Donnie Nietes
Donnie Liboon Nietes is a Filipino professional boxer. He is a world champion in four weight-classes, having held the WBO mini-flyweight title from 2007 to 2011, he is the longest-reigning Filipino boxing world champion, surpassing in 2014 the record set in 1967 by Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Gabriel "Flash" Elorde. He was one of the three Asian fighters with world titles in at least four weight classes alongside fellow Filipinos Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire, he is ranked second by The Ring and Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, third by BoxRec as junior-bantamweight. He is ranked as the ninth best current pound for pound boxer by The Ring. Regarding how Nietes got his nickname "Ahas", Tagalog for "snake," Tony Aldeguer states: "Donnie got his nickname'ahas' when he was a utility boy at the ALA Gym. One of his daily chores was to clean the snake pit with five big pythons and he was the only man with the guts to do it, he was bitten several times. But once he befriended the snakes, he was never bitten again.
One day, a snake laid 11 eggs but only one survived. Donnie took care of that snake and he still does to this day. That's how he got his nickname." Nietes worked as a utility man at the Antonio Lopez Aldeguer boxing gym before taking up boxing after being encouraged by the practitioners with whom he socialized. In 2003, at the age of 20, Nietes started his career as a professional boxer. On, May 22, 2004, he won the Philippines Boxing Federation light flyweight title against Joseph Villasis via first-round technical knockout. Nietes was undefeated before losing in his bout against Angky Angkota via 10-round split decision on September 28, 2004. Angkota weighed in six pounds over the weight limit for this fight. On November 24, 2011, Nietes won the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight Title against Heri Amol of Indonesia via second-round knockout, he defended the title twice against Thai boxers Thongthailek Sor Tanapinyo and Sakulpan Pakdee Gym prior to world title fights in minimumweight division.
On September 30, 2007, Nietes fought undefeated Pornsawarn Kratingdaenggym of Thailand for the vacant WBO Minimumweight World Title in Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel, Cebu City, Philippines. Although Nietes floored Kratingdaenggym in the fourth round, the Thai boxer managed to get up at the final bell; the bout ended in a unanimous decision in favor of Nietes. Three times, Nietes has been pitted with fighters against whom he was supposed to defend his title, all plans have fallen through for undisclosed reasons; because of this, he was at risk of being stripped off his belt, as WBO rules state that a champion has to defend his title within a year. After 11 months of inactivity, he defended his crown, against Eddy Castro on August 30, 2008. Nietes won the fight by technical knockout at 2:49 mark of the second round. Nietes defended his title for the second time by scoring a unanimous decision victory over Erik Ramirez on February 28, 2009. En route to the win, Nietes sent Ramirez to the canvass four times in separate rounds.
In his third defense, Nietes battled interim champion Manuel Vargas on September 12, 2009. Nietes won the bout by split decision. On January 23, 2010, Nietes was supposed to defend his WBO title for the fourth time. After a couple of opponents backed out, Mexico's Jesus Silvestre became the last resort, but because Silvestre wasn't ranked in the WBO, Nietes' title wasn't wagered and the bout was only 10 rounds. In the fight, both boxers appeared strong. In the 10th and final round, Nietes was declared winner by TKO when Silvestre stopped to take a drink of water during the fight, a move, against the rules. In his fourth title defense, Nietes fought Mexico's Mario Rodriguez; the fight took place on August 14, 2010, at the Auditorio Luis Estrada Medina in Guasave, Mexico. The Filipino pugilist won the bout by unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. Nietes was scheduled to defend his title on March 12, 2011, against mandatory challenger and former champion Raul Garcia. However, less than two weeks before the fight, Nietes announced that he would be vacating his world title and moving up in weight.
0n April 9, 2011, Nietes defeated him via first round knock out. On October 8, 2011, Nietes defeated Mexico's Ramón García Hirales via 12-round unanimous decision to win the WBO Light Flyweight title. Nietes defended the title on June 2012 against Felipe Salguero via unanimous decision. Nietes retained his WBO Light Flyweight title against WBO Minimumweight champion Moises Fuentes on March 2, 2013 via a majority draw. On November 15, 2014, the Bacolod native defended his WBO and The Ring Light Flyweight titles by stopping Carlos Velarde of Mexico in the 7th round. Nietes became the longest-reigning Filipino world champion on that same day, surpassing the record held by Gabriel Elorde. After breaking Elorde's record, Nietes defended his title four more times before deciding to move up to the flyweight division, his first flyweight fight was against former WBC light flyweight champion Edgar Sosa on September 24, 2016. On April 29, 2017, Nietes became the third Filipino boxer to win world titles in three different weight divisions, along with Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire when he defeated Thailand's Komgrich Nantapech.
