Gordon Ferris

Last updated

Gordon Ferris
Statistics
Weight(s) Heavyweight
NationalityBritish, Irish
Born(1952-11-21)21 November 1952
Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
Boxing record
Total fights26
Wins20
Wins by KO11
Losses6
Draws0

Gordon Ferris (born 21 November 1952) is Northern Irish former heavyweight boxer who was both Irish and British champion in the early 1980s.

Career

Born in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, and a lock-keeper by trade, [1] Ferris had a distinguished amateur career, winning a bronze medal at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and five Irish amateur titles. [2] [3]

After missing out on selection for the 1976 Olympic Games, Ferris took the decision to turn professional and made his pro debut in December 1977 with a win over Keith Steve Johnson. He won 14 of his first 18 pro fights, leading to a final eliminator for the British heavyweight title in September 1980 against Tommy Kiely, with the Irish and Northern Ireland Area titles also at stake; He won on points over 12 rounds, leading to a fight with Billy Aird for the vacant British title. He won by a 15-round points decision to become British champion. [1] [4] He lost the title in his first defence, against Neville Meade in October 1981, losing by a first-round knockout. [1] He attempted to get another shot at the title but was beaten in a final eliminator in June 1982 by David Pearce, after which he retired from boxing. [2]

He subsequently ran pubs in Gloucester and Stoke-on-Trent. [2]

Related Research Articles

Daniel Peter Williams is a British professional boxer. He has challenged once for the WBC and the Ring magazine heavyweight titles in 2004. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Commonwealth title twice between 1999 and 2006; the British title twice between 2000 and 2010; and challenged once for the European title in 2003. As an amateur, he won bronze medals at the 1993 European Championships and 1994 Commonwealth Games. Williams is best known for scoring an upset knockout victory against Mike Tyson in 2004.

Michael Sprott is a British former professional boxer. He held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles in 2004 and the EBU European Union heavyweight title twice between 2005 and 2007. He was the winner of the 14th Prizefighter series.

Hugh Russell was a Northern Irish professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1985. He held the British bantamweight title in 1983, and the British flyweight title from 1984 to 1985. As an amateur, he won bronze medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 1980 Summer Olympics, both in the flyweight division.

Aleksandr Vyacheslavovich Alekseyev is a professional cruiserweight boxer from Russia.

Darren Corbett, nicknamed Raging Bull, is a Northern Irish professional boxer. Corbett's weight fluctuated significantly throughout his career and although he had some fights at both heavyweight and light-heavyweight, the bulk of his contests and his success came at cruiserweight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Finnegan</span> English boxer

Chris Finnegan MBE was a British professional boxer of Irish descent born in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhilei Zhang</span> Chinese boxer (born 1983)

Zhilei Zhang is a Chinese professional boxer who has held the WBO interim heavyweight title since April 2023. As an amateur, he won bronze medals at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships, and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, all in the super-heavyweight division. As of September 2023, Zhang is ranked as the world's fourth-best active heavyweight by The Ring.

Callum Paul Johnson is a former British professional boxer who challenged once for the IBF light-heavyweight title in 2018. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth light-heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018 and the British light-heavyweight title in 2018. As an amateur, he won a gold medal whilst representing Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Joseph Ward is an Irish professional boxer. As an amateur, he won gold medals at the 2011, 2015 and 2017 European Championships, silver at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships and bronze at the 2013 edition, and represented Ireland at the 2016 Olympics, in the light-heavyweight division

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neville Meade</span> British boxer

Neville Meade was a British boxer from Swansea. Born in Montserrat, he moved to Wales at the age of nine. He rose to prominence when he won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand. He turned professional in 1974 and won the Welsh Heavyweight title in 1976 and then followed this with the British title in 1981. He retired in 1983 after a failed defence of his British title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Yoka</span> French boxer

Anthony Victor James Yoka is a French professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2015 European Games; and gold at the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Conlan (boxer)</span> Irish boxer

Michael John Conlan is an Irish professional boxer. He challenged for the IBF featherweight title in 2023 and the WBA (Regular) featherweight title in 2022. As an amateur, he reached number one in the AIBA bantamweight world rankings, with achievements that include a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and gold at the 2015 World Championships. He has been one of Ireland's most successful amateur fighters of all time. He turned professional in 2016 after misgivings with the amateur sport, and had his first bout in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hughie Fury</span> British boxer

Hughie Lewis Fury is a British professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO heavyweight title in 2017 and at regional level held the British heavyweight title in 2018. As an amateur he represented England at the 2012 Youth World Championships, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division and becoming the first British boxer to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Light (boxer)</span> New Zealand amateur boxer

David Light is a New Zealand professional boxer. As an amateur, he competed in the men's heavyweight division at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where he won the silver medal against Canada's Samir El-Mais. Professionally, Light is a former WBO World Crusierweight title contender, where he fought Lawrence Okolie in March 2023.

Trevor "Hughroy" Currie was a Jamaican-born British heavyweight boxer who was the British heavyweight champion between 1985 and 1986. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Hughroy, also known as Trevor, went to West Greenwich Secondary School, Blackheath Road, Greenwich, after coming to London with his family. He joined Catford and Lewisham Boxing Club and had his first professional fight in February 1981, a win over Mick Chmilowskyi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Cordina</span> Welsh boxer

Joe Cordina is a Welsh professional boxer. He is a two-time super-featherweight world champion, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title since April 2023 and previously in 2022. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth lightweight titles between 2018 and 2019. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and gold at the 2015 European Championships, both in the lightweight division. He also represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Andy Straughn is a British former boxer who won three consecutive ABA titles, represented the UK at the 1980 Summer Olympics and went on to a professional career which included winning the British cruiserweight title.

Tim Wood was a British boxer who was British light heavyweight champion between 1976 and 1977.

David "Davy" Larmour is a former boxer from Northern Ireland who as an amateur won a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1974 and competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and as a professional won the British bantamweight title in 1983.

Uaine Fa Junior is a New Zealand professional boxer. As an amateur he represented Tonga at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division; he also represented Tonga at the Oceania Championships, winning gold and multiple silver medals. His knockout-to-win percentage stands at 53%.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jack Magowan: Great Irish heavyweights are few and far between", Belfast Telegraph , 6 December 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2014
  2. 1 2 3 "'Boxing stopped me going off the rails' Archived 2014-09-28 at archive.today ", The Impartial Reporter , 22 October 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2014
  3. "Boxing", gbrathletics.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014
  4. "Ferris the New Champion Heavy", Glasgow Herald , 31 March 1981, p. 28. Retrieved 28 September 2014