Leo Nolan (born August 18, 1972) is an American former professional boxer.
Nolan was born and raised in Detroit. [1] As a junior he boxed for Kronk Gym for three years. [1] He turned professional in 1992, winning his first five pro fights before his career was interrupted in 1996 after he was convicted of being an accomplice in a robbery of an off-duty police officer and sentenced to five years in prison. [1] He was also shot five times in the incident. [1] He was released in 2000, and after being out of boxing for almost eight years, returned to the ring in 2001. [1] By 2007, Nolan had won all of his 26 professional fights. [1] Past opponents include Lou Savarese, Jeremy Bates, and Andy Sample, [1] and he has won the IBU intercontinental Heavyweight title and the IBA Americas Heavyweight Title. [2] He suffered his first defeat to unheralded heavyweight Hector Ferreyro in 2007. [1]
His career was interrupted again in June 2009 when he was shot in the neck during an attempted car-jacking. [3]
He was stopped for the first time in his professional career in December 2009 by Alexander Povetkin, his second defeat from 29 professional fights. [4]
Andrzej Jan Gołota, best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title, and as an amateur won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympics. Despite his accomplishments and more than 40 professional wins, Golota is perhaps best known for twice being disqualified against Riddick Bowe for repeated low blows in fights that Golota was winning. On October 4, 1997, he became the first Pole to challenge for a heavyweight boxing crown when he fought WBC champion Lennox Lewis at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. He had a bout with Mike Tyson in 2000, which he first withdrew from, but afterward was ruled no-contest. In November 2016, Golota was inducted into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame.
Hasim Sharif Rahman is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2014. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBC, IBF, IBO and lineal titles in 2001; and the WBC title again from 2005 to 2006. He was ranked as a top 10 heavyweight by BoxRec from 2000 to 2007, and reached his highest ranking of world No.6 in 2000.
Wladimir Klitschko is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships between 2000 and 2015, including unified titles between 2008 and 2015. During this time he also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) and Ring magazine titles.
Alexander Vladimirovich "Sasha" Povetkin is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2021. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title from 2011 to 2013; the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2020 to 2021; and challenged twice for the unified heavyweight championship in 2013 and 2018.
Christopher Cornelius Byrd is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2009. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having first won the WBO title in 2000 after an upset corner stoppage over then-undefeated Vitali Klitschko. In his first title defense later that year, he lost to Vitali's brother Wladimir Klitschko. In 2002, Byrd defeated Evander Holyfield to win the IBF heavyweight title for his second reign as world champion. He made four successful defenses until losing his title again to Wladimir Klitschko in a 2006 rematch. He was ranked by BoxRec in the world's top 10 heavyweight from 1998 to 2004, reaching his highest ranking of No.3 in 2000.
Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev ; born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbekistani former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2016. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title twice and was the first Asian boxer to win a world heavyweight title by any of the four major sanctioning bodies. He was ranked as a top 10 heavyweight or contender by The Ring magazine at the conclusion of each year between 2006 and 2015; at the end of 2008 he was ranked third, only behind the Klitschko brothers.
Chad Dawson is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2019. He held multiple world championships at light heavyweight, and was one of the most highly regarded boxers in that weight class between 2006 and 2013.
Bermane Stiverne is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2014 to 2015.
Cristobal Arreola is an American former professional boxer who challenged three times for the WBC heavyweight title. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's No.8 heavyweight at the conclusion of 2007 and as No.7 heavyweight from 2008 to 2010.
Edward Chambers is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for a unified world heavyweight title in 2010. He was ranked as the fourth best heavyweight in the world by The Ring at the conclusion of 2009. A defensively-oriented fighter, Chambers has been widely credited for his counterpunching skills and particularly praised for his hand speed and footwork. He has also been one of the first heavyweights with ability to switch between fighting orthodox and southpaw.
Deontay Leshun Wilder is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion since 2007, which was the longest period of time in boxing history without an American heavyweight champion.
Michael Hunter, Jr. is an American professional boxer who challenged for the WBO junior heavyweight title in 2017. As an amateur, he won the National Championships as a super heavyweight in 2007 and 2009, and qualified for the 2012 Olympics in the heavyweight division. He is the son of late professional boxer Mike "the Bounty" Hunter.
David Price is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2019. At regional level, he held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2012 to 2013; and challenged once for the European title in 2015. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics; gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2008 EU Championships; and three ABA titles; all in the super-heavyweight division.
Muamer Hukić, best known as Marco Huck, is a Bosniak German professional boxer. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2015, and is the joint-longest reigning cruiserweight world champion of all time, having made thirteen consecutive successful defenses, a division record shared with Johnny Nelson. Huck also held the IBO cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017, the European cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2009, and has challenged once for the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title in 2012.
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua is a British professional boxer. He held the unified world heavyweight championship twice between 2016 and 2021. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016.
Mahmoud Omeirat Charr, previously known as Manuel Charr, is a Syrian-German professional boxer. He was awarded the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title in 2023. He held the same title from 2017 to 2021.
Hughie Lewis Fury is a British professional boxer. He challenged once for the World Boxing Organization (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.
Dillian Whyte is a British professional boxer who has formerly competed as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He has held the WBC interim heavyweight title twice between 2019 and 2022. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British title from 2016 to 2017. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's fifth-best active heavyweight by The Ring magazine, and the fourth-best active heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec. He has been ranked among BoxRec's top 10 heavyweights since 2016, reaching his career-high ranking of No. 2 at the end of August 2021.
Johann Duhaupas is a French professional boxer who challenged for the WBC heavyweight title in 2015. At regional level he has held multiple heavyweight titles, including the European Union title from 2013 to 2014.
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman, billed as "X-Plosive", was a professional boxing match contested on 13 December 2008 for the IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championship.