Lee Haskins

Lee Haskins (born 29 November 1983) is a British professional boxer from Bristol in England who has fought in the flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight divisions and is the current IBF bantamweight world champion. He also won Prizefighter in the super flyweight division in 2011.

Professional career

Early career

Haskins made his professional debut in March 2003 when he took on and defeated Ankar Miah stopping him in the first round at Ashton Gate the home of Bristol City Football Club. In his very next contest he defeated future British champion Chris Edwards this time over 6 rounds at the same venue. By the time he had compiled a winning ledger of 9–0 he challenged journeyman fighter Delroy Spencer for the English Flyweight title and claimed the belt after Spencer retired after the third round of the 10 round contest. In February 2006 almost three years from his professional debut and now with a winning record of 13–0 Haskins challenged the Tanzanian fighter Anthony Mathias for the vacant Commonwealth Flyweight title. He stopped Mathias in the 2nd round at The Pavilions in Plymouth to pick up his second career title.^[1]

Commonwealth title fights

Following the victory over Mathias, Haskins returned to Bristol just two months later for his first defence against South African Zolile Mbityi. The fight as reported by the BBC was often a 'messy and bad tempered affair' with Haskins never really hitting top gear.^[2] Haskins won the fight on points over 12 rounds.

In October 2006 Haskins chose to move up a weight division and compete for the Commonwealth Bantamweight title. The current champion, another South African called Tshifhiwa Munyai had claimed the belt with an upset win over British Bantamweight title holder Martin Power. Going into the fight Haskins was confident saying "I think he's gonna come in and try to take me out. That's what I want. I've changed a few things, and hopefully it'll work on the night."^[3] The fight which was Haskins debut at the York Hall in London ended in the 6th round with Munyai scoring a tko.

British title challenges

Following the stoppage, Haskins next meaningful fight was almost a year later in September 2007 when he returned to the York Hall to take on new British Bantamweight holder Ian Napa. The fight once again proved to be a disappointment for Haskins with ringside reporters claiming he was looking tired before he retired hurt with an arm injury in the 7th round, handing the feather-fisted Napa the only knockout win of his career.^[4] in March 2008 Haskins put the memory of defeat behind him by scoring a win over former British title challenger Jamie McDonnell over 8 rounds in Barnsley. The win set him up for another crack at a title, this time against the British Super-Flyweight champion Andy Bell.^[5] The fight with Bell took place in November 2008 and ended with a unanimous points decision for the Bristolian in what was considered to be a close fight. Speaking after the fight Haskins paid tribute to his opponent saying "I don't know what to say. It feels great. I knew Andy Bell is a great fighter, he is very tough. He hits hard as well and it just feels great to be champion"^[6] On 10 July 2009 Haskins defended his belt for the first time against Sheffield's Ross Burkinshaw, winning in the 4th round.^[7]

British and Commonwealth champion

On 11 December 2009 Haskins added the Commonwealth Super Flyweight title to his collection after defeating the unbeaten Don Broadhurst on points in Newport, Wales and becoming a two weight Commonwealth champion.^[8] Haskins claimed the belt having scored a unanimous points victory on all three judges scorecards in what was described as a 'scrappy' contest.^[9] Following the fight Haskins was scheduled to face Italian Andrea Sarritzu for the European title at super flyweight only for the contest to be called off on a total of four occasions, another fight against the Frenchman Karim Guerfi also fell through after the fighters failed to agree terms.^[10] The delays meant that Haskins was out of the ring for over a year until on 30 April 2011 he met Bulgarian boxer Fikret Remziev over six rounds, scoring a fourth round stoppage, at the Olympiad Leisure Centre in Chippenham.^[11] Speaking about the delays promoter Chris Sanigar described the period as being "very frustrating" and said that he'd like to see Haskins fight for the British title again with a view to stepping up to Bantamweight to challenge Jamie McDonnell at some point in the future.^[10] To add to Haskin's disappointment, he was stripped of the Commonwealth belt after failing to defend it.^[12]

On 14 July 2011, Haskins travelled to Morocco to accept a short notice challenge for the WBA Inter continental and the IBF International bantamweight titles. His opponent, Mohamed Bouleghcha had won the titles in April and as the fight was at bantamweight meant that Haskins would have to not only concede home advantage but also weight advantage as he had not fought in the division for four years.^[13][14] Haskins won a victory over 12 rounds, including two knockdowns, and said that the victory represented that he was now ready for the world stage.^[15]

Prizefighter champion

In October 2011 Haskins became Prizefighter champion, without losing a single round throughout the tournament.

European champion

On 14 December 2012, Haskins had a big chance to step closer to a world title shot by facing Stuart Hall for the EBU European bantamweight title. He won the fight and became European bantamweight champion. Lee's next fight after that was to defend the title against Belgium fighter 'Stephane Jamoye' in Belgium. He lost the fight along with his European title, but the fight was rated by many critics as "one most the most entertaining fights of 2012". What followed over the next two years was being crowned British bantamweight champion, along with a few defences of the title. In February 2015 Haskins earned another opportunity to fight for the vacant EBU European title against French fighter 'Omar Lamiri' in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The fight was stopped due to Haskins suffering a cut over his right eye in a clash of heads during the 8th round. The fight went to the score cards, and as his first European title shot he was victorious.

