Trevor Berbick was by no means a saint; his out-of-the-ring exploits proved quite disturbing. However, the man who briefly reigned as the WBC heavyweight champion met his end on saintly ground. It was twenty years ago today when the butchered body of 52-year-old Berbick was found, the former champion who shared a ring with three huge names, Muhammad Ali (a badly faded version), Larry Holmes, and Mike Tyson, being murdered on the grounds of his own church.

Berbick, who had been out drinking and was attempting to stagger home, was attacked by two assailants who proceeded to batter him over the back of the head with a heavy steel pipe and a machete. The Jamaican had, it was later revealed, been killed by his own nephew, Harold Berbick, who was assisted in the gruesome attack by Kenton Gordon. Berbick’s nephew was just 20 years of age, while Gordon was even younger at age 18. Berbick was killed over a land dispute, his nephew insisting his uncle owed him rights to some property as well as land.

Berbick’s death made the news; this was the first time in a while the former champ had been written about. UK publication Boxing Monthly ran a photo of the deceased Berbick, the damage to his skull apparent. The decision to run the picture was heavily criticized by some.

Berbick, who had been in and out of jail prior to his untimely death, was, some reports suggested, legally insane. “I have no age. I am a spirit,” Berbick once said of himself. After a blood clot was detected during brain scan, a 40 year old Berbick was forced to retire, this in 2000, after he had picked up a points win over Shane Sutcliffe. Prior to this, in 1992, Berbick was jailed for allegedly raping the babysitter of his children. Berbick, who became a preacher, always maintained his innocence. After being released from jail after serving 15 months, Berbick again fell foul of the law, this time for assaulting his former business manager. Deported from the US, Berbick attempted to rebuild his life in Canada.

Later, Berbick returned to his native Jamaica, where he would meet his violent end. Larry Holmes chillingly said that “God don’t like ugly,” when he heard about his former title challenger’s death. Berbick went the full 15 rounds with a peak Holmes in April of 1981, this eight months before Berbick defeated a badly deteriorated Ali. Years later, in 1991, as Holmes was busy launching another comeback, Berbick made the headlines when Holmes quite literally jumped off a limousine to drop-kick the man who had been speaking offensively about him to the gathered media. The clip of the bizarre episode still gets regular views on YouTube.

It is, though, the Tyson fight that fans immediately think of whenever Berbick’s name is mentioned. In November of 1986, a rampaging Tyson knocked Berbick silly inside a couple of rounds, Berbick famously going down three times from one punch in round two. Shockingly, Berbick later claimed he had been both drugged by poison gas and hypnotized before the fight, with him trying to tell anyone who would listen that the wicked punch that turned his legs to jelly had actually missed. Berbick’s mental state at this time was indeed disturbing.

Again, Berbick was no saint, and he made some crazy mistakes during his relatively short life. Still, no person deserves to be battered to death the way he was, with zero chance of defending himself. Some of the people who knew Berbick said at the time of his death that he was “a good person,” but that he “went down a slippery slope” after being humiliated by Tyson.

Berbick, who boxed at the 1976 Olympics, fought as a pro from September of 1976 to May of 2000, his final record reading 49-11-1 with 33 knockouts. Only Bernardo Mercado and Tyson ever stopped him.

Harold Berbick was sentenced to life in prison. Kenton Gordon was sentenced to 14 years in prison.