Slaying suspect had background as a rising boxer

Levon T. Warner was once a rising heavyweight who fought at the Legendary Blue Horizon and knocked out a future top-10 contender.

But his career was interrupted for more than a decade by a stint in prison for robbery.

After he returned to boxing in 2006, he fought only six bouts before his trainer advised him to retire.

Warner is now charged with murder in the Saturday-morning shooting death of a Philadelphia police sergeant. Police say he is one of at least three men who robbed a Bank of America branch in Port Richmond just before the officer was killed.

Warner was arrested Saturday when he approached police soon after the robbery and said his Chrysler Town and Country van had been stolen. The police had found a van matching Warner's description at 500 E. Louden St. with a loaded .44 caliber revolver, two sets of Muslim-style clothing, and $38,000 in cash inside.

A security camera caught two robbers disguising themselves with Muslim garb, police said. Police quickly disproved Warner's claim and arrested him.

Don Elbaum, the matchmaker for Warner's final fight, was stunned to hear of his arrest.

"It's horrible," he said. "I'm just sick about it."

Warner had been on the professional circuit since 1993. He won six fights, lost five and tied two.

The highlight of his career was his fifth fight, against Terrence Lewis, a heavyweight contender later ranked in the top 10, Elbaum said. Lewis was 3-0 at the time, and Warner took him down in four rounds, scoring the only knockout of his career, according to Elbaum.

After his seventh bout in November 1995, Warner disappeared from the circuit, recalled Russell Peltz, president of Peltz Boxing Promotions Inc. He did not fight again until May 2006.

During that time, Warner pleaded guilty in Philadelphia to charges of robbery, criminal conspiracy, and possession of an instrument of a crime. In 1997, he was sentenced to 7½ years to 15 years in prison on the robbery charge, 5 to 10 years on the conspiracy charge, and one to five years on the possession charge, according to court records.

When Warner returned to boxing in 2006, he hooked up with Sloan Harrison, a trainer at Kingsessing Recreation Center in Philadelphia.

He fought six more times. His final match was with the promising heavyweight Joey Abell at the Legendary Blue Horizon in September, where Warner was pummeled and knocked out in the first round. Warner received $4,000 for the fight, Elbaum said.

"He could not support himself on this," Elbaum said. "He was what you call a good trial horse. He was a good opponent for up-and-coming fighters."

When Abell knocked Warner out in the fall, Harrison told him it was time to retire.

"If I see a guy getting hit, taking shots, you know, I retire him," he said yesterday.

Harrison said he thought Warner worked in construction, and he said Warner had called him a week ago asking about a fight. Harrison was tied up on another call and said he never got back to Warner.

Elbaum said he knew nothing about Warner's criminal past but added that in boxing, no one goes looking for that information. It frustrated him that Warner's arrest was another black eye for boxing, he said.

"I said, 'God damn it, it had to be a fighter,' " he said.