Andrew Maynard (boxer)

Andrew Maynard started boxing while serving in the United States Army. He was a cook stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado and his final military rank was specialist.[1]

As an amateur boxer, Maynard was a relentless pressure fighter — often throwing 1,000 punches per bout.

Maynard was the 1987 and 1988 United States Amateur Boxing Champion in the Light Heavyweight division (178 lbs.). He won the Bronze Medal at the 1987 Pan American Games, where he first burst into international prominence beating up on Cuban world champion Pablo Romero only to collapse in the second round without being hit. Later, Maynard acknowledged that he had suffered a broken ankle during a pickup basketball game the day before the Romero bout but didn't tell anybody about it. "I figure that I owed myself some kind of a gold medal after that situation," he said. So, at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Maynard methodically avoided all basketball courts in Seoul.[2]

Pan Am Box-Offs (178 lbs.), International Center of the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 1987:

• Defeated Joseph Pemberton.

In the United States Olympic Box-Offs held from July 16 - 17, 1988 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, Maynard had to earn a spot on the 1988 United States Olympic Boxing Team by defeating fellow soldier Alfred “Ice” Cole in two bouts on consecutive nights. The judges’ scores for each respective bout was 4-1 in favor of Maynard.

He was one of three amateur boxers — the other two being Kelcie Banks (125 lbs.) and Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe (Super Hvt.) — who lost in the Olympic trials but made the 1988 United States Olympic Boxing Team by attaining two wins in the United States Olympic Box-Offs.

Prior to competing in the United States Olympic Box-Offs, and since 1986, Maynard had won nine of ten boxing competitions — including the two national championships and an armed forces championship. Subsequently, and deservedly so, the determined 24-year-old had developed a reputation as one of the United States’ best amateur boxers at that point in time with a relatively limited but deceiving 35-5 amateur boxing record.

Maynard went on to win the Light Heavyweight Gold Medal for the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea — averaging an overwhelming 150 punches per round and culminating in the shutout of his Russian opponent on points in the gold medal bout. He dedicated his gold medal win in honor of his father, Theodore “Slim” Maynard.

The highest prize in amateur boxing was an amazing achievement for a boxer who picked up the gloves to compete only five years earlier.

Results were:

• First round bye
• Defeated Mikaele Masoe (American Samoa) RSC 2
• Defeated Lajos Erős (Hungary) 5-0
• Defeated Henryk Petrich (Poland) TKO 3
• Defeated Nurmagomed Shanavazov (Soviet Union) 5-0.

Maynard worked on the inside against Shanavazov throughout the gold medal bout, with both fighters leaning against each other, and was relentless in beating the Russian to the punch. He was successful in repeatedly throwing left hooks to the body in the first two rounds, while landing a hard right to the head of Shanavazov in the final round.

The light heavyweight competition in the 1988 Summer Olympics included 26 boxers representing 26 countries.

Along with Kennedy McKinney (Bantamweight division) and “Merciless” Ray Mercer (Heavyweight division), Maynard was one of three Americans to capture gold for the 1988 United States Olympic Boxing Team in Seoul. He was the first American to win the Light Heavyweight Gold Medal since Leon Spinks in 1976. Maynard is one of seven Americans to win the Light Heavyweight Gold Medal in the history of the Olympic Games, including Muhammad Ali in 1960.

Following the Olympics, Maynard made the decision to move to Laurel, Maryland where he began his professional career by signing with the management team of “Sugar” Ray Leonard and Mike Trainer.

Maynard quickly became known for his hard hitting along with his outgoing personality and trademark smile. Maynard’s classic one-punch “KO” of Arthur “Butch” Hall in 1989, a punch described in the live telecast as a “freight train right”, was featured on a video of “Boxing’s Greatest Hits.” His boxing monikers included “BAM” (“Boxing Andrew Maynard”) and “Smilin’ Drew”.

Maynard won his first 12 bouts in the light heavyweight division (175 lbs), prior to getting stopped in the seventh round by Bobby Czyz. His apparent shift of training styles from that of a puncher to a boxer during this period was a subject of debate and discussion.

Maynard then went on a six-fight winning streak, stopping former world light heavyweight champion Matthew Saad Muhammad in 1991 after a barrage of punches thrown over a little more than two rounds and setting up a bout with Frank Tate. Tate dropped Maynard in the 11th round, prompting the referee to halt the contest.

Maynard, who won the NABF Light Heavyweight Title by a majority decision against Mike Sedillo on April 1, 1990, lost his championship belt to Tate after having successfully defending it on four occasions.

Maynard, who fought at 178 pounds as an amateur, had difficulty adjusting to the lower 175-pound light heavyweight limit on the pro level and eventually transitioned to the cruiserweight division.

Maynard moved up to cruiserweight to challenge WBC World Cruiserweight champion Anaclet Wamba in a title bout held in Paris, France on October 16, 1992. Knocked down in the first round, the typically slow-starting American battled back courageously and lost by a 12-round unanimous decision with one judge having the bout as close as 113-116.

The championship bout versus Wamba was Maynard’s only world title opportunity and only his second bout scheduled in the cruiserweight division. Conceding five pounds at the weigh-in which occurred the day before, Maynard traded punches throughout the bout held the next night with what appeared to be a considerably bigger opponent and was effective at times in landing shots to the body of Wamba. In a display of good sportsmanship by all, Maynard was invited to, and attended, Wamba’s victory party and was well-received by the French fans in attendance.

After losing to Wamba, Maynard fought on in obscurity. Among his notable fights which followed were a knockout loss to Thomas Hearns and a stoppage at heavyweight to Brian Nielsen.

Maynard retired in 2000 and lives in Harlingen, Texas with his common law wife, Cynthia Ann Montgomery. For several years, Maynard served as a youth boxing trainer in Harlingen after being recruited for the position by the Harlingen Foundation for Valley Sports. For a short period of time, he worked in a public relations capacity for USA Boxing in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Maynard is the proud father of three children.

In March 1996, the Country of Nicaragua issued a stamp in honor of Maynard and in his likeness. He was inducted into the “Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame” in 2001. Maynard was a 2016 inductee of the “Washington, D.C. Boxing Hall of Fame” and, in 2019, was one of five members of the inaugural class of Texas’ “Rio Grande Valley Boxing Hall of Fame”.

• Boxing record for Andrew Maynard from BoxRec (registration required)