Lloyd Honeyghan
Lloyd Honeyghan | |
---|---|
Honeyghan (right) with Errol Christie | |
Statistics | |
Nickname(s) | Ragamuffin Man |
Weight(s) | |
Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
Reach | 69 in (175 cm) |
Nationality | British |
Born |
Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica | 22 April 1960
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 48 |
Wins | 43 |
Wins by KO | 30 |
Losses | 5 |
Lloyd Honeyghan (born 22 April 1960) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1995. He reigned as the undisputed welterweight champion from 1986 to 1987, and held the WBC, Ring magazine, and lineal welterweight titles twice between 1986 and 1989. At regional level he held the European, British, and Commonwealth welterweight titles between 1983 and 1985, as well as the Commonwealth light-middleweight title from 1993 to 1994.
Early life and amateur career
Honeyghan was born in Jamaica and spent his early years in that country.[1] He came to England at the age of nine to join his parents who had settled in Bermondsey. He took up boxing at the age of 11 with the Fisher Amateur Boxing club. He was a good, rather than an outstanding amateur boxer. He boxed for England but never won an ABA title being beaten in the English semi-finals by Joey Frost in 1979.
Professional career
Honeyghan turned professional with Terry Lawless in 1980. He debuted with a six-round points victory over fellow novice Mike Sullivan. He won his first 13 fights, including a victory over the tough Kostas Petrou. Before positioning himself for an eliminator against the capable Lloyd Hibbert for the British Welterweight Title on 18 January 1983. Honeyghan outpointed the future British Junior Middleweight Champion over 10 rounds. He followed this by capturing the Southern Area Welterweight Title with a fourth-round KO over the dangerous Sid Smith in March 1983.
British welterweight champion
Honeyghan captured the British Title by 12-round decision against the tough Cliff Gilpin on 5 April 1983, after suffering the first knockdown of his career in the second round. Honeyghan later stated that Gilpin gave him one of his hardest fights.
He remained busy throughout 1983, travelling to the United States to defeat Kevin Austin, then outpointing American contender Harold Brazier in London before rounding off the year with a clear points victory in a British Title rematch with Cliff Gilpin.
In 1984 Honeyghan fought only once, defeating Roberto Mendez. He suffered a serious hand injury and had to have a pin inserted into his hand to keep the bone in place.
European welterweight champion
On 5 January 1985 he captured the European Welterweight Title with a highly impressive third-round knockout of future two time World Junior Middleweight Champion Gianfranco Rosi in Perugia, Italy. Honeyghan kept extremely busy during 1985, defeating three American contenders in world title challenger Roger Stafford, followed by Danny Paul and Ralph Twinning.
Honeyghan and Lawless parted company because Honeyghan believed that Lawless was spending too much time on the career of Frank Bruno and not enough on his career. He signed with Mickey Duff and Honeyghan closed out 1985 with a stoppage victory over fellow world rated Briton and former stable-mate Sylvester Mittee for the European, British and Commonwealth titles.
On 20 May 1986 Honeyghan stopped top American contender Horace Shufford in eight rounds in London, earning him a title shot against the unbeaten and undisputed World Welterweight Champion Donald Curry of the United States.
Undisputed welterweight champion
At the time Curry was considered the best pound for pound fighter in the world and Honeyghan was given little chance by the majority of the media. He caused a major upset by dominating the fight, nearly dropping Curry in the second round, before Curry retired at the end of round six. At the press conference before the fight Curry had dismissed his little known and lightly taken British opponent, asking "Who is this ragamuffin?". Honeyghan thereafter adopted the title "Raggamuffin" or "Raggamuffin Man" with relish. Embracing his Jamaican heritage where a Raggamuffin is someone who follows 'Ragga' a kind of reggae dancehall rap music.
The fight had taken place one night after another "expert shocker", when Edwin Rosario knocked out Livingstone Bramble in two rounds to claim the WBA lightweight title, and one week after Honeyghan's win, Ring Magazine mentioned his victory on their "Weekend of shockers!" issue's cover. (Rosario's photo was featured on the cover of that issue).
WBA title vacated
Honeyghan disagreed with the WBA's rules that allowed fights to take place in apartheid South Africa, so he publicly and controversially dumped the WBA welterweight belt into a London trash bin soon after winning it, relinquishing the title rather than defending it against South African Harold Volbrecht. This move would prove significant, as soon after, the WBA stopped sanctioning fights held in South Africa.
