Isiah Thomas (born January 30, 1989) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the first-ever Junior World Boxing Championship for the United States at the 2005 Cadet World Championships.

Amateur career

A natural southpaw, Thomas had his first bout in 2002 and continued his winning ways en route to becoming a two-time Junior Olympic National Champion as well as easily winning the World Championships, garnering praise from

Emanuel Steward Emanuel "Manny" Steward (July 7, 1944 – October 25, 2012) was an American boxer, trainer, and commentator for HBO Boxing. Known as "the godfather of Detroit boxing," Steward trained 41 world champion fighters throughout his career, mos ...

: "I have a kid who will be the next big thing—Isiah Thomas. I don't have to teach him much, he's a gifted athlete. I haven't seen anyone as good since Mays." His amateur career, however, stalled somewhat as his two losses against compatriots in 2006 and his loss to

Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion si ...

at the 2007 National

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

attested.

Professional career

He turned professional at

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 ...

in 2008. In December 2015, Thomas fought

Murat Gassiev Murat Georgievich Gassiev (; ; born 12 October 1993) is a Russian former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2016 to 2018, and the WBA (Unified) title in 2018. Background Gassiev is from Vladikavkaz, the ca ...

in a fight that was ruled a

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

after Thomas was hit after the bell in the third round.

References

External links

*
Amateur record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Isiah (boxer) Living people Boxers from Detroit Heavyweight boxers Southpaw boxers 1989 births African-American boxers American male boxers 21st-century African-American sportsmen