GUYANESE-born Canadian citizen Egerton Marcus won his 15th professional fight after earning a technical knockout (TKO) over American Tim `Sting’ Ray on October 22, 1999. The heavyweight bout was held at the Joe Louis Arena in the Motor City of Detroit, Michigan. Both boxers were 34 years old at the time of the fight, which was stopped at one minute and four seconds of the first round. Born in Goed Fortuin on February 2, 1965, Marcus was the third of five children and moved to Canada in 1973. He was raised in Toronto and won a silver medal in the middleweight division at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
The Guyanese turned pro one year after the Olympics and reeled off 14 consecutive victories before suffering his first defeat. Marcus was already crowned NABF light heavyweight champion when he challenged German Henry Maske for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight title in February 1995.
In a rematch of the Olympic final, the German again prevailed by unanimous decision. Marcus, the cousin of Guyana’s first world champion the late Andrew `Six Head’ Lewis, would soon after move up to cruiserweight where he stayed briefly.
His next step was into the heavyweight division. He challenged world-rater Donovan `Razor’ Ruddock in October 2001 for the Canadian heavyweight crown but lost by 10th round TKO.