He defended his title against the mandatory challenger Argentinaian and former two division world champion Juan Carlos Reveco winning via Technical Knockout after Reveco's corner throws in the towel, on the 7th round of th
Omar Narváez (boxer)
Omar Andrés Narváez is an Argentine professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBO flyweight title from 2002 to 2010, the WBO junior bantamweight title from 2010 to 2014; as an amateur, Narváez represented Argentina at the 2000 Olympics, reaching the round of 16 of the super flyweight bracket. Together with Julio César Chávez, Narváez holds the record for the most successful defenses of a world title, has the second highest average of title fight wins/beaten opponents in boxing history, he won the gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games. 1996 Olympian, as a flyweight. His results were: Defeated Joan Guzmán 9-4 Lost to Mehdi Assous 4-20 1997 World Championships Bronze medalist in Budapest, HUN 1998 South American Games Gold medalist 1999 Pan American Games Gold medalist in Winnipeg, CAN, beat Manuel Mantilla and José Navarro 1999 World Championships Silver medalist in Houston, USA, beat Steve Molitor 2000 Olympian, as a flyweight, his results were: Defeated Carlos Valcárcel 12-6 Lost to Volodymyr Sydorenko 10-16 He is one of the rare foreign boxers who have won two medals at the prestigious international boxing tournament Giraldo Cordoba Cardin, which every year is celebrated in Cuba by invitation, Omar won gold in 1999 in Villa Clara, winning the final against Filipino Arlan Lily, in the semifinals had defeated the Guatemalan Castulo Gonzalez in 2000 won a bronze in the tournament in the province of Las Tunas, losing in the semifinals against the Thai Wijan Polit.
He won the WBO world flyweight title on July 2002 by a unanimous decision win over Adonis Rivas. He defended the title 16 times with wins over Luis Alberto Lazarate, Andrea Sarritzu, Everardo Morales, Alexander Mahmutov, Reginaldo Martins Carvalho, Bernard Inom, Rexon Flores, Walberto Ramos, Brahim Asloum, Marlon Marquez, Carlos Tamara, Iván Pozo, Alejandro "Payasito" Hernández, Rayonta Whitfield and Omar Soto, he moved up to Super Flyweight and won the WBO Super Flyweight title on May 15, 2010, with a unanimous points decision against Nicaraguan Everth Briceno in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Narvaez faced Nonito Donaire on Oct. 22, 2011, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden at Bantamweight. He lost the one-sided fight by his first professional loss, he returned to the super flyweight division and made eleven consecutive defenses of the WBO super flyweight title before getting knocked out by Naoya Inoue in the second round on December 30, 2014. World record for most defenses of world titles across all weights and governing bodies South American record for most world title fights Argentinian record for most defenses of a single world title List of flyweight boxing champions List of super-flyweight boxing champions Boxing at the 1996 Summer Olympics Boxing at the 2000 Summer Olympics Professional boxing record for Omar Narváez from BoxRec
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea 1,000 miles southeast of Miami, Florida. An archipelago among the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona and Vieques; the capital and most populous city is San Juan. The territory's total population is 3.4 million. Spanish and English are the official languages. Populated by the indigenous Taíno people, Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493, it was contested by French and British, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. The island's cultural and demographic landscapes were shaped by the displacement and assimilation of the native population, the forced migration of African slaves, settlement from the Canary Islands and Andalusia. In the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain.
Spain's distant administrative control continued up to the end of the 19th century, producing a distinctive creole Hispanic culture and language that combined indigenous and European elements. In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States acquired Puerto Rico under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since 1917, enjoy freedom of movement between the island and the mainland; as it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. However, Puerto Rico does have one non-voting member of the House called a Resident Commissioner; as residents of a U. S. territory, American citizens in Puerto Rico are disenfranchised at the national level and do not vote for president and vice president of the United States, nor pay federal income tax on Puerto Rican income. Like other territories and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico does not have U.
