Rise To The Top
Etienne was named 2000's "Most Exciting Fighter to Watch" in the heavyweight division by The Ring Magazine, largely the result of his unanimous decision over then-undefeated Lawrence Clay Bey. The fight was widely considered to be one of the best heavyweight matches of that year. He also beat Lamon Brewster, the future WBO heavyweight champion, on points after ten rounds in May 2000. He landed a contract with Showtime and his stock began to rise, but it quickly fell after an upset loss to Fres Oquendo, who stopped Etienne in the eight round of their fight in March 2001.
After re-building some of his lost stature with wins, he was catapulted to the world's stage in a 2003 fight against Mike Tyson, where Etienne suffered a first round knock-out only 49 seconds after being caught with a right hand.
Read more about this topic: Clifford Etienne
Famous quotes containing the words rise and/or top:
“To rise from error to truth is rare and beautiful.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can’t ignore it, top it; if you can’t top it, laugh at it; if you can’t laugh at it, it’s probably deserved.”
—Russell Lynes (b. 1910)