Gary Bell (boxer)
Gary Bell (boxer)
Early Life & Education
Bell Pictured With Holyfield
He attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. He also attended Stratford University. Bell was born and raised in New York City and spent time in Sing Sing in his early adult years. He learned to box while in prison and eventually headlined a Boxing After Dark boxing card with David Tua in 1999. Bell has an adult daughter.
Career
Holyfield Versus Tyson
Bell Primary Sparring Partner For Holyfield
Gary Bell was the chief sparring partner to Evander Holyfield for Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield I and Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II. The bouts occurred in November 1996 and June 1997. Due to the fact that Bell was getting the better of Holyfield in the sparring the Tyson-Holyfield fight in November 1996 opened with Mike Tyson as a 20 to 1 betting favorite.[13] The two Holyfield-Tyson bouts, which were held at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Las Vegas, grossed over 200 million dollars in revenue. He walked down the aisle with Holyfield in the direct lead up to the first Tyson fight. Holyfield won the first Tyson fight by 11th round technical knockout and the second by third round disqualification. The bouts generated 3.6 million pay-per-view buys.[7] The Business Insider rated Holyfield-Tyson II as the sixth best selling pay-per-view fight in history with 1.99 million buys. [15] Bell and Holyfield had the same trainer during their careers, Don Turner.
Eleven Year Professional Career
Defeated McCline
He made his professional boxing debut on March 4, 1995 by defeating Art Mann.
Bell defeated Robert Hawkins on October 7, 1995 at the Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Gary Bell ko'd Jameel McCline on November 11, 1995. McCline later lost a split decision to Chris Byrd for the International Boxing Federation heavyweight world title in 2004. Bell lost to Robert Hawkins in a rematch that occurred on November 4, 1997 at the Grand Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. It was the first loss of his professional boxing career.[29]
Bell-Tua Fight Controversial
He defeated Daniel Salcedo on May 1, 1999 at the Civic Auditorioum in Sioux City, Iowa. The win over Salcedo was his fourth in a row and it set up a fight against David Tua on HBO. The bout was built as a title eliminator with the winner to get a shot at a world title. Bell fought on HBO Boxing After Dark against David Tua on July 17, 1999 at MontBleu in Stateline, Nevada. The fight was interrupted thirty eight seconds in because of an accidental headbutt. The fight resumed and then at 68 seconds of the first round with Bell standing and Tua declared the winner after the referee stopped the fight. Some argued the fight should have been ruled a no contest because Bell's cut was caused by a headbutt and it impaired his vision, thus hindering his ability to see the punches coming. Tua went on to challenge Lennox Lewis for the WBC, IBF, and lineal heavyweight championship on November 11, 2000 in Las Vegas. The HBO broadcast team failed to mention that the Bell's vision was impaired because of the headbutt and claimed the fight was stopped by punches rather than impaired vision. HBO stopped producing boxing in 2018.
Sports Memorabalia
Card For Sale On eBay
A Gary Bell trading card from the 1997 Brown's Boxing set for $7.44 on the website eBay in 2020.[11] The same card is listed on Amazon.com but is out of stock.
On Social Media
Bell Respected By Peers
He is on Instagram at 'www.instagram.com/garychicobell'. His Instagram account states that he had been ranked at high as number eighteen in the world at heavyweight by one of the major governing bodies. It also states that he was managed in part of his career by Evander Holyfield.