the bout at 0:44 of the seventh round.
Win	35–0	James Pritchard	TKO	9	12 December 1990	Kensington, London	Referee stopped the bout at 2:09 of the ninth round.
Win	34–0	Everett Martin	PTS	10	14 March 1990	Kensington, London	98.5–97.
Win	33–0	Mark Anthony Wills	PTS	10	6 December 1989	Wembley, London	98.5–97.
Win	32–0	Tyrell Biggs	KO	7	4 October 1989	Kensington, London
Win	31–0	Jess Harding	TKO	2	28 June 1989	Brentwood, Essex	BBBofC British Heavyweight Title.
Win	30–0	"Scary" Terry Armstrong	TKO	3	29 March 1989	Wembley, London
Win	29–0	Hughroy Currie	KO	4	18 January 1989	Kensington, London	BBBofC British Heavyweight Title. Currie knocked out at 3:00 of the fourth round.
Win	28–0	James "Quick" Tillis	TKO	5	30 November 1988	Southwark, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:50 of the fifth round.
Win	27–0	David Jaco	TKO	4	24 October 1988	Windsor, Berkshire	Referee stopped the bout at 2:52 of the fourth round.
Win	26–0	Manoel "Clay" De Almeida	TKO	7	13 April 1988	Bethnal Green, London
Win	25–0	Ricky Parkey	TKO	1	9 March 1988	Wembley, London
Win	24–0	Alfonzo Ratliff	TKO	6	3 February 1988	Wembley, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:17 of the sixth round.
Win	23–0	"Slammin" Sammy Scaff	TKO	2	3 December 1987	Southend, Essex
Win	22–0	Andrew Gerrard	TKO	6	24 October 1987	Tottenham, London
Win	21–0	Andre van den Oetelaar	TKO	2	25 September 1987	Southend, Essex
Win	20–0	"Fast" Eddie Richardson	TKO	7	30 August 1987	Marbella, Andalucia, Spain
Win	19–0	Billy Joe Thomas	KO	1	26 May 1987	Wembley, London
Win	18–0	Woody Clark	TKO	2	18 April 1987	Kensington, London	Referee stopped the bout at 2:39 of the second round.
Win	17–0	Richard Earl Scott	TKO	1	24 March 1987	Wembley, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:27 of the first round.
Win	16–0	Rodney "King" Smith	TKO	1	22 February 1987	Wembley, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:04 of the first round.
Win	15–0	Oscar Holman	PTS	8	26 November 1986	Wolverhampton, West Midlands	79.5–76.5.
Win	14–0	Donnie "Master of Disaster" Long	KO	1	4 November 1986	Wembley, London	Long knocked out at 1:31 of the first round.
Win	13–0	Lorenzo Boyd	KO	2	17 September 1986	Kensington, London
Win	12–0	Mark "The Storm" Young	TKO	5	19 July 1986	Wembley, London
Win	11–0	"Poison" Ivy Brown	KO	2	20 May 1986	Wembley, London
Win	10–0	Maurice Gomis	TKO	3	24 April 1986	Bethnal Green, London
Win	9–0	"King" Louis Pergaud	TKO	4	9 April 1986	Kensington, London
Win	8–0	Charles "Tuffy" Hostetter	TKO	1	4 March 1986	Wembley, London	Referee stopped the bout at 2:35 of the first round.
Win	7–0	Denroy Bryan	KO	1	19 February 1986	Kensington, London	Bryan knocked out at 1:20 of the first round.
Win	6–0	Steve Gee	TKO	5	4 December 1985	Kensington, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:25 of the fifth round.
Win	5–0	Steve Gee	TKO	5	5 November 1985	Wembley, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:38 of the fifth round.
Win	4–0	Luc Goossens	KO	1	6 March 1985	Kensington, London	Luc knocked out at 2:33 of the first round.
Win	3–0	Frank "The Tank" Robinson	KO	1	18 January 1985	Bethnal Green, London
Win	2–0	Al Malcolm	TKO	2	14 December 1984	Wembley, London	Referee stopped the bout at 0:20 of the second round.
Win	1–0	Al Malcolm	KO	1	16 October 1984	Kensington, London

Rugby career

Mason played three rugby league matches for the London Crusaders (now London Broncos), scoring a try in his first game.^[3] Mason also played in occasional soccer matches as part of an 'Arsenal Celebrities' team at the old 'Highbury' football ground in North London.

Television appearances

Mason appeared in a special celebrity show of Gladiators that raised money for charity in 1993 which John Fashanu won. Mason also appeared on the panel of the ITV show You Bet!, and the second episode of the first series of GamesMaster in 1992 playing Sonic Blast Man arcade. Mason's home was also one of those featured on the panel show Through the Keyhole.^{[citation needed]}

Death

On the morning of 6 January 2011 Mason died after being hit by a van in Sandy Lane South, Wallington, South London whilst cycling. He was pronounced dead at the scene.^[4]