Sammy Reeson

Last updated

Sammy Reeson
Born (1963-01-05) 5 January 1963 (age 61)
NationalityBritish
Statistics
Weight(s) Light heavyweight, cruiserweight
Height6 ft 1.5 in (1.867 m)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights26
Wins24
Wins by KO5
Losses2
Draws0

Sammy Reeson (born 5 January 1963) is a British former boxer who was the first to hold both the British and European cruiserweight titles and went on to fight for the WBC world title.

Contents

Career

From Battersea, London, Reeson began his professional career in 1983 and won his first twelve fights before winning his first title, the Southern Area light heavyweight title that he won in January 1985 with a 6th round stoppage of Trevor Cattouse. In October 1985 he fought Stewart Lithgo for the newly introduced British cruiserweight title, winning on points over 12 rounds. [1] He maintained his 100-percent win record until May 1986 when he was stopped in the 4th round by Louis Pergaud.

In April 1987 he met Manfred Jassmann for the chance to become the first EBU cruiserweight champion; Reeson became European champion on a unanimous decision. [2] He successfully defended the title in November that year, beating Luigi Ricci via a 7th-round knockout.

In May 1989 he met Puerto Rican Carlos de León for the WBC cruiserweight title vacated by Evander Holyfield; [3] De Leon stopped Reeson in the 9th round after knocking him down twice — only the second defeat of Reeson's 26-fight career. [4] [5] This proved to be Reeson's final fight.

Related Research Articles

Carlos De León, also known as "Sugar" De Leon, was a Puerto Rican boxer who made history by becoming the first cruiserweight to win the world title twice. Subsequently, he kept breaking his own record for the most times as cruiserweight champion by regaining the title on two further occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield</span> American boxer (born 1962)

Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and was the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the "three belt era", a feat later surpassed by Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk, who became two-weight undisputed champions in the four-belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Spinks</span> American boxer (1953–2021)

Leon Spinks was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. In only his eighth professional fight, he won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a split decision, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Spinks was later stripped of the WBC title for facing Ali in an unapproved rematch seven months later, which he lost by a unanimous decision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrie Sanders</span> South African boxer (1966–2012)

Cornelius Johannes Sanders was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2008. He won the WBO heavyweight title in 2003 after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in two rounds, which was considered one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight boxing history; The Ring magazine named it the Upset of the Year. In 2004, having vacated the WBO title, Sanders faced Wladimir's brother Vitali Klitschko in an unsuccessful challenge for the vacant WBC and Ring heavyweight titles. He also held the WBU heavyweight title from 1997 until 2000 and the South Africa national heavyweight title in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boxing in the 1980s</span> Overview of boxing in the 1980s

Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.

Marvin Camel is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1990. He was the first cruiserweight world champion, having held the WBC title in 1980 and the IBF title from 1983 to 1984.

Dwight Muhammad Qawi is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1978 to 1998. He was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and Ring magazine light heavyweight titles from 1981 to 1983, and the WBA cruiserweight title from 1985 to 1986. Qawi was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Marc Mormeck</span> French professional boxer from Guadeloupe

Jean-Marc Gilbert Mormeck is a French former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He is a two-time unified world cruiserweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC and The Ring world titles twice between 2005 and 2007. He was the first boxer to hold unified cruiserweight title since Evander Holyfield in 1988, and the first fighter to hold The Ring cruiserweight title since Carlos De León in 1987. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's top 10 cruiserweight from 2001 to 2005 and in 2007, and was ranked No.1 in 2003 and 2004. Mormeck also challenged for the unified world heavyweight title in 2012.

Massimiliano Duran is an Italian former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1994. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 1990 to 1991 and the European cruiserweight title from 1993 to 1994. He is also known for being the only fighter in boxing history to earn a shot at, win, and defend a world title with three consecutive disqualification wins.

Alfonso Ratliff is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1989, holding the WBC and The Ring cruiserweight titles in 1985. He was later coaching at the Harvey Boxing Club in Harvey IL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grigory Drozd</span> Russian boxer

Grigory Anatolyevich Drozd is a Russian former professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiserweight title from 2014 to 2016, and the European cruiserweight title from 2013 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mairis Briedis</span> Latvian boxer (born 1985)

Mairis Briedis is a former Latvian professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2024. He was a three-time cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and Ring titles from 2020 to 2022; the WBC title from 2017 to 2018; and the WBO title in 2019. Upon winning the WBC title in 2017, he became the first Latvian to hold a world boxing title. He was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2017.

Roy Smith is a British former boxer who was British cruiserweight champion in 1987.

Taju Akay, known professionally as Tee Jay, was a Ghanaian-born British boxer. After fighting for Ghana at the 1984 Olympic Games he turned professional and went on to become British cruiserweight champion.

Andrew McDonald "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.

Tom Collins is British former boxer who held the British and European light heavyweight titles and fought for three world titles.

Jim McDonnell is a British former boxer who won the European featherweight title and twice fought for World titles at super featherweight.

Lawrence Okolie is a British professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Council (WBC) bridgerweight title since May 2024. Previously, he held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight title from 2021 to 2023. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth title twice between 2018 and 2019; the British title from 2018 to 2019; and the European title in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Carlos De León</span> Boxing match

Evander Holyfield vs. Carlos De León was a professional boxing match contested for the undisputed cruiserweight championship. The bout took place on April 9, 1988 at Caesars Palace in Paradise, Nevada.

Tommy McCarthy is an Irish professional boxer who formerly held the European cruiserweight title. As an amateur he won a bronze medal for Ireland at the 2008 Youth World Championships.

References

  1. "Magri Regains European Crown", Glasgow Herald , 31 October 1985, p. 23. Retrieved 24 February 2015
  2. Boxing News, Vol. 43, No. 18, 1 May 1987
  3. "Results Plus", The New York Times , 18 May 1989. Retrieved 24 February 2015
  4. "Exhausted Reeson Stopped In the Ninth", Glasgow Herald , 18 May 1989, p. 32. Retrieved 24 February 2015
  5. "De Leon Stops Reeson in 9", Sun-Sentinel , 18 May 1989. Retrieved 24 February 2015

Steve Bunce Radio Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYS5rKls8X4 Sammy talks about his life after boxing and why he retired after being stopped in the 9th round of his World Title fight against Carlos De Leon in 1989. He turned to collecting scrap metal for a living and dropped out of the boxing world completely. In 2011, after an accident at work, he had his leg amputated from the knee.