Tim Wood (boxer)

Last updated

Tim Wood
Born(1951-08-10)10 August 1951
Camden Town, London, England
DiedSeptember 2010 (aged 59)
Leicester, England
NationalityBritish
Statistics
Weight(s) Heavyweight, light heavyweight
Boxing record
Total fights31
Wins19
Wins by KO7
Losses11
Draws1

Tim Wood (10 August 1951 – September 2010) was a British boxer who was British light heavyweight champion between 1976 and 1977.

Contents

Early life

Born in Camden Town, in North London, Wood moved with his family to Leicester when he was 14, and joined Belgrave Amateur Boxing Club. [1] [2]

Boxing career

Wood was a successful amateur boxer, winning the ABA heavyweight title in 1972. [1] He wasn't selected for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, which led to a media campaign against the decision. [1]

He turned professional and was trained by his father Arthur and Jim Knight in the gym at the Jolly Angler pub on Wharf Street in Leicester, and was managed by Johnny Griffin and later Carl Gunns. [1] From his first nine pro fights Wood win eight and drew one. In January 1974 he met Les Stevens for the vacant BBBofC Southern Area heavyweight title, suffering his first professional defeat on points. Defeats to Eddie Neilson and Richard Dunn followed.

Griffin saw Wood as a better prospect at light heavyweight and encouraged him to slim down to that weight. [1] Wood won his first four fights of 1975, including wins over Victor Attivor and Baby Boy Rolle, before losing in a final eliminator for the British light heavyweight title to Roy John by only half a point. He beat Johnny Wall in February 1976 to take the Southern Area light heavyweight title, and two months later faced Phil Martin for the vacant British title. Wood won narrowly on points to become British champion. [1] Wood lost his title in March 1977 when he was knocked out in the first round by Bunny Johnson. [1]

Wood continued to fight until 1979 but never fought for another title.

Death

Tim Wood died in September 2010 after suffering a heart attack at the age of 59. [1] He was survived by his widow Maureen and four children. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Spinks</span> American boxer (born 1956)

Michael Spinks is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal heavyweight title from 1985 to 1988. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Víctor Emilio Galíndez was an Argentine boxer who was the third Latin American to win the world Light Heavyweight championship, after Puerto Rico's José Torres and Venezuela's Vicente Rondon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Witherspoon</span> American boxer

Tim Witherspoon is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. He beat Heavyweight World Champions Greg Page, James Smith, Tony Tubbs, Frank Bruno and Cruiserweight World Champions Alfonzo Ratliff and Al Cole. He is best known for his fight against undefeated Heavyweight World Champion Larry Holmes in which he lost by Split decision. Witherspoon also worked as a regular sparring partner for Muhammad Ali.

Donald John Cockell was an English boxer. He fought for most of his career as a light-heavyweight and became the British and European champion at that weight. Later in his career he moved up to heavyweight and held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. He is best remembered for fighting against Rocky Marciano for the world heavyweight championship. Cockell defeated a number of top heavyweights in his career, including Roland La Starza, Harry Matthews, Tommy Farr, Freddie Beshore, Johnny Arthur, Johnny Williams and Uber Bacilieri. In his earlier incarnation as a Light Heavyweight he defeated top contenders such as Nick Barone, Albert Yvel, Lloyd Marshall and Albert Finch, holding regional titles in both weight incarnations.

Greg Page was an American professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2001, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1984 to 1985. He was also a regular sparring partner for Mike Tyson, famously knocking down the then-undefeated world champion during a 1990 session.

Mike McCallum is a Jamaican former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1997. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA super welterweight title from 1984 to 1988, the WBA middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and the WBC light heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Johnson (boxer)</span> Jamaican boxer

Glengoffe Donovan Bartholomew Johnson is a Jamaican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2015. He held the IBF, IBO and Ring magazine light heavyweight titles between 2004 and 2005, and challenged once each for world titles at middleweight and super middleweight.

Montell Julian Griffin is an American former professional boxer. He held the WBC light heavyweight title in 1997 and challenged twice for a world title.

Joseph Erskine was a heavyweight boxer from the Butetown district of Cardiff, Wales. He was an Amateur Boxing Association Champion, Inter-Services Champion, and British Army Champion in 1953. He began fighting as a professional in 1954 and was trained by Freddie Elvin. He held the British heavyweight title from August 1956 to June 1958. In all, he won 45 of his 54 professional bouts, losing 8, with one drawn. His best wins were against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Dick Richardson, Uli Ritter, Jack Bodell, Johnny Williams, Joe Bygraves, and Willie Pastrano.

Carmel Magri, who boxed under the name Charlie Magri, is a British former professional boxer. He is from a Tunisian family that settled in Mile End, London, where he grew up. During his professional career he held the WBC and lineal flyweight titles.

<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.

Richard Alexander Richardson was a heavyweight boxer from the Maesglas area of Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He held the European heavyweight title from March 1960 to June 1962. In all, he won 31 of his 47 professional bouts, losing 14, with two drawn. He was one of a quartet of British heavyweights in the 1950s and early 1960s, along with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine and Brian London, who held out the possibility of a challenging for a heavyweight world champion.

Pat Thomas was a Light-middleweight boxer, originally from Saint Kitts and Nevis, who took British citizenship and won two British boxing titles in the 1970s and 80s. After leaving Saint Kitts, Thomas settled in Cardiff in Wales, and is recognised as a Welsh fighter taking the Welsh light middleweight Championship in 1977.

<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.

Ali Forbes is British former boxer who was British super middleweight champion in 1995 and fought for the World Boxing Federation light heavyweight world title in 2000.

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

Pat McCormack was a boxer who won the British light welterweight title in 1974.

Jermaine Robert Asare is a Welsh professional boxer. He represented Great Britain at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, winning a bronze medal. He turned professional in 2013 and unsuccessfully challenged for the Welsh light-heavyweight title in 2017, suffering a defeat to Nathan Thorley.

Julius Luipa was a Zambian boxer who won two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and represented Zambia at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games. One of Zambia's best amateur boxers, he was the country's Sportsman of the Year in 1970 and when he turned professional four years later, he defeated George Chisenga to become Zambian light heavyweight champion and held the title until he was dethroned by Lottie Mwale in 1977.

Ngozika Ekwelum is a Nigerian former heavyweight boxer, who held the Nigerian and African Boxing Union heavyweight titles in the 1970s and 1980s.

References