Tuesday 9 October 2018

What became of Rufus Hurricane Hadley?


In the late 1970s, Former Marine, Rufus Hadley was a budding amateur heavyweight carving a reputation onto the Detroit boxing scene.. In 1979 by the tender age of 18 Hadley found himself representing his country in the Pan American Games, miraculously reaching the semi finals where would face the legendary Teofilo Stevenson. Although the fearsome Cuban knocked out the youngster in a single round, an appearance on this kind of platform was a moral Victory for Rufus.. The tall handsome 220 pounder turned pro in 1983, and within 3 years would rack up an unbeaten run of 10 fights including notable victories over Rick Keller and Donnie Long.. The 4th round knockout of Long came only months after the tough Ohio man had fallen in front of future champ Mike Tyson.. By the time Tyson had captured a portion of the title in the November of 1986, Hadley had just scored another knockout of one of the champions former victims, Sammy Scaff.. a month later Rufus Hadley was on the champions payroll.. As a sparring partner Hadley proved invaluable, not only to Mike, but for the whole camp morale.. Rufus was an eccentric character, a hysterical comedian who often featured on the Las Vegas standup circuit along with a penchant for hairdressing, serving as an unlikely camp barber.. I remember Hadley mostly from being around the Las Vegas gyms in the late 80s, he’d been part of team Tyson for at least 4 title defences and appeared a more successful spar-hand than his professional fighter in his own right.. By 1989 Hadley had wrapped up his own career following losses to promising fighters Orlin Norris and Michael Williams, with a closing record of 10-4-1 (8 Ko’s). Rufus still hung in familiar surroundings with guys like James Broad and Jesse Ferguson, was always impeccably dressed and made great first impressions wherever he went, I remember standing next to him in Johnny Toccos gym, eager to get a glimpse of Michael Dokes who was getting ready for the Holyfield fight, very often he’d let out a random shreak whenever a clean shot found its mark, a trait he often carried into his own sparring, a rarer more unique character you’d struggle to find..
I lost touch with Rufus in 1991, but kept occasional contact with guys from camp like Tyrone Armstrong and James Broad, but based on past appearances, I often pictured Hadley sitting somewhere smoking a cigar with a huge smile on his face surrounded by a gang of young offspring..

Two and a half decades later as I thumbed through some old photographs, I thought for a moment about Rufus Hadley, acting on my reminiscent nature I googled his name to see if any recent photos emerged from possible social media activity.. unfortunately something else emerged which I hadn’t prepared myself for, a recent unfiltered photo of a grinning black man, with shrunken ageing features next to a caption, 55 year old Rufus Hadley, Missing since 2015.. The Detroit press release detailed how the former talented fighter, was now 80% legally registered blind and was now diagnosed as Bi-polar. In November 2015 Hadley was admitted to hospital by family members following a fall at home, but in bizarre circumstances had literally walked straight out of the building and literally disappeared.. The last report was of a 6 foot 4 Male weighing 200 pounds, wearing a black and gold Phat Farm jacket and black cargo pants was missing, last seen in the Detroit area.. I have yet to discover what became of Rufus, he’d be 58 by now, and I’m still in the process of researching police reports to uncover the conclusion to the story.. Very rarely is the story of former professional sparring partners an optimistic one, but the stark reality of the decline of this once handsome athletes health paired with the uncertainty of his future is shocking.. I’m praying for a happy ending to this episode..

39 comments:

  1. I trained with Rufus in the same boxing gym (Johnson Recreation Center) as young teenagers in Detroit during the early-mid 70's. Keep me posted if you hear anything about his whereabouts.

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  2. Oops, forgot my name for above.

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  3. He's alright he did walk off smoking a cigarette but the facility shortly returned him. i don't no why the this information was unknown to the public.

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    1. Hakeem, are you related. I’d love to know how Rufus is..? Thankyou for taking the time to reply.

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  4. I met him when I was in the Marines. He was getting ready to get discharged. I was on a training exercise out in 29 Palms and he was out there with his unit 2nd Battalion 6th Marines. He had been kicked off the boxing team because he didn't want to fight in a specific tournament. He only had a month or two left before he got out, We talked a lot about boxing. He was a pretty cool guy.

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  5. Thankyou for replying Joe.. I loved Rufus.. I’d love to know how he is.

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  6. He's fine I'll let u know if I can give u his whereabouts.

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    1. I’d really appreciate that.. you can E-mail me at bigcat123@aol.com
      God bless.

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  7. Hello I am an old friend of his and would like to say hello.

    Quinetta

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  8. Tell me more about him Quinetta.. he was a friend of mine when he boxed, but I’d love to hear more about him.. a lovely man..

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  9. Rufus resides in a Warren, MI.

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  10. I knew him as Buba Hadley, from the neighborhood he had a younger brother that boxed with hum at Cherrylawn gym basement. He had a sister or cousin I had a crush on. About 47 years ago

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    1. Rufus was a great boxer. I believe he would have been a world class cruiser weight but he wanted to be a heavy weight. He was a precision fighter with great foot work and a direct straight right hand.

