George Feeney (born 9 February 1957) is a British former

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who was British

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

champion between 1982 and his retirement in 1984.By George! Temple Can Be Champ
, ''

Hartlepool Mail The ''Hartlepool Mail'' is a newspaper serving Hartlepool, England and the surrounding area. History The paper was founded in Hartlepool in 1877 as ''The Northern Daily Mail'' and continued to be printed in the town until August 2006, when the ...

'', 8 August 2000; retrieved 27 December 2015.

Career

Born in

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

, Feeney learned to box at the Boys Welfare gym, and made his professional debut in August 1977. He won ten of his first fifteen fights, which also included defeats to more experienced boxers including

Cornelius Boza-Edwards Cornelius Boza-Edwards (born Cornelius Bbosa; 27 May 1956) is a former professional boxer who is the former WBC Super Featherweight champion of the world. Born in Kampala, Uganda, he fought in both the super-featherweight and lightweight divisi ...

and

Clinton McKenzie Clinton McKenzie (born 15 September 1955) is a former British professional boxer. He fought in the light welterweight division and became the British light welterweight title holder and briefly held the European title. Background McKenzie was ...

. In October 1980, he faced Ricky Beaumont in a British lightweight title eliminator and lost a narrow points decision. In March 1981, he stopped Winston Spencer in the ninth round of another title eliminator; and in January, 1982, beat

Ken Buchanan Ken Buchanan (28 June 1945 – 1 April 2023) was a Scottish professional boxer who competed between 1965 and 1982. He held multiple championships at lightweight; the World Boxing Association (WBA) and ''Ring'' magazine titles from 1970 to 197 ...

on points in what was the latter's final (official) fight. He got his shot at the British title in October that year, against defending champion Ray Cattouse at the Royal Albert Hall. In a closely fought contest, Feeney emerged the winner, after stopping Cattouse in the fourteenth round to become the new champion. In 1983, he travelled to Italy, where he took

Ray Mancini Ray Mancini (born Raymond Michael Mancino; March 4, 1961), better known as "Boom Boom" Mancini, is an American former professional boxer who competed professionally from 1979 to 1992 and who has since worked as an actor and sports commentato ...

the distance in a close fight in March. Feeney was decisively beaten on points the following month, however, by

Howard Davis Jr. Howard Edward Davis Jr. (February 14, 1956 – December 30, 2015) was an American professional boxer. Growing up on Long Island as the eldest of 10 children, Davis first learned boxing from his father. After being inspired by a movie about Muham ...

Back in England he made the first defence of his British title in December, 1983 against

Tony Willis Anthony Willis (born 17 June 1960 in Liverpool, England) is a Former British boxing champion winning the Lonsdale Belt out right and won a Light Welterweight Bronze medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. As a professional, he held the British ...

, stopping the challenger in the first round. He made a second successful defence in February 1984 against Paul Chance, winning the

Lonsdale Belt The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, The 5th Earl of Lonsdale introduced the prize on behalf of the National S ...

outright.Horsley, Richy & Stephen Richards (2005) ''Born to Fight'', Blake Publishing; Pursuing the European title, he travelled to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in October 1984 to challenge Rene Weller. The fight went the distance, with defending champion Weller retaining his title. Feeney suffered a detached retina. This proved to be Feeney's final fight, and he retired after eye surgery in 1985. Feeney's younger brother, John Feeney, was British

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

champion between 1983 and 1985.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feeney, George 1957 births Living people English male boxers Lightweight boxers Sportspeople from Hartlepool