First there was `Hands of Stone’ the nickname of the legendary Roberto Duran.
Then there was Stone.
As a boxer Andre `Stone’ Purlette does not get the recognition he should for his exploits in the square jungle.
But he should!
In fact any boxer who won their first 32 fights, should be regarded as a great fighter, especially since none of those fights were of the padded-record variety.
What is even more outstanding is that Purlette scored a knockout or a TKO in 30 of those bouts winning the other two by unanimous decisions.
Born November 4, 1973, Purlette said that he took to fighting after he was fed up of having his lunch money taken away when he was young growing up in Guyana.
“It was my start many years ago, defending myself. Being beat up on as a youngster in Guyana. I was encouraged to go into the gym, and learn how to defend myself. I picked it up from there, and never looked back. It brought me this far, he told Peter Mark Heintzelamn of EastSideBoxing.com.
For his first 32 bouts it seemed as if it was Purlette who was taking away his opponents’ lunch money.
In a career which has seen him rub shoulders with some of the world’s best fighters, Purlette has sparred with boxers such as Ukrainian Vladimir Klitschko, former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, Glen Johnson and Roy Jones Jr., to name a few.
But despite his brilliance in the ring Purlette has spent long stretches outside of it for reasons only he knows.
His professional career began on Boxing Day 1992 with a first round knockout of Alberto Ellis at the National Park.
He was just 19 years old.
Leon O’ Neal took on the task of avoiding being knocked out when he faced Purlette at the National Park on February 28, 1993 but the result was the same, a first round knockout.
Colin Murray was the next to suffer a first round defeat on September 18, 1993 at the National Sports Hall as Purlette enhanced his growing reputation as a knockout artist and gave credence to his sobriquet.
Next to feel the power of `Stone’ Purlette’s fists was Ivor `Baba’ Simmons who fell by way of TKO in round two of their fight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on November 7, 1993.
Purlette then took his campaign overseas, winning 22 straight bouts including a second round TKO of Jeremy Bates for the vacant World Boxing Organisation NABO heavyweight title.
That bout took place at the Level Nightclub, Miami Beach on October 5, 2001.
However, in his very next fight, which took place approximately four years later, Purlette’s undefeated record was no more after he was knocked out in round five of a heavyweight fight against 27-year-old Elieser Castillo at American Airlines Arena on January 4, 2002.
He rebounded with a TKO victory over Joe Lenart at the West Tampa Convention Centre, Florida on May 25, 2002 and then won the World Boxing Council Latino heavyweight title with a TKO victory over Crawford Grimsley on September 7, 2002 in Prague.
Purlette was to score five more wins before his career ended with successive defeats to Aaron Williams and Harold Sconiers.
Purlette never defended his titles and retired in 2009 with a record of 44 fights, 40 wins and four losses.
Thirty five of his wins were by knockouts.
He remains one of the more successful professional boxers this country has ever produced.
There were talks about him returning home to fight Mitchell Rogers but that fight never materialized and in fact after he migrated to the US, Purlette never again fought in this country.
Stabroek Sports duly inducts Andre `Stone’ Purlette into its Boxing Hall of Fame for his exploits and the fame and recognition he brought to himself and his country.
