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Born on July 28, 1967 in
Hartford, Connecticut, former
World Boxing Federation (WBF)
Intercontinental Super
Middleweight Champion
“Iceman” John Scully
started boxing in 1982, and was
an accomplished amateur before
turning professional in 1988.
As a Middleweight, Scully won
seven Golden Gloves tournaments
between 1985 and 1988, and
captured bronze at the 1988 US
Olympic trials before deciding
it was time to enter the paid
ranks in September of that same
year after compiling a 57-13
amateur ledger.
Scully had an incredibly busy
start to his pro campaign,
winning his first thirteen bouts
in exactly nine months. During
this period he spend time in
training camp with Sugar Ray
Leonard, who still had legendary
fights with Thomas Hearns and
Roberto Duran in his future.
Twelve of Scully´s first
thirteen victories came inside
the distance, but none of his
opponents were anywhere near his
level. So when he stepped up in
class on July 11, 1989 at the
Showboat Hotel & Casino in
Atlantic City, he lost his first
ten-round main event fight by
unanimous decision to Brett
Lally (22-4).
What was supposed to be
something of a “coming out
party”, against a decent but not
exactly formidable opponent,
ended up being a disappointing
set-back.
Two victories over the same man,
Victor King (2-10), in August
and September eased Scully back
on the right track, and on
September 29, 1989, at the Civic
Center in his home-town of
Hartford, he beat Tony Daley
(5-1) over ten rounds to win the
New England Middleweight title.
He then announced himself as a
bona-fide contender in his next
two outings, defeating former
amateur stand-out Alphonso
Bailey (13-3) and undefeated
hope Billy Bridges (16-0), both
on points, in televised bouts
before the year was out. Now
18-1 (13), it appeared to be
time for the next step in his
career.
Unfortunately Scully´s new
momentum ended in his first
fight of 1990, when Kevin Watts
(19-5-1), coming off a victory
over Dwight Davison (42-5) to
win the NABF Middleweight crown,
out-scored him in Atlantic City
on March 18.
The loss to Watts was followed
by a seven-month lay-off,
unusual for Scully who had had
his twenty fights in only
eighteen months. He returned on
October 23 with a win over eight
rounds against journeyman Jose
Vera (7-17), but was then
inactive again for eleven
months, and it appeared that his
career had stalled.
But 1991 finished on a high
note, as Scully scored unanimous
decisions over capable opponents
in Randy Smith (22-20-1) and
Willie Kemp (13-6) in main event
fights, before starting 1992
with another stay-busy decision
over former foe Jose Vera the
following February.
After four straight victories,
it was announced that Scully
would fight Floridian Darryll
Fromm (17-9) for the vacant WBF
Intercontinental Super
Middleweight title on May 22,
but when Fromm pulled out on
short notice Scully ended up
squaring off with Melvin Wynn
(12-8).
Scully versus Wynn made for a
good and entertaining fight, but
Hartford got a new champion as
betting favorite Scully pulled
away in the second half and
finished strongly to become WBF
Intercontinental Champion with a
unanimous decision.
After another four more wins,
Scully was pitted against
undefeated fellow contender Tim
Littles (19-0) on the Riddick
Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield
heavyweight super-fight
promotion on November 13, 1992
at Thomas & Mack Center in Las
Vegas.
Had he won this fight, it is not
a far stretch to say that Scully
would have been on a short list
of boxers most deserving of a
crack at a world super
middleweight championship. But
the very talented Littles had
too much for him that night, and
won a clear decision and the
USBA title.
Four months on Scully found
himself in another big fight,
headlining at the legendary Blue
Horizon in Philadelphia against
absolute world class Tony
Thornton (32-5-1). Thornton won
a clear decision, and Scully
decided it was time to move up
to Light Heavyweight.
Scully won eight straight in his
new weight class, including a
second round stoppage of faded
former IBO World Super
Middleweight Champion Willie
Ball (16-11), putting himself in
position for another huge
opportunity.
But ironically, the huge
opportunity came back at Super
Middleweight, a division he had
not boxed in for almost three
years, when he took on former
IBF and WBA World Champion
Michael Nunn (47-3) for the WBO
NABO title.
On December 8, 1995, Scully
again came up short at the
highest level, as Nunn somewhat
controversially won a unanimous
decision on a show promoted by
Top Rank at the Foxwoods Resort
in Mashantucket. The scores were
wide (118-110, 119-109,
120-108), but they really didn't
tell an accurate story of the
fight.
In fact, Scully out-punched Nunn
and had a higher overall
percentage of punches connected.
Many, including the ESPN
television commentators, saw it
as being very close, and it
could be argued that Scully
deserved the victory. He
certainly put on one of his best
performances, if not the best!
After getting back in the
win-column the following March,
Scully was rewarded for his
impressive performance against
Nunn, when he was picked to
challenge German icon Henry
Maske (29-0) for the IBF World
Light Heavyweight title in May
of 1996. Again he lost a
spirited effort on points.
Scully was as tough as they
come, but in reality he wasn't
quite on par with the elite of
his generation. There was no
shame in that, and he was among
the best of a very good second
tier.
His professionalism, skills,
grit and endurance made him
highly respected, and earned him
assignments as an important
sparring-partner for the likes
of Maske and Irish hero Steve
Collins, and super-stars Mike
McCallum, Roy Jones Jr., James
Toney and Vinny Pazienza.
In 1997 Scully was out-pointed
by former IBF and future WBC
world champion Graciano
Rocchigiani (38-4-1), and
perennial contender Ernest
“M-16” Mateen (23-7-1), before
ending the year with a sixth
round stoppage of Scott Lopeck
(13-7-1).
In August of 1998 he challenged
Drake Thadzi (29-8-1) for the
IBO World Light Heavyweight
title. Thadzi had surprisingly
defeated the great James Toney
to become champion, and
continued his streak by stopping
a weight-drained Scully in
seven. This was the first and
only time Scully lost inside the
distance.
Scully had clearly seen better
days in the ring, and he went on
to lose to Sam Ahmad (11-0-2)
and a rematch against Mateen,
before going out on a winning
note when he edged Cleveland
Nelson (13-1) by split decision
in Canada in June of 2001.
His final record stands at 38-11
(21), and being a former WBF
Intercontinental Champion who
twice challenged for world
honors, having fought numerous
times on television and on some
major shows against excellent
opponents, he has plenty to be
proud about.
In retirement, Scully has very
much stayed involved with
boxing, working as a respected
trainer and TV analyst. He is
also known as an advocate for
retired boxers, and makes
various efforts to collect money
for former fighters in need.
Author of his autobiography
titled “Iceman Diaries, he was
inducted into the Connecticut
Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.
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