Maurice Watkins

Maurice Watkins (born August 29, 1956) is a former boxer from Houston, Texas. Nicknamed Termite, he was born into a family that was in the insect killing business, and he is a professional fumigator.

Professional Boxing Career

Watkins turned professional as a boxer on May 21, 1974, beating Cesar Cortez by knockout in round one at Houston. Through his career, Watkins fought some of the best fighters in the Lightweight and Jr. Welterweight divisions. He beat Marion Thomas by a knockout in round seven, Rocky Ramon by a decision in twelve, Arturo Leon by decision in ten, Bruce Strauss by knockout in three, Bobby Rodriguez by knockout in one, and others. His fight with former United States Lightweight champion Norman Goins resulted in a three-round no contest. He also lost to Olympic gold medalist Howard Davis Jr.. and Alfredo Escalera. On October 2 of 1980, at the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, he got his only world title shot, losing to Saoul Mamby by a fifteen-round decision for the WBC's world Jr. Welterweight title. He retired with 61 wins, 5 losses, 2 draws (tie), one no contest and 48 wins by knockout.[1]

Professional boxing record

61 Wins (42 knockouts, 19 decisions), 5 Losses (0 knockouts, 5 decisions), 2 Draws, 1 No Contest
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Win 1-1 Yaqui Hernandez PTS 6 16/03/1990 Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Win 12-10-1 Robert "The Line" Dixon TKO 2 17/02/1990 Conroe, Texas, United States
Win 14-3-4 Joe "Attorney" Garcia PTS 10 11/12/1989 Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, Texas, United States
Win 7-7-1 Moses "Governor" Robinson KO 2 05/10/1989 Houston, Texas, United States
Win 4-4 "Candlelight" Virgil Green KO 3 10/08/1989 Billings, Montana, United States
Win -- Raymundo Lopez KO 2 20/07/1989 Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, United States
Win 1-0-1 Carlos "Rocky" Gonzalez KO 1 01/06/1989 Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Win 6-1-1 Anthony "Two Gun" Williams PTS 6 30/04/1989 Galveston, Texas, United States 57-57, 58-56, 57-57.
Loss 48-12-3 Alfredo Escalera UD 10 12/11/1982 Orange Bowl, Miami, United States
Win 4-14 Paul Gentry KO 4 22/09/1982 Houston, United States
Win 0-1 Jose "J-Rod" Rodriguez KO 10 27/08/1982 Houston, United States
Win 60-34-3 Bruce Strauss KO 3 17/08/1982 Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, Louisiana, United States
Win 2-0 Billy "The Kid" Smith KO 3 21/07/1982 Shreveport, Louisiana, United States
Loss 28-12-5 Saoul Mamby UD 15 02/10/1980 Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, United States WBC World Light Welterweight Title. 140-146, 139-147, 141-147.
Win 17-24 Larry "Legend" Moore KO 3 22/05/1980 Holland, Michigan, United States
Win 23-25 Sammy Rookard KO 4 06/04/1980 Astro Arena, Houston, United States
Win 3-2-1 Nathan "Famous" Davis KO 3 22/03/1980 Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Win 0-11 Jimmy "Wakeboard" Martinez KO 1 09/01/1980 Holland, Michigan, United States
Loss 11-0 Howard Davis, Jr. UD 10 14/09/1979 Houston Summit, Houston, Texas, United States
Win 2-8 Roberto "Baby" Perez KO 7 15/08/1979 Beaumont Civic Center, Beaumont, Texas, United States
Draw 9-4-1 Teodoro Osuna PTS 10 09/03/1979 Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States
Win 1-3-1 Richie Lee Roberts KO 3 16/01/1979 Houston, United States
Win 2-1-1 Arthur "Space Odyssey" Clarke KO 7 09/12/1978 Houston, United States
Win 0-6 Gary "Black" Smith KO 5 02/11/1978 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 16-11-1 Rick Craney KO 1 15/08/1978 Houston, United States
Win 21-19-1 Joe Medrano KO 7 16/05/1978 Houston, United States
Win 1-8-2 John "Wolf" Morgan KO 4 20/04/1978 Houston, United States
Win 15-6 Hilbert Stevenson PTS 10 11/04/1978 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 5-1 Benny Marquez PTS 10 19/01/1978 Houston, United States
Win 10-1 Steve "Hammer" Homan PTS 10 01/12/1977 Houston, United States
Win 15-10 Freddie "Stepper" Harris PTS 10 25/10/1977 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win -- Cuyo Mendoza TKO 3 27/09/1977 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 6-4 Paulino Garcia TKO 5 22/09/1977 Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, Florida, United States
Win 12-11 Ernesto Ortega KO 7 26/07/1977 Orlando, Florida, United States
No Contest 17-5-1 "Stormin" Norman Goins ND 10 22/03/1977 Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 7-2 Jose "Speedy" Gonzalez PTS 10 16/02/1977 Orlando, Florida, United States
Loss 4-10 Augustin Estrada UD 10 17/11/1976 Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, United States 90-98, 93-94, 97-98.
Win 2-2 Otto Breeding KO 3 26/10/1976 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 13-11-1 Arturo Leon UD 10 21/09/1976 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 14-6 Rocky Ramon PTS 12 31/08/1976 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 4-7 Agustin Estrada TKO 7 09/08/1976 Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans, United States
Win 4-3 Richie Puentes KO 6 24/07/1976 Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
Loss 18-5-2 Adriano Marrero SD 10 16/03/1976 Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Win 2-5 Valente Ramos KO 3 09/03/1976 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 4-4 Lamar Baskin KO 2 24/02/1976 Albuquerque Civic Auditorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Win 0-1 Chamaco Cuenca KO 5 10/02/1976 Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Win 13-0 Juan "and Only" Hidalgo UD 10 20/01/1976 Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Win -- Bobby Flores TKO 6 18/11/1975 Houston, United States
Win 9-2-1 Larry Peterson KO 5 19/08/1975 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 0-1-2 Gene Prado UD 10 29/07/1975 Circle Star Theater, San Carlos, California, United States
Win 31-10-1 Marion "Tiger" Thomas KO 7 16/07/1975 Houston, United States
Win 6-3-4 Victor de la Cruz UD 10 17/06/1975 San Jose Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, United States
Win 7-4 Leroy Walker TKO 8 21/05/1975 Circle Star Theater, San Carlos, California, United States
Win 0-1 Rudy Gonzalez PTS 10 06/05/1975 San Jose, California, United States
Win 4-4-1 Otis Locklear KO 3 22/04/1975 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 2-5 Mike Whymms PTS 8 15/04/1975 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win 9-2 Gilbert "Machete" Galvan PTS 10 17/02/1975 Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 8-6 Dave Kibby UD 8 29/01/1975 Cow Palace, San Francisco, United States
Win 4-4-1 Vicente Hernandez PTS 10 17/01/1975 San Jose Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, United States
Win 0-2 "Sugar" Ray Sears PTS 6 17/12/1974 Orlando, Florida, United States
Win -- Robert "Baby" Perez KO 1 10/11/1974 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 23-7-2 Bobby Rodriguez KO 1 13/10/1974 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 0-3 Ricky Ramos KO 4 26/08/1974 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 13-13 Nick Alfaro PTS 8 18/08/1974 Houston, United States
Win 0-2 Arturo Cirillos KO 3 05/08/1974 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Win 5-9 Harvey "Candyman" Wilson KO 6 16/07/1974 Houston, United States
Win 0-1 Arturo Cirillos TKO 4 02/07/1974 Houston, United States
Win 1-3 Lupe Cantù KO 3 04/06/1974 Houston, United States
Win 0-1 Cesar Cortez KO 1 21/05/1974 Houston, United States

