Brendan Ingle (19 June 1940 – 25 May 2018) was an Irish

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

trainer, manager and former professional boxer based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. Ingle trained four world champions in total at his Wincobank gym, including

Johnny Nelson Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson (born 4 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2006, and remains t ...

, "Prince" Naseem Hamed,

Junior Witter Junior Witter (born 10 March 1974) is a British former world champion professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2015. He held the WBC light welterweight world title from 2006 to 2008 and challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title ...

, and

Kell Brook Ezekiel "Kell" Brook (born 3 May 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2022. He held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title from 2014 to 2017, and challenged once for a unified middleweigh ...

Professional career

He had a professional record of 19 wins and 14 losses.

Boxing trainer

While living in Wincobank, Sheffield, England, Ingle was asked by a local vicar to carry out some community work because youth in the area were "running wild." He knew nothing but boxing, but he organised a weekly dance at St Thomas' church hall and the boxing gym St Thomas' Boys & Girls Club was opened. Herol "Bomber" Graham, undefeated in ten years is what Ingle would call "the best person to come out of our gym," although perhaps Ingle is best known for being

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.Davies, Gareth A (8 June 2015)"Prince Naseem Hamed: 'I always thought they w ...

's mentor from the age of seven to 25. He has also trained former IBF

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

titlist Clinton Woods and was the trainer of former WBC

Light Welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

titlist

. He also was trainer of former

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

cruiserweight champion

. He lived in Wincobank, Sheffield, just across the road from his gym, St Thomas' Boys and Girls Club. In total he has trained four world champions, six European, 15 British and six Commonwealth champions. Ingle's fighters relied on footwork and reflexes for defence, leaving the hands free for offensive activity. Brendan's sons, Dominic and John, both run the Ingle Gym their father established.

Honours and personal life

He has also lectured at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. Ingle was awarded an MBE in 1998 for his services and contributions to British boxing and his work with young people in the Sheffield area. In August 2014, Ingle was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' opposing

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. Ingle died in May 2018 due to a brain hemorrhage at the age of 77. Upon his death, former student Johnny Nelson paid tribute to Ingle as "the best trainer in the world".

References

External links

Boxers Ingle is managing
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Guardian interview - Ingle gets his gloves on to floor racial divide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingle, Brendan 1940 births 2018 deaths Boxing trainers Sport in Sheffield Irish male boxers Honorary members of the Order of the British Empire Middleweight boxers Boxers from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish sportsmen