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The preaching pugilist: Former pro heavyweight boxer recently ordained at Cleveland church

Even as a professional boxer, Adam Sutton says he felt God's hand at work and the need to reach out to others. He hasn't boxed professionally in more than a decade and was recently ordained at Cleveland Community Chapel. Inset above is a shadowbox of Sutton's boxing memorabilia.
Even as a professional boxer, Adam Sutton says he felt God's hand at work and the need to reach out to others. He hasn't boxed professionally in more than a decade and was recently ordained at Cleveland Community Chapel. Inset above is a shadowbox of Sutton's boxing memorabilia. Even as a professional boxer, Adam Sutton says he felt God's hand at work and the need to reach out to others. He hasn't boxed professionally in more than a decade and was recently ordained at Cleveland Community Chapel. Inset above is a shadowbox of Sutton's boxing memorabilia.

By Casey Phillips 7 min read

Win/loss record

* June 20, 2003 — vs. Danny Wofford in East Ridge (win)* May 10, 2002 — vs. Leonard Long in Ringgold, Ga. (win)* April 2, 1999 — vs. Isaac Brown in Chattanooga (win)* Dec. 4, 1996 — vs. Frank Wood in Nashville (loss)* Sept. 25, 1996 — vs. Mark Bradley in Louisville, Ky. (loss)* Sept. 9, 1995 — vs. Eric “Butterbean” Esch in Las Vegas (loss)* June 8, 1995 — vs. Chad Ragin in Las Vegas (loss)* June 1, 1995 — vs. Tim Ray in Louisville, Ky. (win)* April 18, 1995 — vs. Derrick Banks in Las Vegas (loss)* March 18, 1995 — vs. Leroy Ezell in Louisville, Ky. (win)* March 16, 1994 — vs. Rick Cloer in Forest City, N.C. (win)* Oct. 22, 1993 — vs. Tony Bradham in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (loss)* Sept. 14, 1993 — vs. Ray Sanchez in Decatur, Ga. (win)Source: Boxrec.com.

Plenty of people sing in the shower or rehearse speeches in front of a mirror, so perhaps the circumstances in which Adam Sutton finally accepted that God wanted him to be a minister really aren’t all that unusual.

“I was in Volkswagen working, and the first sermon I preached was to the car parts,” the 40-year-old Cleveland, Tenn., native says. “These sermon ideas I’ve had over the years just started coming and flowing out.”

Since September, he has preached monthly during Sunday services at the Cleveland Community Chapel, a small church tucked into a wooded notch off State Route 2.

A former pro heavyweight boxer with the lingering broad bulk to prove it, Sutton can lay claim to bragging rights as the first man to knock Eric “Butterbean” Esch off his hocks during a 1995 bout at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He now works at the Enterprise South VW plant, making sure the right parts make it to the assembly line in the proper order.