World champion

In March 2015, Haskins received a call from the IBF confirming that he is to fight Japan's Ryosuke Iwasa, for the Interim world title due to the current champion Randy Caballero suffering from injury. Lee Haskins put on a remarkable display in his fight for the IBF world interim bantamweight title against Ryosuke Iwasa, and knocked out his opponent inside six rounds. Haskins is Bristol's first world champion in 15 years. He was set to fight Randy Caballero on the 21 November 2015, however Caballero failed to make weight, and Haskins was promoted to full champion by the IBF. In May 2016, he defended the title for the first time, defeating Ivan Morales in Cardiff. He is set to fight his mandatory challenger Stuart Hall next.

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
38	N/A	N/A	Shohei Omori	N/A	– (12)	31 Dec 2016	Shimazu Arena, Kyoto, Japan	Defending IBF bantamweight title
37	Win	34–3	Stuart Hall	UD	12	10 Sep 2016	The O2 Arena, London, England, United Kingdom	Retained IBF bantamweight title
36	Win	33–3	Ivan Morales	UD	12	14 May 2016	Ice Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom	Retained IBF bantamweight title
35	Win	32–3	Ryosuke Iwasa	TKO	6 (12), 2:10	16 Mar 2015	Whitchurch Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom	Won interim IBF bantamweight title
34	Win	31–3	Omar Lamiri	TD	8 (12), 3:00	21 Feb 2015	Salle des Étoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco	Won vacant EBU (European) bantamweight title
33	Win	30–3	Willy Velazquez	PTS	10	05 Dec 2014	City Academy Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
32	Win	29–3	Luke Wilton	TKO	2 (10), 1:52	01 Mar 2014	City Academy Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
31	Win	28–3	Jason Booth	UD	12	08 Nov 2013	City Academy Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom	Retained BBBofC British bantamweight title
30	Win	27–3	Martin Ward	TKO	5 (12), 2:38	27 Apr 2013	City Academy Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom	Won vacant BBBofC British bantamweight title
29	Loss	26–3	Stephane Jamoye	TKO	8 (12)	14 Dec 2012	Hallo Omnisport La Préalle, Herstal, Liege, Belgium	Lost EBU (European) bantamweight title
28	Win	26–2	Stuart Hall	UD	12	7 Jul 2012	Hand Arena, Clevedon, Somerset, England, United Kingdom	Won vacant EBU (European) bantamweight title
27	Win	25–2	Don Broadhurst	UD	3	12 Oct 2011	Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom	Prizefighter Tournament, super-flyweight final.
26	Win	24–2	Ryan Farrag	UD	3	12 Oct 2011	Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom	Prizefighter Tournament, super-flyweight semi-final.
25	Win	23–2	Terry Broadbent	UD	3	12 Oct 2011	Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom	Prizefighter Tournament, super-flyweight quarter-final.
24	Win	22–2	Mohamed Bouleghcha	UD	12	14 Jul 2011	Place Jamaâ El Fna, Marrakech, Morocco
23	Win	21–2	Fikret Remziev	TKO	4 (6), 1:31	30 Apr 2011	Olympiad Leisure Centre, Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
22	Win	20–2	Don Broadhurst	UD	12	11 Dec 2009	Newport Centre, Newport, Wales, United Kingdom
21	Win	19–2	Ross Burkinshaw	TKO	4 (12), 1:09	10 Jul 2009	Seaburn Centre, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
20	Win	18–2	Andy Bell	UD	12	07 Nov 2008	Robin Park Centre, Wigan, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
19	Win	17–2	Jamie McDonnell	PTS	8	28 Mar 2008	Metrodome, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
18	Loss	16–2	Ian Napa	RTD	7 (12), 3:00	21 Sep 2007	York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, United Kingdom
17	Win	16–1	Sumaila Badu	PTS	6	24 Feb 2007	Filton College Wise Campus, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
16	Loss	15–1	Tshifhiwa Munyai	TKO	6 (12), 2:56	06 Oct 2006	York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, United Kingdom
15	Win	15–0	Zolile Mbityi	UD	12	07 Apr 2006	Whitchurch Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
14	Win	14–0	Anthony Mathias	TKO	2 (10), 2:40	10 Feb 2006	The Pavilions, Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom
13	Win	13–0	Delroy Spencer	RTD	2 (8), 3:00	19 Jun 2005	The Pavilions, Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom
12	Win	12–0	Andrzej Ziora	KO	1 (8), 1:00	29 Apr 2005	The Pavilions, Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom
11	Win	11–0	Moses Kinyua	PTS	10	08 Apr 2005	Dolman Exhibition Hall, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
10	Win	10–0	Hugo Cardinale	KO	1 (6)	18 Feb 2005	Dalacio de Deportes, Torrevieja, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
9	Win	9–0	Delroy Spencer	RTD	3 (10), 3:00	03 Dec 2004	Dolman Exhibition Hall, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
8	Win	8–0	Junior Anderson	KO	3 (6), 0:40	01 Oct 2004	Dolman Exhibition Hall, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
7	Win	7–0	Sergey Tasimov	TKO	5 (8), 2:15	03 Jul 2004	Dolman Exhibition Hall, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
6	Win	6–0	Colin Moffett	TKO	2 (4), 1:05	8 May 2004	Whitchurch Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
5	Win	5–0	Marty Kayes	PTS	6	13 Feb 2004	Dolman Exhibition Hall, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
4	Win	4–0	Jason Thomas	PTS	6	05 Dec 2003	Dolman Exhibition Hall, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
3	Win	3–0	Neil Read	PTS	4	9 Oct 2003	Whitchurch Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
2	Win	2–0	Chris Edwards	PTS	6	13 Jun 2003	Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom
1	Win	1–0	Ankar Miah	TKO	1 (4), 1:50	06 Mar 2003	Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, Avon, England, United Kingdom	Professional debut

References

External links

• Official website