Terry McGroom (March 16, 1966 – April 17, 2016) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2004. He challenged for the IBFcruiserweight title in 2001.
Early life
McGroom attended Wells High School in Chicago, which was "full of gangbangers." Tom O'Shea, an English teacher at the school, said he was "an arrogant, nasty kid who was always in trouble with his teachers," apart from the fact that he did not earn a single credit in his freshman year. When O'Shea caught McGroom fighting in the hallways, he was given a choice: follow him to the principal's office or to the boxing gym. O'Shea became his coach, a position he held throughout McGroom's amateur career.[1]
McGroom turned pro in 1993 and started off his career going undefeated in his first 11 fights. He then faced Darrol Wilson, a heavy hitting heavyweight who would make a name for himself later on, in 1995, and battled his way to a 10-round draw. McGroom's next big fight was an 8th-round TKO loss to future contender Kirk Johnson. Johnson was much bigger than McGroom and slugged him to the canvas.
After the loss to Johnson, McGroom's impressive victory over Esteban Pizzarro in 1999 earned him the biggest fight of his career against James Toney in 2000. It was a close fight with Toney and some thought the decision should have been given to McGroom.[citation needed] In 2001 he challenged Vasily Jirov for his IBF Cruiserweight belt. The result was a shocking one-round KO for Jirov, the result from one well place body shot.
McGroom then moved up to Heavyweight and had little success. He lost to future contenders Dominick Guinn, Malik Scott, and Timor Ibragimov before retiring in 2004.
