Jean-Marc Mormeck facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jean-Marc Mormeck
Mormeck in 2005
Statistics
Real name	Jean-Marc Gilbert Mormeck
Nickname(s)	The Marksman
Rated at	Light-heavyweight Cruiserweight Heavyweight
Height	1.81 m
Reach	188 cm
Nationality	French
Born	(1972-06-03) 3 June 1972 (age 53) Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	43
Wins	37
Wins by KO	23
Losses	6

Jean-Marc Gilbert Mormeck (born June 3, 1972) is a French former professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1995 to 2014. Jean-Marc was a two-time world champion in the cruiserweight division. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and The Ring world titles twice between 2005 and 2007. He was the first boxer to hold a unified cruiserweight title since Evander Holyfield in 1988. He was also the first to hold The Ring cruiserweight title since Carlos De León in 1987. BoxRec, a boxing record website, ranked him among the top 10 cruiserweights in the world from 2001 to 2005 and again in 2007. He was even ranked number one in 2003 and 2004. In 2012, Mormeck also fought for the unified world heavyweight title.

Early Life and Boxing Start

Jean-Marc Mormeck was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. He was the only child of Fulbert and Sonia Mormeck. When he was six years old, his family moved to Paris, France, where he still lives. As a young person, Mormeck enjoyed playing football and practicing Muay Thai, which is a type of martial art. After watching some boxing matches on television, he felt inspired to become a boxer himself.

Professional Boxing Journey

Starting His Career (1990–1998)

Mormeck began his amateur boxing career in 1990. He then became a professional boxer in 1995. Early in his professional career, Mormeck lost two short four-round fights by points. However, he then went on a winning streak for several years. On November 10, 1998, Mormeck won the French light heavyweight title. He defeated Alain Simon by a unanimous decision. He successfully defended this title three times before giving it up.

Becoming a World Champion (2002–2006)

Mormeck later won the WBA cruiserweight title. He achieved this by a technical knockout (TKO) in the ninth round against Virgil Hill on February 23, 2002. He defended his title three times, winning against Dale Brown, Alexander Gurov, and Virgil Hill again. On April 2, 2005, he added the WBC cruiserweight title to his collection. He won this title by a unanimous decision against Wayne Braithwaite.

However, Mormeck lost his WBA and WBC cruiserweight titles to O'Neil Bell. Bell knocked him out in the tenth round of their fight on January 7, 2006. This match was for the undisputed (WBA/WBC/IBF) cruiserweight championship.

Winning Back Titles (2007)

In a rematch, Mormeck fought O'Neil Bell again on March 17, 2007. Bell had lost his IBF title due to a disagreement with the organization. Mormeck won the fight by unanimous decision, taking back his WBA and WBC titles.

In his first defense of these titles, Mormeck lost them to David Haye on November 10, 2007. Haye was a mandatory challenger and known for his knockouts. Mormeck was knocked down hard in the seventh round by a powerful punch from Haye. Although Mormeck got up in time, the referee saw that he was dazed. The referee stopped the fight, giving Haye the win by knockout.

Moving to Heavyweight (2009–2010)

On December 17, 2009, Mormeck returned to the ring after a two-year break. This was his first fight as a heavyweight. He fought against Vinny Maddalone and won by outpointing him over eight rounds.

Mormeck then fought Uzbek heavyweight Timur Ibragimov on December 2, 2010, in Paris. Mormeck started slowly but took control in the middle rounds. He won the fight by a split decision.

Challenging for Heavyweight Title (2012)

In October 2011, Mormeck was set to fight unified Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko. The fight was planned for December 10, 2011, in Germany. However, Klitschko had to pull out after having a kidney stone removed. The fight was then moved to March 3, 2012. In this fight, Mormeck tried to become only the third cruiserweight champion to win a world title at heavyweight. Only Evander Holyfield and David Haye had done this before him. However, Mormeck was defeated by knockout in the fourth round.

Return to Cruiserweight and Retirement

After another long break, Mormeck returned to boxing in June 2014. He fought Tamas Lodi of Hungary and won by an early stoppage. After this match, Mormeck said he was tired of fighting. He hoped for a quick title shot before ending his career.

Instead, Mormeck had to fight former EBU champion Mateusz Masternak. He lost this fight by a majority decision. As he had said he would before his last two fights, Mormeck retired from boxing after this defeat.

Fun Facts

• Before his first fight with O'Neil Bell, Mormeck did not have a nickname. He asked his fans to suggest one. He did not know that fans had chosen "The Marksman" until it was announced at the fight.
• Mormeck appeared on a French television talk show called "Tout le monde en parle." This helped him become more well-known to the public.

Professional Boxing Record

Fun Facts About Jean-Marc Mormeck

• Before his first fight with O'Neil Bell, Mormeck didn't have a nickname. He asked his fans to suggest one. He didn't know they had chosen "The Marksman" until it was announced at the fight!
• Mormeck appeared on a French TV talk show called "Tout le monde en parle." This helped him become more well-known to the public.

See also

In Spanish: Jean-Marc Mormeck para niños

• List of cruiserweight boxing champions
• List of WBA world champions
• List of WBC world champions