Kevin Lear (born 3 May 1977) is a British 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 ...

who fought at

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

and

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 ...

. He is a former WBU super featherweight champion.

Professional career

Lear turned professional in September 1999 at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure centre in Bethnal Green, London. The building opened in 1929 and it is most famous as an international boxing venue with the first nights o ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

, London, England. In his debut Lear defeated

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n Demir Nanev with a fourth 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, ...

Victory over Michael Gomez

The

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

based fighter built up an unbeaten 12–0 record, before moving up considerably in class and fighting

Michael Gomez Michael Gomez (born Michael Armstrong; 21 June 1977) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and l ...

on 1 June 2002, at the

MEN Arena Manchester Arena (currently known as AO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. Pr ...

on the undercard of the

Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and boxing trainer, trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world champi ...

versus

Eamonn Magee Eamonn Magee (born 13 July 1971 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a retired WBU World Welterweight Boxing Champion who competed from 1995 to 2007 in the professional arena. He fought for and won the WBU World title in December 2003. He also hel ...

fight. From the outset of the fight, Lear, a former

Amateur Boxing Association of England England Boxing, known until 2013 as the Amateur Boxing Association of England, is the leading Sports governing body, governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England. There are separate organisations for Scotland and Wales with boxing in North ...

champion, kept Gomez at bay with his sharp

jab A jab is a type of punch used in martial arts. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a fighting stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended from the side of t ...

. Lear inflicted damage to Gomez whose nose began to bleed heavily in the sixth round. By the eighth round, Gomez was slowing suffering the effects of Lear's continuing barrage of combinations. At the end of the eight round Gomez's trainer Brian Hughes retired Gomez giving Lear a surprising victory. Following his victory over Gomez, Lear only fought once more, before having to retire as a result of serious and long-standing shoulder injuries.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lear, Kevin English male boxers Living people 1977 births Super-featherweight boxers