S. senators. Congress approved a local constitution in 1952, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. Puerto Rico's future political status has been a matter of significant debate. In early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government; the outstanding bond debt had climbed to $70 billion at a time with 12.4% unemployment. The debt had been increasing during a decade long recession; this was the second major financial crisis to affect the island after the Great Depression when the U. S. government, in 1935, provided relief efforts through the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration. On May 3, 2017, Puerto Rico's financial oversight board in the U. S. District Court for Puerto Rico filed the debt restructuring petition, made under Title III of PROMESA. By early August 2017, the debt was $72 billion with a 45% poverty rate. In late September 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico; the island's electrical grid was destroyed, with repairs expected to take months to complete, provoking the largest power outage in American history.
Recovery efforts were somewhat slow in the first few months, over 200,000 residents had moved to the mainland State of Florida alone by late November 2017. Puerto Rico is Spanish for "rich port". Puerto Ricans call the island Borinquén – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, which means "Land of the Valiant Lord"; the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen and are used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is popularly known in Spanish as la isla del encanto, meaning "the island of enchantment". Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, while the capital city was named Ciudad de Puerto Rico. Traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city; the island's name was changed to "Porto Rico" by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898. The anglicized name was used by the U.
S. government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931; the official name of the entity in Spanish is Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, while its official English name is Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The ancient history of the archipelago, now Puerto Rico is not well known. Unlike other indigenous cultures in the New World which left behind abundant archeological and physical evidence of their societies, scant artifacts and evidence remain of the Puerto Rico's indigenous population. Scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish accounts from the colonial era constitute all, known about them; the first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, nearly three centuries after the first Spaniards landed on the island. The first known settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland.
Some scholars suggest their settlement dates back about 4,000 years. An archeological dig in 1990 on the island of Vieques found the remains of a man, designated as the "Puerto Ferro Man", dated to around 2000 BC; the Ortoiroid were displaced
Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed known as "Prince" Naseem or "Naz", is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002. He held multiple featherweight world championships, including the WBO title from 1995 to 2000, he reigned as lineal champion from 1998 to 2001. Hamed is ranked as the best British featherweight boxer of all time by BoxRec. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame; the Ring magazine ranked Hamed as the 11th greatest British boxer of all-time, as well as 46th greatest puncher of all time. Hamed was known for his unconventional boxing antics and spectacular ring entrances which included entering the ring on a flying carpet, a lift, a palanquin, as well as re-enacting the video of Michael Jackson's Thriller, wearing a Halloween mask, he was known for his front somersault over the top rope into the ring, his athletic and hard-hitting southpaw boxing style, formidable one-punch knockout power. In 2016, ESPN ranked Hamed at number 22 on its list of the top 25 fighters, pound for pound, of the last 25 years.
Journalist Daniel Fletcher, in a 10-year anniversary commemoration of the end of Hamed's career, referred to him as "the most talented fighter to live", one of history's premiere featherweights and British boxers, that while his career ended prematurely at the age of 28, he still managed to dominate his weight class for six years and boast some formidable achievements. Hamed was born in Sheffield, England to Yemeni parents, in 1974. A protege of Brendan Ingle's Wincobank gym, his talent and flashy southpaw style marked him out from an early age. Hamed started boxing professionally at flyweight in 1992, he soon began rising through the ranks as he knocked out a series of opponents in the opening rounds. Age 20 he won the European bantamweight title, comprehensively beating the beleaguered Vincenzo Belcastro over twelve rounds. After one defence he won the WBC International super bantamweight title in 1994, overwhelming Freddy Cruz in Sheffield, whom he punished and stopped in six rounds. Hamed's popularity grew, his unorthodox style winning a large fan base and his boxing antics generating a large group of detractors.
