a layoff of 14 months and one week. He sported a record of 24 wins and 9 losses into his third defense, the first bout with Dokes, with 16 wins and 4 losses by knockout. Michael Dokes Michael Dokes (August 10, 1958 – August 11, 2012) was a boxer from the state of Ohio. He was born in the city of Akron and spent most of his life there. With 32 amateur bouts fought, of which he won 27 and lost 5, Dokes' record as an unpaid competitor was similar to Weaver's. Dokes fought many of the best future professional fighters of the Heavyweight division as an amateur and beat a number of them, including some future professional world champions such as Leon Spinks (a three-rounds points loss on Saturday, June 15, 1974), Trevor Berbick, John Tate, Greg Page and Tony Tubbs, who won their fight when Dokes was not able to box him on Thursday, May 13, 1976 (which was listed as a "walk-over" loss on Dokes' amateur record) Dokes represented the United States at the 1975 Pan American Games in men's boxing's Heavyweight division after beating Tate in the Pan American games trails' Heavyweight finals on Saturday, September 6, 1975 at Madison, Wisconsin by a walk-over. At the games, held in Mexico City, Mexico, Dokes fought well, making it to the championship final. Along the way, he beat Carlos Rivera and future WBC world Heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick. In the finals, however, he met the legendary Cuban boxer, three-time Olympic Games gold medalist at the heavyweight division, Teofilo Stevenson. On Saturday, October 25, Stevenson, who was making his 50th amateur contest compared to Dokes' 22, dominated Dokes on his way to claim the Pan American Games' gold medal, Young Dokes however, impressed fans and critics by lasting the three-round distance against the powerful and vastly over-experienced (compared to Dokes) Cuban. Dokes then tried out for the United States Olympic (men's) boxing team before the 1976 Summer Olympics. He participated at the 1976 Olympics boxing trails, which were held near his hometown as they took place in Cincinnati, Ohio. He made it all the way to the semi-finals, where he lost, on June 4, 1976, to John Tate. This was Dokes' final fight as an amateur. On October 13, 1976, Dokes debuted as a professional, beating Al Byrd by a second-round knockout as part of a program that also