Scott LeDoux
Encyclopedia
Alan Scott LeDoux, "The Fighting Frenchman," (January 7, 1949 – August 11, 2011) was a politician, professional heavyweight
boxer, professional wrestler and referee.
victory over Arthur Pullens. LeDoux's final bout in 1983 was a technical knockout loss to Frank Bruno
. LeDoux retired with a record of 33-13-4 (22 knockouts).
LeDoux's opponents included Ken Norton
, Ron Lyle
, Gerrie Coetzee
, Leon Spinks
, Greg Page
, Frank Bruno
, George Foreman
, Mike Weaver, and Larry Holmes
. In his match with Leon Spinks, LeDoux earned a 'draw', just months before Spinks defeated Ali. LeDoux also took part in a five round exhibition match with Muhammad Ali
. LeDoux over the course of his career also sparred with Mike Tyson
and Lennox Lewis
.
Ledoux's best achievements were that he scored draws against Leon Spinks and an ageing Ron Lyle. He also nearly knocked out a past his peak Ken Norton in round ten, when after some confusion as to whether the Ref had signalled the fight over or not it was declared a draw. Never a 'fancy dan' fighter style-wise as they say in the trade, Ledoux was probably underrated in much of his career- he had met many tough top-name opponents.
On April 22, 1976, LeDoux lost to fellow Minnesotan Duane Bobick
before a crowd of 13,789, which is still a Minnesota record.
LeDoux later worked as a ringside commentator for ESPN
and in 1986 as a referee for the American Wrestling Association
.
It was announced on July 5th, 2010 that LeDoux would be a member of the inaugural class of inductees to the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame
.
Board of County Commissioners
and re-elected in 2008, defeating challenger Becky Fink.
In 2006, the Minnesota Legislature authorized the creation of a state Boxing Commission. LeDoux was appointed boxing commissioner by the state Governor Tim Pawlenty
. In August 2006 LeDoux was also named Executive Director of the Minnesota Combative Sports Commission.
or "Lou Gehrig's Disease" in August 2008. A point of note however is that a 2010 study, see Wikipedia link to, questioned the diagnosis in athletes who'd experienced head trauma or repeated concussions. It suggests some may have a variant of Dementia Pugilistica, known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or Boxer's Syndrome.
LeDoux was a member of the National Board of Directors of the Wishes and More. He was also honorary chair of the American Cancer Society
. LeDoux founded a golf tournament called the Scott LeDoux Long Haul Classic.
LeDoux died of his illness on August 11, 2011.
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
boxer, professional wrestler and referee.
Boxing
LeDoux began his professional boxing career in 1974. His first boxing match was a knockoutKnockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
victory over Arthur Pullens. LeDoux's final bout in 1983 was a technical knockout loss to Frank Bruno
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...
. LeDoux retired with a record of 33-13-4 (22 knockouts).
LeDoux's opponents included Ken Norton
Ken Norton
Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. is a former heavyweight boxer. He is best known for his 12-round victory over a peak Muhammad Ali where he famously broke Ali's jaw, on March 31, 1973, becoming only the second man to defeat Ali as a professional .He and Ali...
, Ron Lyle
Ron Lyle
Ron Lyle was an American professional boxer in the heavyweight division. He is considered to have been one of the best contenders of his era. He was a crowd-pleasing power puncher.-Early life:...
, Gerrie Coetzee
Gerrie Coetzee
Gerhardus Christian Coetzee , better known as Gerrie Coetzee, is a South African former boxer. He made history twice: he was the first boxer from the African continent ever to fight for the World Heavyweight Title, and the first to win the World Heavyweight Title...
, Leon Spinks
Leon Spinks
Leon Spinks is a former American boxer. He had an overall record of 26 wins, 17 losses and 3 draws as a professional, with 14 knockout wins, and was the former World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association heavyweight champion of the world...
, Greg Page
Greg Page (boxer)
Greg Page was a boxer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was the World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion from 1984 to 1985...
, Frank Bruno
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...
, George Foreman
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...
, Mike Weaver, and Larry Holmes
Larry Holmes
Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin....
