John Arthur (Boxing Manager)
John Arthur (Boxing Manager)
Dickie Wood,John Arthur,James Toney (L to R)
John Arthur (1950-2022) was a former fighter and boxing manager. He worked as consultant, notably for the 1980's television series The A-Team. [18] He resided in Sherman Oaks, California at the time of his passing.
Early Life & Education
Originally From Mississippi
He is originally from Mississippi. He attended Dunbar High School in Chicago, Illinois. After a few years living in the basement of a building on the south side of Chicago, the Arthur family moved into the new Robert Taylor Homes, which at that time was the largest public housing project in the United States.
Through this hard upbringing, Arthur became motivated not only to train to fight but to also seek out proper instruction in the art of fighting.
Arthur claims that he fought in many unsanctioned street fights in the 1960's and 1970's for pay.
That claim is back up by many of his boxing pupils and Arthur's work as a boxing trainer is widely respected.
He has stated that he has fought in over 269 no-rules fights around the world in which the only way to avoid serious injury was to be carried out by your cornerman.“ Your best MMA trainer doesn’t know as much as he does,” stated James Toney before he fought Randy Couture at the TD Garden in Boston on August 28, 2010. Arthur was quoted by the website MMAjunkie.com in 2010:
Rules and regulations (are things) I don’t know when it comes to fighting.
When you’re in the streets and you fight somebody,you can’t say,‘You can’t do this, and you can’t do that.’ I was too old to get into the sport, so this is something like a second coming for me.
Boxing Trainer & Manager
Manager Of James Toney
Arthur spent time as an underground bareknuckle fighter (with a black belt in Karate and Tae Kwon Do), an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, a police officer, an undercover FBI agent, and even a bodyguard for Burt Reynolds.
He relocated to Southern California and began working as a trainer, having teamed up with fitness personality Billy Blanks.
He co-trained James Toney in his victory over Evander Holyfield. The James Toney vs. Evander Holyfield professional boxing match occurred at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas,Nevada on October 4,2003. It was only second time that Holyfield was stopped in the course of the action his career.
Holyfield is a former lineal and WBC/IBF/WBA heavyweight champion.
The Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield I and Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II boxing matches occurred at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in 1996 and 1997 and grossed over 200 million dollars in revenue. Arthur later managed Toney at the end of his career and produced a good payday for Toney when he competed in the Prizefighter series in England at York Hall on November 14, 2013. He also managed featherweight boxer Lavka Sim.
Boxing Exhibition
Toney Competed At Wild Card Gym
James Toney competed in a boxing exhibition against Preston Hartzog at the Wild Card Boxing Gym on August 17. 2004.The Wild Card Boxing Gym was inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016. Hartzog was 1997 US Armed Forces boxing champion in the superheavyweight division. Hartzog also won a silver medal at the 1999 Military World Games. Floyd Mayweather made a substantial payday to compete in a boxing exhibition in Japan in 2018.[16][17] Arthur was Toney's trainer when he competed against Hartzog.
Men's Journal
Featured In Men's Journal
Arthur was the subject of an article in a 2018 edition of the popular magazine Men's Journal. The article has been voted as one of the best articles that the magazine has produced in the last decade. This is an excerpt from the article:
Of all the faded legends at Legends (Boxing Gym), though, no one has a larger reputation than Arthur.
It’s an incredible feat,considering he never competed regularly in the United States as a pro boxer or kickboxer.
His bona fides come solely from his years in the illegal bare-knuckle arena and working in law enforcement—not to mention fifty years of black-belt-level experience in American Karate, Tae Kwon Do,and the ancient Greek martial art Pankration. 'Most managers don’t know how to fight,but have you seen John’s scars? I’ve seen him do stuff no one else knows how to do,' (Billy)Blanks says.“I mean, he’s fought to the death in overseas matches.” Magnus puts it another way. 'If John and I were facing off, I think I would just shoot him,and hope I don’t miss.'