Continued title defences
After winning the world title he changed his boxer-puncher style to that of more of an out-and-out slugger. In his first defence, after dominating and flooring his opponent in the first round. He caused controversy by (legally at that time) racing across the ring and hitting his opponent, former World light welterweight champion Johnny Bumphus as soon as the bell sounded to start the second round. Bumphus was given time to recover but the fight had been knocked out of him and he did not last much longer. Asked why he had done this Honeyghan stated "The bell went ding and I went dong." The rules were changed following this incident so that at the beginning of each round the referee stands in the middle of the ring. Instead of in a neutral corner, as it had previously been, to prevent punches being thrown until both fighters are ready. In his second defence of the title, Honeyghan defeated the then unbeaten future World Champion Maurice Blocker on points. He became a crowd pleaser with his all action style of fighting and recorded one of the fastest wins in a world title fight with a 45 second blow-out of former light welterweight champion Gene Hatcher of the United States.
Losing the titles
He controversially lost his title to Jorge Vaca in 1987 when a clash of heads meant that the fight had to be stopped due to a cut sustained by Vaca. The scorecards at the time of the stoppage favoured Vaca. Honeyghan became only the second British boxer in history to regain a world title when he knocked Vaca out in a return fight in the third round, the first being Ted "Kid" Lewis earlier in the 20th century. In the post fight press conference Honeyghan expressed his views on Mickey Duff, stating "Mickey and I don't mix outside of boxing, He looks at me as a pawn, a commodity. I don't like him." This elicited a memorable response from Duff who stated "Fortunately, there is nothing in our contract that says we have to like each other."
Honeyghan next defended against tough South Korean Yung-Kil Chung, halting him in five rounds in July 1988 when the Korean refused to get up after being hit with an accidental low blow. In February 1989 Honeyghan lost his title to former Don Curry victim and arch-rival Marlon Starling. There was bad blood between the two fighters and Honeyghan boxed wildly against the defensively excellent Starling. He was stopped in the ninth round after taking heavy punishment throughout the fight. Honeyghan returned later in the year, labouring to a points decision over Delfino Marin in the USA, however he appeared to be a fading force.
He had to apologise to the WBA for his previous actions in order to fight for the WBA title in 1990 against Mark Breland. By this time Honeyghan was past his best and was stopped by Breland in three rounds after being knocked down six times. Honeyghan had to lose weight on the day of the fight and the effects of this and the beating he had taken against Starling contributed to his poor performance.
Later career at light-middleweight
In 1991, he resumed his career at light-middleweight having outgrown the Welterweight division. During 1991 and 1992 he won six consecutive fights against relatively modest opposition in Mario Olmedo, John Welters, Darryl Anthony, Alfredo Ramirez, Mickey Duncan and Carlo Colarusso. In early 1993 he was still good enough to win the Commonwealth title at light-middleweight by defeating the useful Mickey Hughes, however in June of that year he was stopped in 10 rounds by former world champion Vinny Pazienza in a contest made at middleweight. Victories over Steve Goodwin and in 1994 Kevin Adamson followed, with Honeyghan retaining the Commonwealth Title in the latter fight. He did not fight for another year and retired after he was stopped in a bout by fellow Briton Adrian Dodson in three rounds in 1995, on the same bill as Benn v McClellan.
