Dave Needham (boxer)
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Dave Needham (15 August 1951 – 19 September 2008) was a British boxer. He was a Commonwealth Games gold medal winner and one of the few boxers to have held both the
BBBC The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...
bantamweight and featherweight titles.


Early life and amateur career

Needham was born in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
and attended Cottesmore School. He trained at the Nottingham Boxing School in Radford. Needham won the 1969 and 1970 Amateur Boxing Association British flyweight title, when boxing out of the Nottingham School of Boxing ABC. He represented
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and won a
gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
in the flyweight division, at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. defeating
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
's Leo Rwabwogo in the final.


Professional career

Needham's first professional fight was on 25 January 1971 when he fought Jimmy Killeen. His first title fight was on 10 December 1974 at the former Nottingham ice rink, when he had a points win over Paddy Maguire and became the British bantamweight champion. He lost the bantamweight title on 20 October 1975 at Grosvenor House (World Sporting Club),
Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...
on a
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) to the same Paddy Maguire. On 20 April 1978 at the World Sporting Club,
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
. Needham won the title of British featherweight champion when he defeated Alan Richardson on points. On 16 December 1978 in Leon, Spain, he fought for the EBU featherweight title, but lost on a TKO to Roberto Castanon. Needham lost the featherweight title on 6 November 1979 at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
when he was defeated by Pat Cowdell on points. His last fight was on 29 May 1979 at Wolverhampton Civic Hall against Pat Cowdell for the British featherweight title. Cowdell won on a TKO.


Retirement

Needham retired aged 29 in 1980, after becoming disillusioned with the sport. He went on to run a motorcycle dealership with his brother.
He spent the last couple of years of his life in Thailand. Needham died in Chonburi hospital from liver problems. He was 57.


See also

*
List of British bantamweight boxing champions The following is a table showing the boxers who have won the British bantamweight title. The title has been sanctioned by the National Sporting Club since 1909, and later by its replacement British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) since 1929. A c ...
*
List of British featherweight boxing champions List of British featherweight boxing champions is a table showing the Boxing, boxers who have won the British featherweight title. The title has been sanctioned by the National Sporting Club since 1909, and later by its replacement British Boxing ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Needham, Dave 1951 births 2008 deaths English male boxers Boxers from Nottingham Flyweight boxers Featherweight boxers Bantamweight boxers Boxers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England English expatriates in Thailand Dave Needham Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing