He lost his 13th fight to unbeaten Owen Beck but that remained his only blemish on his record for a while in that he beat the likes of Israel Garcia (record 10-0), Charles Hatcher (15-2), Talmadge Griffis (21-1-3) and Sherman Williams to climb up the ladder.
He drew with former Cruiser title holder Imamu Mayfield then beat Jovo Pudar (21-1) and even fringe contender Friday Ahunanya (20-2-1) in 2005.
Undefeated KO artist Samuel Peter was the first to knock him out but lightly regarded southpaw Derek Bryant (18-4-1) also scored a TKO effectively ending any hopes of becoming a contender.
Former two-time heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman beat him in a 10-round decision.
He was knocked out by IBF #1 contender Alexander Povetkin in Moscow on July 19, 2008.