Doping allegations
Lloyd Honeyghan always had trouble with his hands and tested positive for a painkilling drug after his fight against Marlon Starling. He was fined $1,500 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.[2][3]
Professional boxing record
Professional record summary | ||
48 fights | 43 wins | 5 losses |
By knockout | 30 | 4 |
By decision | 13 | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
48 | Loss | 43–5 | Adrian Dodson | TKO | 3 (10), 2:24 | 25 Feb 1995 | London Arena, London, England | |
47 | Win | 43–4 | Kevin Adamson | TKO | 6 (12) | 26 Feb 1994 | Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, England | Retained Commonwealth light-middleweight title |
46 | Win | 42–4 | Steve Goodwin | KO | 6 (10) | 2 Nov 1993 | Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, England | |
45 | Loss | 41–4 | Vinny Pazienza | TKO | 10 (12), 0:56 | 26 Jun 1993 | Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
44 | Win | 41–3 | Mickey Hughes | TKO | 5 (12), 1:00 | 30 Jan 1993 | International Centre, Brentwood, England | Won Commonwealth light-middleweight title |
43 | Win | 40–3 | Carlo Colarusso | KO | 6 (10) | 28 Oct 1992 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
42 | Win | 39–3 | Mickey Duncan | RTD | 2 (10), 3:00 | 13 May 1992 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
41 | Win | 38–3 | Alfredo Ramirez | PTS | 8 | 22 Apr 1992 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
40 | Win | 37–3 | Darryl Anthony | KO | 2 (10) | 8 May 1991 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
39 | Win | 36–3 | John Welters | KO | 1 (10) | 12 Feb 1991 | Festival Hall, Basildon, England | |
38 | Win | 35–3 | Mario Olmedo | TKO | 4 (10) | 10 Jan 1991 | Latchmere Leisure Centre, London, England | |
37 | Loss | 34–3 | Mark Breland | TKO | 3 (12) | 3 Mar 1990 | Wembley Arena, London, England | For WBA welterweight title |
36 | Win | 34–2 | Delfino Marin | UD | 10 | 24 Aug 1989 | Hyatt Regency, Tampa, Florida, US | |
35 | Loss | 33–2 | Marlon Starling | TKO | 9 (12), 1:19 | 4 Feb 1989 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, US | Lost WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles |
34 | Win | 33–1 | Yung-Kil Chung | TKO | 5 (12), 0:42 | 29 Jul 1988 | Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | Retained WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles |
33 | Win | 32–1 | Jorge Vaca | KO | 3 (12), 2:58 | 29 Mar 1988 | Wembley Arena, London, England | Won WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles |
32 | Loss | 31–1 | Jorge Vaca | TD | 8 (12) | 28 Oct 1987 | Wembley Conference Centre, London, England | Lost WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles; Split TD after Vaca was cut from an accidental head clash |
31 | Win | 31–0 | Gene Hatcher | TKO | 1 (12), 0:45 | 30 Aug 1987 | Plaza de Toros de Nueva Andalucía, Marbella, Spain | Retained WBC, IBF, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles |
30 | Win | 30–0 | Maurice Blocker | UD | 12 | 18 Apr 1987 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Retained WBC, IBF, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles |
29 | Win | 29–0 | Johnny Bumphus | TKO | 2 (12), 0:55 | 22 Feb 1987 | Wembley Conference Centre, London, England | Retained WBC, IBF, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles |
28 | Win | 28–0 | Donald Curry | RTD | 6 (12), 3:00 | 27 Sep 1986 | Circus Maximus Showroom, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | Won WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles |
27 | Win | 27–0 | Horace Shufford | TKO | 8 (12) | 20 May 1986 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
26 | Win | 26–0 | Sylvester Mittee | TKO | 8 (12), 1:39 | 27 Nov 1985 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | Retained European welterweight title; Won British and Commonwealth welterweight titles |
25 | Win | 25–0 | Ralph Twinning | TKO | 4 (10), 1:00 | 1 Oct 1985 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
24 | Win | 24–0 | Danny Paul | UD | 10 | 30 Aug 1985 | Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | |
23 | Win | 23–0 | Roger Stafford | TKO | 9 (10), 2:58 | 6 Mar 1985 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
22 | Win | 22–0 | R W Smith | RTD | 6 (10), 3:00 | 12 Feb 1985 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
21 | Win | 21–0 | Gianfranco Rosi | KO | 3 (12), 0:59 | 5 Jan 1985 | PalaEvangelisti, Perugia, Italy | Won European welterweight title |
20 | Win | 20–0 | Roberto Mendez | PTS | 8 | 6 Jun 1984 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
19 | Win | 19–0 | Cliff Gilpin | PTS | 12 | 6 Dec 1983 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Retained British welterweight title |