. In his match with Leon Spinks, LeDoux earned a 'draw', just months before Spinks defeated Ali. LeDoux also took part in a five round exhibition match with Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
. LeDoux over the course of his career also sparred with Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
and Lennox Lewis
Lennox Lewis
Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...
.
Ledoux's best achievements were that he scored draws against Leon Spinks and an ageing Ron Lyle. He also nearly knocked out a past his peak Ken Norton in round ten, when after some confusion as to whether the Ref had signalled the fight over or not it was declared a draw. Never a 'fancy dan' fighter style-wise as they say in the trade, Ledoux was probably underrated in much of his career- he had met many tough top-name opponents.
On April 22, 1976, LeDoux lost to fellow Minnesotan Duane Bobick
Duane Bobick
Duane Bobick was a boxer from the United States, who became world amateur heavyweight champion in 1971, and also won the gold medal at the 1971 Pan American Games...
before a crowd of 13,789, which is still a Minnesota record.
LeDoux later worked as a ringside commentator for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and in 1986 as a referee for the American Wrestling Association
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
.
It was announced on July 5th, 2010 that LeDoux would be a member of the inaugural class of inductees to the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame
Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame
The Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame is a commemorative organization with plans to create a museum. It celebrates the history of boxing in the state of Minnesota by honoring individuals whose achievements within the sport are noteworthy.-History:...
.
Politics
LeDoux was elected to the Anoka County, MinnesotaAnoka County, Minnesota
Anoka County is the fourth-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is bordered by the counties of Isanti on the north, Chisago and Washington on the east, Hennepin and Ramsey on the south, Sherburne on the west, and the Mississippi River on the southwest.As of 2010, Anoka...
Board of County Commissioners
County commission
A county commission is a group of elected officials charged with administering the county government in local government in some states of the United States. County commissions are usually made up of three or more individuals...
and re-elected in 2008, defeating challenger Becky Fink.
In 2006, the Minnesota Legislature authorized the creation of a state Boxing Commission. LeDoux was appointed boxing commissioner by the state Governor Tim Pawlenty
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
. In August 2006 LeDoux was also named Executive Director of the Minnesota Combative Sports Commission.
Controversy
- In 2007, the Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of OjibweMille Lacs Band of OjibweThe Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe , also known as the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians or the Mille Lacs Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, is an Ojibwa tribe located in Minnesota. The tribe boasts 3,942 tribal members as of July, 2007...
, Melanie Benjamin, objected to LeDoux's public criticism of her band and their boxing matches at the Grand Casino Hinckley Casino in HinckleyHinckley, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 1,291 people, 551 households, and 332 families residing in the city. The population density was 454.3 people per square mile . There were 614 housing units at an average density of 216.0 per square mile...
, MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. - In November 2007, LeDoux was accused by boxing promoter John HoffmanJohn Hoffman (boxer)John Hoffman is a welterweight professional boxer, as well as a coach, trainer, and promoter, from Anoka, Minnesota.-Personal life:Hoffman is a native of Anoka, Minnesota and a graduate of Coon Rapids High School....
of "insulting and assaulting" him at a boxing event in Maplewood, MinnesotaMaplewood, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 34,947 people, 13,758 households, and 9,190 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,017.5 people per square mile . There were 14,004 housing units at an average density of 808.5 per square mile...
. LeDoux claims that Hoffman was intoxicated and fabricated the story. - In December 2008 a state investigation revealed that LeDoux, in his capacity as head of the Combative Sports Commission, accepted free tickets to an MMAMixed martial artsMixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
event, some of which had a face value of $600. This was determined to be a violation of state ethics rules. - In January of 2009, commission member Chad Ridler resigned in protest "of the inaction of the commission in providing oversight of Scott LeDoux...He's unaccountable".
Personal life
LeDoux was diagnosed with ALSAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
or "Lou Gehrig's Disease" in August 2008. A point of note however is that a 2010 study, see Wikipedia link to, questioned the diagnosis in athletes who'd experienced head trauma or repeated concussions. It suggests some may have a variant of Dementia Pugilistica, known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or Boxer's Syndrome.
LeDoux was a member of the National Board of Directors of the Wishes and More. He was also honorary chair of the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
. LeDoux founded a golf tournament called the Scott LeDoux Long Haul Classic.
LeDoux died of his illness on August 11, 2011.