Shuler, Loser to Hearns Last Week, Is Killed in Motorcycle Accident

Middleweight James Shuler, who last week lost the only fight of his boxing career, was killed Thursday evening in a motorcycle accident, police said.

Shuler drove his motorcycle into a tractor-trailer truck in North Philadelphia, police said.

Corp. Lawrence Dejarnette said that Shuler, who was stopped by Thomas Hearns in the first round last week at Las Vegas, died at the scene of massive head wounds.

Shuler, 26, was a silver medalist in the 1979 Pan American games at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and won the national Golden Gloves middleweight title in 1980. He also won the 160-pound Olympic trials in 1980, the year of the U.S.-led boycott of the Games.

Shuler began his boxing career in high school, when he and his brothers stopped in at Joe Frazier’s gym on their way home from a swim meet. Frazier persuaded the boys to come train the next day, and the 6-foot 1-inch Shuler had his first bout seven months later.

Shuler’s record was 22-1 with 16 knockouts.