18 | Win | 18–0 | Harold Brazier | PTS | 10 | 24 Oct 1983 | Grosvenor House Hotel, London, England | |
17 | Win | 17–0 | Kevin Austin | TKO | 10 (10) | 9 Jul 1983 | DaVinci Manor, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
16 | Win | 16–0 | Cliff Gilpin | PTS | 12 | 5 Apr 1983 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Won vacant British welterweight title |
15 | Win | 15–0 | Sid Smith | KO | 4 (10), 2:05 | 1 Mar 1983 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Won British Southern Area welterweight title |
14 | Win | 14–0 | Lloyd Hibbert | PTS | 10 | 18 Jan 1983 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
13 | Win | 13–0 | Frank McCord | KO | 1 (8), 2:12 | 22 Nov 1982 | Hilton on Park Lane, London, England | |
12 | Win | 12–0 | Ian Kid Murray | TKO | 3 (8), 1:20 | 22 Sep 1982 | Hilton on Park Lane, London, England | |
11 | Win | 11–0 | Kostas Petrou | PTS | 8 | 18 May 1982 | York Hall, London, England | |
10 | Win | 10–0 | Dave Sullivan | TKO | 3 (8), 1:34 | 23 Mar 1982 | York Hall, London, England | |
9 | Win | 9–0 | Derek McKenzie | TKO | 6 (8), 1:35 | 15 Mar 1982 | Hilton on Park Lane, London, England | |
8 | Win | 8–0 | Tommy McCallum | PTS | 6 | 2 Mar 1982 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
7 | Win | 7–0 | Granville Allen | TKO | 5 (6), 1:25 | 9 Feb 1982 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | |
6 | Win | 6–0 | Dave Finigan | KO | 2 (6) | 25 Jan 1982 | Hilton on Park Lane, London, England | |
5 | Win | 5–0 | Alan Cooper | TKO | 4 (8), 1:08 | 24 Nov 1981 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
4 | Win | 4–0 | Dave Finigan | TKO | 1 (8), 1:36 | 16 Nov 1981 | Hilton on Park Lane, London, England | |
3 | Win | 3–0 | Dave Sullivan | PTS | 6 | 10 Feb 1981 | York Hall, London, England | |
2 | Win | 2–0 | Dai Davies | TKO | 5 (6) | 20 Jan 1981 | York Hall, London, England | |
1 | Win | 1–0 | Mike Sullivan | PTS | 6 | 8 Dec 1980 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Professional debut |
See also
References
- ↑ "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
Mr Lloyd Honeyghan, former boxer, 51
- ↑ "Honeyghan Faces Fine". nytimes.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ↑ "Lloyd Honeyghan fined $1,500". nytimes.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
Lloyd-honeyghan-reflecting-on-ragamuffin-man-p1-
Lloyd-honeyghan-part-ii-reflects-on-breland-beyond
Sporting positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Regional boxing titles | ||||
Preceded by Sid Smith |
British Southern Area welterweight champion 1 March 1983 – 5 April 1983 Won full British title |
Vacant Title next held by Rocky Kelly | ||
Vacant Title last held by Colin Jones |
British welterweight champion 5 April 1983 – April 1985 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Kostas Petrou | ||
Preceded by Gianfranco Rosi |
European welterweight champion 5 January 1985 – September 1986 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Jose Varela | ||
Preceded by Sylvester Mittee |
British welterweight champion 27 November 1985 – September 1986 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Kirkland Laing | ||
Commonwealth welterweight champion 27 November 1985 – September 1986 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Brian Janssen | |||
Preceded by Mickey Hughes |
Commonwealth light-middleweight champion 30 January 1993 – October 1994 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Leo Young Jr. | ||
World boxing titles | ||||
Preceded by Donald Curry |
WBA welterweight champion 27 September 1986 – December 1986 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Mark Breland | ||
WBC welterweight champion 27 September 1986 – 28 October 1987 |
Succeeded by Jorge Vaca | |||
IBF welterweight champion 27 September 1986 – October 1987 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Simon Brown | |||
The Ring welterweight champion 27 September 1986 – 28 October 1987 |
Succeeded by Jorge Vaca | |||
Undisputed welterweight champion 27 September 1986 – December 1986 Titles fragmented |
Vacant Title next held by Cory Spinks | |||
Lineal welterweight champion 27 September 1986 – 28 October 1987 |
Succeeded by Jorge Vaca | |||
Preceded by Jorge Vaca |
WBC welterweight champion 29 March 1988 – 4 February 1989 |
Succeeded by Marlon Starling | ||
The Ring welterweight champion 29 March 1988 – 4 February 1989 | ||||
Lineal welterweight champion 29 March 1988 – 4 February 1989 | ||||
Awards | ||||
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The Ring Upset of the Year RTD6 Donald Curry 1986 |
Next: Sugar Ray Leonard SD12 Marvin Hagler |