After Boxing

After retiring, Watkins went back to Texas to work as a fumigator. He remained in obscurity there for many years.

In 2003, the American military, needing personnel to work rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure, contracted him as a fumigator to work on Iraqi homes that had been decaying and infected with insects during Saddam Hussein's presidency. The military did not know of Watkins' background as a boxer.

In 2008, writer Suzy Pepper, a former neighbor of Maurice Watkins, released "Termite", a biographical book about Watkins.[2] Also in 2008, a movie based on the book was announced.[3]

Termine currently speaks at events as a motivational speaker with emphasis on safety.

Houston television news reports that he is hospitalized in Houston fighting Coronavirus COVID-19.

In Iraq

After the IOC announced that Iraq would be allowed to compete in seven sports at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, including boxing, the United States military, overviewing the new Iraqi Olympic committee, set about to find a new boxing coach for the Iraqi national boxing team. With research, they found out about Watkins' background, and invited him to coach a team of young hopefuls in Baghdad. When Watkins arrived there, he saw what he described to a Sports Illustrated columnist as not too much talent, but a lot of heart.

Realizing he needed to train the team in a setting different from Baghdad, he moved his team to a city close to Baghdad, but much quieter than the capital city. He trained nine Iraqi boxers who hoped to reach the Olympics, but, out of those, only Najah Ali was able to qualify for the games.

During the training period of these young prospects, he invented a phrase that has become widely popular in Iraq: Every morning, after arrival to the gym, he would chant Iraq! Iraq! Iraq is back! to help inspire his boxers. The phrase has become so popular in Iraq that the United States military has ordered 1,000 T-shirts to be printed with the phrase, to be handled among Iraqi citizens.

Notes

  1. "Maurice Watkins". Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  2. "bookmasters.com". Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  3. "pathsapartproductions.com". Archived from the original on 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
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