Wilbert McClure

Wilbert McClure had won the 1959 Pan American Games gold medal as well as the 1959 and 1960 National AAU championships by the time he went to Rome in 1960. At Rome he won four straight decisions but was never seriously challenged. McClure turned professional shortly after the Olympics.

McClure fought for seven years as a pro, compiling a lifetime record of 24 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw. Wilbert McClure always stood on the edge of greatness as a pro. Several times he had fights which, had he won, probably would have brought him a title shot, but he could never quite break through. Among these were two losses by decision in late 1963 to recently dethroned middleweight champion, Luis Rodríguez; a loss in May 1964 to future light-heavyweight champion (and former Olympian), José Torres; and a loss and a draw in early 1966 to ill-fated middleweight contender, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. It was said he would have been a world champion with better management as many boxing experts thought he was brought along too quickly.

After earning degrees in literature and philosophy from the University of Toledo (1961), and a PhD in psychology from Wayne State (1973), McClure became a professor at Northeastern University and Bentley College and ran his own counseling firm, also serving a term as chairman of the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission.