One KO Wonders: Morris East

[BoztheMadman]

A natural continuation from the last OKW, Morris East was the man who ended Hiranaka’s brief reign but then also lost his title in his very first defense, against the outstanding Juan Martin Coggi. East was a hard punching fighter but lacked the finesse and speed. His life story is as special as his sudden and brief championship glory. 
 

Born 8 August 1973 in Olongapo, Philippines, his biological father was an African-American navy sailor and his mother a local Filipino woman. He didn’t meet his father until after he became a world champion. As a teenager, he moved to Cebu City and was spotted by local trainer Lito Cortes, who brought him to the local Coliseum gym. Standing only 5’6 but of very burly build, he stood out in any Filipino crowd, as well as looking different due to his part-Black American heritage. He was soon signed by promoter Sammy Gelo-ani and as he lived in poverty, he started fighting very early to be able to pay for his meals. He was still 15 when he had his first pro match on 3 May 1989, stopping Jessie Miranda by TKO 6. He then won two more fights on points before his first loss against Boy Masuay, by majority decision. 
 

He soon avenged that loss by TKO 6, but in March 1990 he again lost, this time by split decision, to Fernando Palad. He progressed and continued winning, amassing a record of 15 wins and 2 losses, 9 by ko, also winning the Oriental light welter title by KO 10 in South Korea against Kim Pyung-Sub on 29 February 1992. He then got to fight for the WBA title against the new ko-sensation, Akinobu Hiranaka, on 9 September 1992 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The fight was rather even but Hiranaka was ahead after 10 rounds, when the miracle came for East; in round 11, he first connected with a right hand and then a left hook which hit the champion flush on the chin and dropped him. Hiranaka got up but couldn’t stand properly and so-the 19-yearold East became the youngest Filipino world champion and second youngest champion ever! 
 

After this stunning victory, he travelled to USA to locate his father and found him in Oakland, California. He had also come in contact with his long lost half-sister who helped him find their father and their meeting was broadcast by CNN. However, their joy was short lived as the father died of cancer a few months later. Wether this affected his performance in the ring, we can’t know, but he lost his title in the first defense on 12 January 1993, to its former holder, Juan Martin Coggi of Argentina. The fight was even held in Argentina and East was dominated for 7 rounds, before getting stopped in the 8th. Only one judge gave him a round before that. After this brutal dethroning, his career was never the same again, as he had 5 more fights, losing one, before retiring in 1995, only aged 22, with a record of 20 wins, 12 by knockout, and 4 losses, only 1 by knockout. He fought as a super welterweight after the Coggi fight and even had one middleweight fight, also winning the Filipino title at 154 in March 1995.

After retirement, East became a successful trainer and trained among others multiple world champions Zab Judah and fellow Filipino Nonito Donaire. His story is really one of the most interesting and unique in the history of boxing world champions. It is indeed a shame he wasn’t able to return after losing his world title and at least fight one more world title fight. However, East still achieved a lot for someone who became a pro boxer out of necessity and hadn’t it been for that brief championship glory, he would’ve likely never met his father. His career can be summed up as “it came early and went early”. And that makes Morris East a ONE KO WONDER!