Ron Stander, the tough as nails heavyweight contender from Nebraska, died Tuesday of complications due to diabetes, his wife Toddy announced. He was 77 years old.

Stander (37-21-3, 28 knockouts), known as the “Bluffs Butcher” because of his hometown of Council Bluffs, Nebraska, rose to popularity due to his aggressive approach to fighting and everyman appeal out of it. “I’ll fight any living human and most animals, if the price is right,” Stander was quoted as saying.

A former wrestling, football and track athlete, Stander was a hulking man at 5’11” and 220 pounds. He turned professional as a boxer in 1969, stretching his record to 23-1-1 – including a fifth-round knockout of Earnie Shavers – by the time of his biggest fight, a 1972 challenge of then-heavyweight champion Joe Frazier in Omaha.

Stander, a 10-1 underdog, stood toe-to-toe with Frazier, briefly rocking Frazier with a right hand in the first round. Frazier’s superior craft ultimately told the tale, however, as he picked apart Stander, forcing the Nebraskan’s corner to stop the fight after the fourth round.

Stander never regained his previous status as a contender, losing his next bout the following year to John Jordan, and becoming a trialhorse. He suffered defeats to future titleholders Ken Norton and Gerrie Coetzee, among others.

“I wasn’t motivated like I should have been after that. For a few fights I trained, like the Terry Daniels fight (which Stander won by first-round stoppage in 1975). I trained for people I wanted to beat,” Stander told The Sweet Science in 2008.

Stander retired in 1982 after going winless in his final eight bouts,

After boxing, Stander was a bar owner, worked at a manufacturing company and drove a truck. He also refereed a number of boxing fights around the Midwest, working as the third man in fights involving world titleholders Wayne McCullough, Vince Phillips and Clarence “Bones” Adams

Visitation will take place this Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home, located at 1221 N. 16th St. in Council Bluffs, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. the following day at Holy Name Catholic Church in Omaha.

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