Ray Lathon, was an American boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

.

Amateur career

Known as "Lethal", Lathon was a stellar amateur, and in 1989, he was the U.S. Amateur Middleweight champion and won the Golden Gloves

Golden Gloves

The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...

 and USA Boxing

USA Boxing

USA Boxing is the national governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing. It is overseen by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Amateur Boxing Association , who sets its rules....

 titles. He also fought as part of Team USA

Team USA

Team USA is a wrestling faction brought together as part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's X-Cup Tournaments, which involved a team of X Division superstars from various countries representing their nation in an international wrestling competition.-America's X-Cup:Team USA was created and led...

 at the World Championships in Moscow.

Pro career

Lathon turned pro in 1990, and suffered his only pro defeat to Montell Griffin

Montell Griffin

Montell Julian Griffin is an American boxer. He is best known for his two bouts at Light Heavyweight with Roy Jones Jr.- Professional career :...

in 1994. Lathon's career record is a stellar 22-1 with 21 knockouts overall.

Murder

On December 12, 2000, after finishing a workout in a St. Louis gym http://robots.cnnsi.com/more/news/2000/12/15/charges_boxer_ap/, Lathon was shot and killed execution-style by a masked gunman http://www.newnation.org/Archives/black-sports-010329.html. Lathon had been in training for an upcoming shot at the NABF Cruiserweight title. Ahmad Adisa, age 27, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-51289847.html. At trial, evidence suggested that Adisa was hired to kill Lathon for a $10,000 payment, though no one else has been charged in the case. Assistant Circuit Attorney Dwight Warren told jurors that Lathon was killed in retaliation for his suspected involvement in the kidnapping and torture of a drug dealer in 1999. Authorities said the drug dealer was beaten and burned with cigarettes, but Lathon was never charged.

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