Jeff Lampkin (born September 21, 1961) is an American former

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 ...

. During his 11-year professional career, Lampkin won the USBA cruiserweight title and IBF cruiserweight belt.

Amateur career

Lampkin had a stellar amateur career, winning the National AAU Light Heavyweight Championship in 1980. He became a professional later that year. On June 11, 1982, Lampkin, along with another Youngstown-area boxer,

Earnie Shavers Earnie Dee Shaver (August 31, 1944 – September 1, 2022), best known as Earnie Shavers, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1969 and 1995. A two-time world heavyweight championship challenger, he is known as one of the hard ...

, had an undercard spot on the

Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He is often considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. ...

- Gerry Cooney fight.

Professional career

Lampkin's professional boxing career peaked on March 22, 1990, when he won the IBF Cruiserweight Title with a technical knockout of

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boxer

Glenn McCrory Glenn McCrory (born 23 September 1964) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1993. He held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1989 to 1990, and at regional level held the British and Commonwealth cruiserweight title be ...

, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He defended the belt once against Siza Makathini before vacating the title in 1991. This decision came in the wake of a controversy surrounding Lampkin's participation in an IBF bout in

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, which prompted the WBA and WBC to withhold recognition of his title. (Both bodies had sanctions against fighters who competed in that country.) The IBF's subsequent failure to offer Lampkin a fight led him to request a purse offer in the summer of 1991. When IBF President Bobby Lee offered Lampkin a fight just three weeks before the bout was scheduled, a move that denied him adequate training time, the boxer concluded that the IBF had no intention of allowing him to defend his title. After vacating his title, Lampkins never challenged for a major belt again.

Later years

Despite Lampkins' accomplishments, his economic rewards were relatively modest. Contracts he signed left the fighter with little more than $50,000, even though he won and defended a cruiserweight world champion title. The former champion indicated that frustration over the apparent mishandling of his career contributed to his decision to vacate the title. Today, Lampkin lives and works in Youngstown.

Professional boxing record

References

External links