Danny Dignum (born 17 March 1992) is an English

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the

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 ...

European middleweight title since 2019. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the

2013 World Combat Games The 2013 World Combat Games was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from October 18 to 26, 2013. Venues Schedule Games Opening ceremony The opening ceremony was officially opened on October 18, 2013 at 20:30-22:00 local time. Sports Compa ...

Early life

Danny Dignum was born on 17 March 1992 in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. He attended St. Margaret's primary school in his home town of

Bowers Gifford Bowers Gifford is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet, in southern Essex, England. It is located east of Basildon, between Pitsea and Thundersley. Pillboxes in the surrounding fields ...

before attending The Appleton School in

South Benfleet South Benfleet is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Benfleet, in the Castle Point district of Essex, England, 30 miles east of London. It is adjacent to the village of North Benfleet. The Benfleet SS7 post town inclu ...

. He worked alongside his dad and twin brother as a tarmacer and concreter before taking up boxing full time. After his parents became fed up of he and his twin brother fighting, both began boxing at the age of nine on their father's suggestion.

Amateur career

During a career in which he had around 85 fights with approximately 70 wins, he won the 2012

ABA Championships The England Boxing National Amateur Championships previously known as the ABA Championships is the premier boxing tournament hosted annually by England Boxing. The Championships are 'open' class: any boxer who is registered with a club registere ...

, a bronze medal at the

and competed at the 2014 European Union Championships as part of the GB Boxing team.

Professional career

Dignum made his professional debut on 26 November 2016, scoring a second-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) victory over Jimmy White at the

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-se ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. After compiling a record of 11–0 (5 KOs) he faced

Conrad Cummings Conrad Cummings (born February 10, 1948) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His compositions include works for orchestra, as well as operatic and chamber works. Many of his works are composed in a minimalist style reminisc ...

for the vacant

European middleweight title on 9 November 2019 at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inter ...

in London. In a fight which saw Cummings receive a point deduction in the second round for repeated use of his elbow and suffer a cut in the fourth from an accidental head clash, Dignum captured the WBO European title via fifth-round TKO after referee Howard Foster stopped the contest to save Cummings from further punishment. He successfully defended the title four months later on 7 March 2020, defeating Alfredo Meli via ninth-round TKO at the Brentwood Centre in

Brentwood, Essex Brentwood is a town in the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the East of England. It is in the London commuter belt, situated 20 miles (30 km) east-north-east of Charing Cross and close by the M25 motorway. In 2017, the pop ...

. Dignum dropped Meli three times with punches to the body – once in the seventh, again in the eighth and for the final time in the ninth – prompting Meli's

corner Corner may refer to: People * Corner (surname) * House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect) Places * Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States * Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia * Corner River, a tributar ...

to throw in the towel as the referee called a halt to the contest.

Professional boxing record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dignum, Danny Living people 1992 births English male boxers Middleweight boxers Southpaw boxers Sportspeople from Essex English twins