Adolpho Washington (born 7 September 1967 in
Lexington,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...
) is a retired professional boxer. He held the
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
cruiserweight title from 1996 until 1997, and challenged twice for
WBA world titles at cruiserweight and light heavyweight.
Career
Washington turned pro in 1989 at light-heavy and in 1990 lost a decision to a fighter named
K.Casimier with a 2-6-1 record. Later he beat hard-punching fringe contender Drake Thadzi on points.
1993 came his first crack at a title, taking on WBA Light Heavyweight Title holder
Virgil Hill
Virgil Eugene Hill (born January 18, 1964) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2007, and in 2015. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBA light heavyweight title twice, from 1987 to 1997; the IBF ...
. Washington was caught in a bizarre incident in which he was unable to continue after being cut by bumping his head against a TV camera in the 11th round. Washington was clearly losing the fight, and lost a technical decision.
Cruiserweight
The following year and one weight class higher, he beat an out-of ashape
Iran Barkley
Iran Barkley (born May 6, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1999. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBC middleweight title from 1988 to 1989, the IBF super middleweight ti ...
on cuts and took on WBC Cruiserweight Title holder
Anaclet Wamba
Anaclet Wamba (born January 6, 1960) is a Congolese-French former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1994. He held the WBC Cruiserweight title from 1990 until 1994.
Amateur career
Wamba had a notable amateur career. He represented t ...
, but failed to gain the title in a draw. One year later, he scored a rare KO over hard-punching contender Izegwire and took on
Orlin Norris
Orlin Levance Norris (born October 4, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the WBA cruiserweight title from 1993 to 1995. As an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves title. He is the brot ...
for the WBA Cruiserweight Title and again came up short by a razor-thin decision. In 1996 he was able to win a title, upsetting undefeated former Olympic Gold medalist
Torsten May
Torsten May (born September 10, 1969 in Glauchau, Saxony) is a former German boxer, who won the Light Heavyweight Gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He challenged once for the IBF cruiserweight championship in 2006.
Amateur career
* ...
for the vacant
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
Cruiserweight Title. He equally surprisingly lost the title to puncher
Uriah Grant
Uriah or Uriyah () is a Hebrew given name. It may refer to:
People In the Bible
*Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in King David's army in the Books of Samuel
*Uriah, a priest under Ahaz in the Books of Kings
*Uriah (prophet), a prophet murdered by ...
in his next bout,
and never fought for a major title again.
He never looked good after that losing to Norris and May in rematches.
In 1999 he took on
James Toney
James Nathaniel Toney (born August 24, 1968) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to ...
, the only man to stop him inside the distance, after Washington was bleeding excessively from his nose. In 2001 he lost to
Vassily Jirov and retired.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of world cruiserweight boxing champions
References
External links
*
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Adolpho
1967 births
Living people
American male boxers
African-American boxers
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople
Boxers from Kentucky
Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky
Light-heavyweight boxers
World cruiserweight boxing champions
International Boxing Federation champions
International Boxing Organization champions