After signing for Frank Warren, employing more spectacular entrances, knocked out better opposition in Enrique Angeles and Juan Polo Pérez, both within two rounds. In 1995, after controversially being named the WBO #1 featherweight contender, Hamed moved up to face Wales' defending WBO champion Steve Robinson. After dominating the bout and scoring a knockdown in round 5, Hamed won the title when the referee stopped the fight in round 8 after Robinson was caught with a left hook that dropped him spectacularly; the fight was held in front of Robinson's home crowd at the rugby ground, Cardiff Arms Park, with rain pouring down on the fighters and the ring. This was the first bout where Hamed badly injured his hand, a problem that would continue for the rest of his career. Hamed's next defence was in Dublin against former two-time world featherweight title holder Manuel Medina. After knocking Medina down in round 2, Hamed struggled to finish the fight until knocking Medina down twice in the 10th round.
At the end of round 11, Medina's corner withdrew him from the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor. Hamed revealed in his post-fight interview. Medina would go on to have many more tough title fights, remarkably winning versions of the featherweight world title another three times. Hamed's next opponent was the 27–0 Remigio Molina of Argentina, stopped in two rounds. In February 1997, Hamed defeated long-time IBF champion Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson in eight rounds in a unification bout at the London Arena. After being stunned and staggered from round 3 onwards, Johnson was dropped by a huge uppercut saved from further punishment by the referee. Hamed's first defence of both the WBO & IBF titles was a first-round KO of veteran British boxer and European champion Billy Hardy. Before the bout Hamed had predicted he would win in round 1; the next defence was an easy two-round win against a hugely outclassed Juan Gerardo Carbrera. Due to boxing politics involving the IBF's mandatory challenger, Hamed was soon forced to relinquish the IBF title.
In Hamed's hometown of Sheffield in October 1997, he produced one of the best performances of his career in defending his WBO title against Jose Badillo, whose corner entered the ring to stop the fight during round 7. In late 1997 Hamed made his hyped U. S. debut. His ceremonious arrival on the British Airways Concorde was covered by multiple media outlets. There, he and former WBC title holder Kevin Kelley fought in a entertaining bout; this fight marks something of a watershed in Hamed's career, as he was forced, for the first time, to abandon his hands-down style of fighting throughout the entire course of the bout, given the calibre of Kelley. Nonetheless, despite suffering three knockdowns himself, Hamed put Kelley down for a third and final time to win by a fourth-round knockout; this was his first of many fights on HBO. In 1998, Hamed enjoyed victories over former three-time WBA title holder and then-lineal champion Wilfredo Vazquez, former WBC bantamweight title holder Wayne McCullough, future IBF title holder Paul Ingle.
In October 1999 at Joe Louis Arena, Michigan, United States, Hamed defeated WBC feat
Thomas Hearns
Thomas "Tommy" Hearns is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", more famously "The Hitman", Hearns' tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowed him to move up over fifty pounds in his career and become the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, light heavyweight and super middleweight. Hearns was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America in 1980 and 1984. Hearns was known as a devastating puncher throughout his career at cruiserweight, despite having climbed up five weight classes, he is ranked number 18 on The Ring's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. He ranks #18 in BoxRec ranking of the greatest pound for pound boxers of all time. On June 10, 2012, Hearns was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Hearns was born in Grand Junction, Tennessee on October 18, 1958, the youngest of three children in his mother's first marriage.
With her second marriage, six children joined the first three. On her own, Mrs. Hearns raised Tommy and his siblings in Grand Junction until Tommy was five years old. Hearns had an amateur record of 155–8. In 1977, he won the National Amateur Athletic Union Light Welterweight Championship, defeating Bobby Joe Young of Steubenville, Ohio, in the finals, he won the 1977 National Golden Gloves Light Welterweight Championship. Hearns began his professional boxing career in Detroit, under the tutelage of Emanuel Steward in 1977. Steward had changed Hearns from a light hitting amateur boxer to one of the most devastating punchers in boxing history, he won six world titles in five weight classes during his pro career, defeating future boxing hall of famers such as Pipino Cuevas, Wilfred Benítez, Virgil Hill and Roberto Durán. Hearns started his career by knocking out his first 17 opponents. In 1980, Hearns carried his 28-0 record into a world title match against Mexico's Pipino Cuevas. Hearns ended Cuevas's 4-year reign by beating him by TKO in the second round.
