He was born in 1936 and he embarked on a professional boxing career in
1954. He won twenty five of his first twenty nine fights on his way to
establishing himself as a top prospect by 1962. The imposing 6′ 2″ Amos
Lincoln was nicknamed ” Big Train ” and he looked like he was going to
become a force to be reckoned with for some time.
Fighting out of Portland, Oregon early in his career Amos also
campaigned throughout the northwest in cities like Seattle, Spokane,
Tacoma, Boise and even Vancouver, Canada. In 1957 he made one of his few
ventures outside the Northwest as he traveled to Chicago and defeated
Marty Marshall. In June of 1962 Amos made his New York debut as he met
future champion Ernie Terrell at Madison Square Garden. The lanky, long
armed Terrell would box his way to a six round decision. It would be two
years before Amos fought again. Appearing in Las Vegas, Lincoln was
halted in the second round by Jimmy ” King ” Fletcher. Amos would bounce
back with a decision over clever Chuck Leslie and a ninth round
stoppage over highly regarded Thad Spencer.
In 1965 Amos avenged his loss to Fletcher with a four round knockout.
Lincoln then went over to Italy and was outscored by Santo Amonti. Then
Amos put together a nice streak beating Roberto Davila twice, Scrap Iron
Johnson and Spencer again. There was an eight round no contest with the
classy Henry Clark and a decision over Billy Daniels. Then there were
two wins over Elmer Rush. Amos was now considered one of the best
heavyweights in the world.
The fortunes of Amos Lincoln would begin to change on October 21, 1966
at New York’s famous Garden when he dropped a ten round duke to Johnny
Persol. Amos came back with two quick wins but then he was again taken
out again by Jimmy Fletcher. Amos was then brought over to Germany where
he was stopped by Karl Mildenberger. Lincoln had now fallen
dramatically in the ratings. He continued to tumble as Thad Spencer was
finally able to beat Amos. ” Big Train ” finally got back in the win
column with a points call over rugged Joey Orbillo in Los Angeles. Amos
returned to Los Angeles to meet Buster Mathis who was on the comeback
trail after a loss to ” Smokin ” Joe Frazier. In a bout the featured
some odd scorecards, Mathis was awarded a split decision. One judge had
it 11-0 for Buster. Another had it 9-1 for Mathis. The third judge had
it 5-4 for Amos. Go figure…
The feared former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston was also forging a
comeback and Amos met him in Baltimore where Sonny stopped him in two.
Amos was then halted by tall Tony Doyle in six. In 1970 power punching
prospect Boone Kirkman got Lincoln out of there in two rounds when they
fought in Seattle. Finally Amos reached the end of the line when he lost
in five rounds to Terry Daniels.
Amos Lincoln finished his career with 56 fights and a fine 39-13-3
record with one no contest. He scored 22 knockouts. Please remember
Lincoln’s record was 3-9 over his last twelve fights. In his prime he
was a fine heavyweight.
Follow www.Ringnews24.com for the latest boxing news, press releases, interviews and fans own articles on twitter @ringnews24
{loadposition boxing}
