Editing Ray Mercer (section)

==Professional boxing career==
{{Further|Ray Mercer vs. Tommy Morrison|Ray Mercer vs. Larry Holmes|Evander Holyfield vs. Ray Mercer|Lennox Lewis vs. Ray Mercer}}
Mercer turned pro in January 1989 and debuted with a 3rd TKO of Jesse McGhee. He scored a series of knockouts, scoring his first notable in a split decision of [[Ossie Ocasio]], former cruiserweight champion and heavyweight tile challenger. In August 1990 he knocked down and outpointed big punching Smokin' [[Bert Cooper]] in a spectacular 12 round brawl that earned him Cooper's [[North American Boxing Federation|NABF]] title. In January 1991 he challenged undefeated [[Francesco Damiani]] for the [[WBO]] heavyweight title, scoring a one punch knockout victory in the 9th when behind on points. At that time, the WBO championship wasn't considered a major championship; it didn't become a major belt equal to the WBA, WBC, and IBF belts until 2004. Later that year, he beat undefeated puncher [[Tommy Morrison]] in five rounds, and with a major world title fight on the horizon vacated his WBO belt and fought 42-year-old legend [[Larry Holmes]] rather than mandatory challenger [[Michael Moorer]]. It proved an unwise decision, as the crafty Holmes conned Mercer out of the fight, outjabbing the puzzled Mercer, and gaining both the points decision and Mercer's world title fight with heavyweight king [[Evander Holyfield]].

Having split fights with dangerous veteran [[Jesse Ferguson]] (Mercer was investigated for allegedly asking Ferguson to "throw the fight" during their first encounter), an overweight Mercer labored to a draw with trialhorse [[Marion Wilson (boxer)|Marion Wilson]], and saw a proposed 1994 bout in Hong Kong with [[Frank Bruno]] fall through. Mercer enjoyed an unexpected run of form in major fights, losing on points in a thrilling brawl with Holyfield in May 1995, losing a controversial decision in a wild punch up with [[Lennox Lewis]] in June 1996, and scoring a controversial points win over double ex-champ [[Tim Witherspoon]] in yet another high action bout in December 1996. In the frame for a bout with [[Andrew Golota]] in 1997, Mercer suffered a neck injury and was out of action for 14 months. He returned February 1998 with a 2-round KO of Leo Loiacono, but contracted [[Hepatitis B]] and was again inactive, this time for 20 months.

===Comeback===
In February 2001 a 39-year-old Mercer launched a final comeback, knocking out four journeymen before being matched with WBO title holder [[Wladimir Klitschko]] in a high-profile bout on HBO. Once famed for his incredible [[Chin (combat sports)|iron chin]], Mercer looked his age and was knocked down in the first and stopped in the sixth round for the first time in his career. A brief dalliance in mixed martial arts nixed a 2004 bout with [[DaVarryl Williamson]]. 

However, Mercer did return to boxing in 2005, now aged 44, but he was stopped in seven rounds by former [[Lineal championship|Lineal champion]] [[Shannon Briggs]]. The bout was a back and forth slugfest, with both men throwing various and plentiful power shots. 

=== Final fights ===
After his loss to Briggs, the now aged Mercer did not compete in a boxing match until two years later in 2007, having taken time off to attempt kickboxing and MMA as side careers. 

He returned, scoring a first round KO over the Journeyman Mikael Lindblad. After a unanimous decision loss to a journeyman [[Derric Rossy]], 19 years Mercer's junior, in 2008 he boxed for the final time at the age of 47, against one-time fringe WBF title holder, Dutch boxer [[Richel Hersisia]] in Sweden, winning a six round majority decision. 

He retired in 2008 a one-time major title holder with an impressive record of 36-7-1 (26 KOs).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-12 |title=Ray Mercer: Record & Stats |url=https://www.martialbot.com/boxing/r/ray-mercer.html |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=www.martialbot.com |language=en}}</ref>