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  11. Rufus is being cared for by his family in Detroit. I boxed with him as a teenager. He was a very hard worker and loyal to his original amateur coach Dave Shoulders.

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    1. I boxer with Rufus too, we went and won the Ohio State Fair Nationals together in 1975, his brother Sydney won the National's there as well.

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  12. cousin you came into my thoughts.you looked fearless i'm sorry we never had a chance to get together and never had a chance to see you box.I was in college also chasing a dream at that time as a pro,f.b player.hope you are well.love u, R.J.

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  13. My name is Leon but Rufus called me D.O.G. and I did a few Bodyguard jobs with him in Hollywood Ca.1989-90
    Under his business name GET PAID INC...please give him my e-mail...mention Sam Kinison to him.

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  14. Little Sammy off Roselawn Bubba told me and his brother Tyrone y’all Need To start Boxing so y’all can be like me .And his sister was my First girlfriend look on her Facebook call me Bubba lil Sammy still in Lv

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  15. Little Sammy off Roselawn Bubba told me and his brother Tyrone y’all Need To start Boxing so y’all can be like me .And his sister was my First girlfriend look on her Facebook call me Bubba lil Sammy still in Lv

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  16. Little Sammy off Roselawn Bubba told me and his brother Tyrone y’all Need To start Boxing so y’all can be like me .And his sister was my First girlfriend look on her Facebook call me Bubba lil Sammy still in Lv

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  17. Hi Sammy.. I loved Rufus.. good dude.. not seen him in a while.. I’m always in Vegas.. holler sometime.. bigcat123@aol.com (Stephen)

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  18. I was friends with Bubba at Camp Lejeune in late 70s/early 80s. He was also a salesman for Amway to make extra money to support his family. He said he was going to name his son Prince Edward Hadley. we got separated while serving and lost contact. He was a big inspiration in my life. And he was a wonderful singer. I would like to wish him well. Whitt from Virginia

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  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. I knew him from mid 80's when he was training in Edmonton. Great guy; I worked at the border we connected as he would fly in from Vegas...If any talks to him .. mention Pete from Edmonton says hey!...Still have his autographed Promo Pic :)

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  21. I knew Rufus and served at Camp Lejune with him in the late 70's early 80's. Also our families attended church together. He had his son and named him Prince. I last saw Rufus with his wife and newborn Prince at church. Shilo Holiness Church in Jacksonville NC. I pray that him and his family is well.

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  22. I remember him as Bubba and his first amateur was actually against me, it was called a draw, Rufus said he won and I left it alone because we were both from the same gym Johnsons Recreation on Pembroke. We shared suits and remained good friends until he went to the military and we lost touch. Rufus outboxed Rick Jester back then who was the 2 time National Golden Glove Champion, Rufus could get in the ring with anybody and hold his own, his brother Sidney was a beast in the ring too. Rufus is currently in a Nursing Home.

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    1. Hi.. I tried like hell to find Rufus, I loved him to death, real fun to be around. Please contact me.. and Thankyou for commenting..

      Stephen. bigcat123@aol.com

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  23. I first met Hurrican briefly in Atlantic City when I fought on Tuesday nights at Tropicana and then I would see him when he became part of the Larry Holmes crew as a sparring partner you would always hear Hurricane before you saw him and then we both later became sparring partner for Tim Witherspoon in Orwell Ohio at Don Kings Camp there was never a dull moment with Hurricane around be it Las Vegas London England or sparring were do you think Mike Tyson got the bitting from if you gave Hurricane to much trouble boxing he would you bite in the clinch on the shoulder to throw you off your game gamesl lol

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  24. I forgot my name Clinton Barnes we both worked with Mike Tyson also

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  25. Thankyou Clint.. I know exactly who you are.. I’m trying to call him soon, I’ll keep you posted.

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  26. Hello I know this post last message was a year ago and I like many many knew and love Hurricane. I knew him in the early 90’s and work with him at a club in Hollywood. And went on several trips with him to Las Vegas in that Suzuki Samari… LOL….. I hope he is well my contact info is ap1vtr@gmail.com please forward it to him or if you can email me I will give you my personal number. I pray for his health and wellness. Bro. Anthony is how he knew me.

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  27. I attended Jr high with Bubba we admired each but He was in love with L.B after High School he returned got L.B. returned to military they were married moved shared 3 or 4 boys. I last saw them in 1988 at High School Picnic separately. Would love to find her and see Bubba. I heard Sydney was deceased and could find any info about the sister Jackie. Who was voted best dressed amonst her peers in late 70's.It was great to read the comments finding out a little more about where I can look

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  28. Email for above comment: ver46mus@yahoo.com@yahoo. Would love to hear from any family member as there is mostly at least great grands now

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  29. i met hurican in england when he was sparing for a fight gave me his autograph with best wishes never give up your friend rufus ,,still got it .loved the guy real gent ,,,,roy

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