The Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame has addressed the health and whereabouts of Mark Breland, the former two-time WBA welterweight champion, after several days of speculation about his condition circulated on social media.
In a statement, Hall of Fame founder and president Ray McCline said that he and Jackie Atkins had spoken directly with Breland and his wife, Dana. McCline said Dana has stood by her husband and taken on his care as the couple navigates what he described as a difficult chapter in their lives. The statement did not specify a diagnosis.
According to the statement, Breland’s family asked the boxing community to respect their privacy. McCline wrote that the couple’s request was to keep Breland “in our prayers while granting them the sacred privacy they have earned,” and said the support they had received meant a great deal to them.
Breland, a Brooklyn native, won the welterweight gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and closed his amateur career with a record of 110 wins and one loss, regarded among the most accomplished in the sport’s history. He won five consecutive New York Golden Gloves titles before turning professional in 1984.
He captured the vacant WBA welterweight title in 1987 with a seventh-round stoppage of Harold Volbrecht, lost it in his first defense to Marlon Starling, then regained the belt in 1989 with a first-round knockout of Seung Soon Lee. Breland made four successful defenses before losing the title to Aaron Davis in 1990. He retired in 1997 with a professional record of 35-3-1 with 25 knockouts.
After his fighting career, Breland worked as a trainer, most prominently as a co-trainer for former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. He was inducted into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame in 2024 as part of its eighth class.