Hearns was voted "Fighter of the Year" by Ring Magazine in 1980. In 1981, Hearns the WBA Champion, with a 32-0 record, fought WBC Champion Sugar Ray Leonard to unify the World Welterweight Championship in a bout dubbed "The Showdown." In this legendary fight, Hearns suffered his first professional defeat when Leonard stopped him in the 14th round. In the 13th round, behind on points on all 3 judges scorecards, needed a knockout to win, he came on put Hearns through the ropes at the end of the round. Hearns was dazed out of gas and received a count but was saved by the bell. Leonard, with his left eye shut and time running out, resumed his attack in the 14th. Hearns started the round boxing and moving, but after staggering Hearns with an overhand right, Leonard pinned Hearns against the ropes. After another combination to the body and head, referee Davey Pearl stopped the fight. Hearns and Leonard banked a combined 17 million dollars for the fight, making it the largest purse in sports history; the following year, Leonard retired due to a detached retina, there would be no rematch until 1989.
Hearns moved up in weight and won the WBC Super Welterweight title from boxing legend and three-time world champion Wilfred Benítez in New Orleans in December 1982, defended that title against European Champion Luigi Minchillo, Roberto Durán, no.1 contender Fred Hutchings and #1 contender Mark Medal. During his reign at this weight, the 2 round destruction of the legendary Roberto Durán, in which he became the first boxer to KO Durán, is seen as his pinnacle achievement, earning him his second Ring Magazine "Fighter of the Year" award in 1984. While remaining super-welterweight champion, Hearns ventured into the middleweight division to challenge undisputed middleweight champion Marvin Hagler in 1985. Billed "The Fight", this bout has been labeled as the three greatest rounds in boxing history; the legendary battle elevated both fighters to superstar status. Hearns was able to stun Hagler soon after the opening bell, but he subsequently broke his right hand in the first round, he did, manage to open a deep cut on Hagler's forehead that caused the ring doctor to consider a stoppage.
The fight, was allowed to continue at this point, with the ringside commentators remarking on the fact that, "the last thing Hagler wants or needs is for this fight to be stopped on a cut." The battle did go back and forth some, but Hearns was unable to capitalize on his early successes against Hagler. As a result of breaking his right hand, Hearns began to use lateral movement and a good jab to keep Hagler at bay as best he could; this tactic worked well, but in the third round Hagler staggered Hearns and managed to catch him against the ropes, where a crushing right hand by Hagler knocked Hearns down. Hearns beat the count but was unable to continue and the referee stopped the fight. Despite the loss, Hearns garnered a tremendous amount of respect from fans and boxing aficionados alike. Considering the popularity of the fight and the level of competition, a rematch seemed to be a foregone conclusion but never took place. Hearns made amends by dispatching undefeated rising star James "Black Gold" Shuler with a devastating first-round knockout in 1986.
One week after the fight, Shuler was killed in a motorcycle accident. Hearns presented the NABF championship belt to Shuler's family at his funeral, saying he deserved to keep the belt as he had held it long
Wimbledon Chase railway station
Wimbledon Chase railway station is in the London Borough of Merton in South London. The station is served by Thameslink trains on the Sutton Loop Line, it is in Travelcard Zone 3 and is arranged as an island eight-car platform, with stairs descending to street level towards the southern end. Parliamentary approval for a line from Wimbledon to Sutton had been obtained by the Wimbledon and Sutton Railway in 1910 but work had been delayed by World War I. From the W&SR's inception, the District Railway was a shareholder of the company and had rights to run trains over the line when built. In the 1920s, the London Electric Railway planned, through its ownership of the DR, to use part of the route for an extension of the City and South London Railway to Sutton; the SR objected and an agreement was reached that enabled the C&SLR to extend as far as Morden in exchange for the LER giving up its rights over the W&SR route. The SR subsequently built one of the last to be built in the London area. Wimbledon Chase station was not included in the original 1910 permission, stations at Elm Grove to the north and Cannon Hill to the south were planned, but were not constructed.
The station opened on 7 July 1929 when the first section of the line to South Merton came into operation. The route opened to Sutton on 5 January 1930. Throughout the day Thameslink provide a typical service of 2 trains per hour to St Albans City via Wimbledon and 2 trains per hour to Sutton. Services to Sutton continue on to St Albans City via Mitcham Junction. In addition, Southern operate a limited service to London Bridge via Wimbledon and Tooting during the early evening peak; the station exit for all southbound trains is adjacent to the third carriage. London Buses routes 152, 163, 164, K5 and 655 serve the station. Jackson, Alan A.. "The Wimbledon & Sutton Railway – A late arrival on the South London suburban scene". The Railway Magazine: 675–680. Retrieved 4 June 2017. Wilson, Geoffrey. "The Wimbledon & Sutton Railway". Merton Historical Society: Bulletin 167: 10–13. Retrieved 2 December 2017. Train times and station information for Wimbledon Chase railway station from National Rail
Virgil Hill
Virgil Eugene Hill is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2007, in 2015. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBA light heavyweight title twice, from 1987 to 1997; as an amateur, Hill won a silver medal in the middleweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics. In 2013, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. At the 1984 Summer Olympics Hill represented the United States as a Middleweight age 20, won a silver medal in a close decision loss in the 165-lb final, his results were: Defeated Edward Neblett RSC 2 Defeated Brian Schumacher 5-0 Defeated Damir Škaro 4-1 Defeated Mohamed Zaoui 5-0 Lost to Shin Joon-Sup 2-3Hill was the 1984 National Golden Gloves champion at Middleweight. In September 1987, after going eighteen straight fights without a loss to start his pro career, Hill aka'Quicksilver' was a challenger to Leslie Stewart of Trinidad for the latter's World Boxing Association light-heavyweight title in Atlantic City. After an match in the early going, Hill floored the defending title holder twice in the fourth round – first with a left hook and the second time with an uppercut – to take the title on a Knockout win.
A series of ten successful defenses followed, eight of which took place in North Dakota. Hill received offers to fight in Las Vegas and other cities, but chose the place of his'roots' and'hometown fans' to be the place of the majority of his defenses. Opponents in his first run as champion included James Kinchen. Superstar Thomas Hearns would meet – and defeat – Hill in Las Vegas by decision in June 1991 to end Hill's first reign as champion. In September 1992, it was Hill pitted against 1984 Olympic teammate Frank Tate for the vacant WBA 175-lb. Title, it was a'grudge match' between the two, Hill won the title on his home turf of Bismarck. Another string of ten defenses would follow, including a rematch with Tate, a close decision over Lou Del Valle who upset Hill. In November 1996 at the Olympiahalle, Hill won over the undefeated IBF champion Henry Maske to unify the WBA/IBF belts and win the vacant Lineal championship. In June 1997, WBO champion Dariusz Michalczewski scored a unanimous decision over Hill to unify the WBA, IBF, WBO and Lineal light-heavyweight titles at Arena Oberhausen, Germany.
Hill boxed against Roy Jones Jr. the following year, was stopped in round four with a body shot. The aging Hill won the WBA cruiserweight title at age 36 by knocking down Fabrice Tiozzo three times in Villeurbanne, France by TKO in the first, he made his first defense in France, against Jean-Marc Mormeck, but would lose both match and title on cuts after nine rounds. In July 2003 he decisioned Donny Lalonde in a North Dakota-Manitoba'border fight', he lost a disputed decision to Mormeck in a title rematch in South Africa in May 2004. On January 27, 2006 Virgil Hill won over undefeated Russian cruiserweight Valery Brudov by unanimous decision to win the'regular' WBA cruiserweight title, as the WBA had now created a WBA "Super" title beside the standard WBA title. Despite being cut on the face in the sixth round, Hill was able to out hustle and out work his much younger opponent to capture his fifth world title at the age of 42, he had his next to last fight in Germany on March 31, 2007, facing Henry Maske, whom he had beaten in 1996.
Maske had announced his retirement prior to that fight and was frustrated to end his career with a split-decision loss, the only loss in his professional career. When he heard about Hill capturing the world title again at the age of 42, he decided to challenge him for a rematch. Hill lost the Maske rematch by decision in a non-title bout lost to Firat Arslan by decision to lose his WBA cruiserweight title, he retired with a record of 7 losses. On July 16, 2011 Hill worked with his wife, Carla Hill, for their first boxing card and promotion at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, On November 12, 2012 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Class of 2013. List of lineal boxing world champions List of light heavyweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of IBF world champions Professional boxing record for Virgil Hill from BoxRec Virgil Hill's amateur boxing becord Virgil Hill - CBZ Profile
