Lee Haskins (born 29 January 1983) 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 competed between 2003 and February 2020. He held the
IBF 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 ...
title from 2015 to 2017, and the IBF
interim title in 2015. At regional level, he held the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
flyweight
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight.
Professional boxing
The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...
title in 2006; the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
super-flyweight
Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to .
History
The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from As ...
title from 2008 to 2009; the Commonwealth super-flyweight title in 2009; the British bantamweight title in 2013; and the
European
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
bantamweight title twice between 2012 and 2015.
Early life
Lee Haskins was born in
Lockleaze
Lockleaze is an area and council ward in the northern suburbs of the city of Bristol, England, north of the city centre, south of Filton, east of Horfield and west of Frenchay.
Lockleaze is a residential area of social housing built on the wes ...
, a district of
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
.
Professional career
Early career
Haskins made his professional debut in March 2003 when he took on and defeated Ben Cornthwaite stopping him in the first round at Ashton Gate Stadium, the home of
Bristol City FC. In his very next contest he defeated future British champion
Chris Edwards this time over 6 rounds at the same venue. By the time he had compiled a winning ledger of 9–0 he challenged
journeyman
A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...
fighter Delroy Spencer for the English Flyweight title and claimed the belt after Spencer retired after the third round of the 10 round contest. In February 2006 almost three years from his professional debut and now with a winning record of 13–0 Haskins challenged the Tanzanian fighter Anthony Mathias for the vacant Commonwealth Flyweight title. He stopped Mathias in the 2nd round at
The Pavilions
The Pavilions is an indoor shopping centre in Uxbridge, Greater London, England. It was opened in 1973 and refurbished in 1985 and has previously been known as the Pavilions Shopping Centre and before that, The Cedars Shopping Centre. Between 200 ...
in
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
to pick up his second career title.
Commonwealth title fights
Following the victory over Mathias, Haskins returned to Bristol just two months later for his first defence against South African Zolile Mbityi. The fight as reported by the BBC was often a 'messy and bad tempered affair' with Haskins never really hitting top gear. Haskins won the fight on points over 12 rounds.
In October 2006 Haskins chose to move up a weight division and compete for the Commonwealth Bantamweight title. The current champion, another South African called
Tshifhiwa Munyai had claimed the belt with an upset win over British Bantamweight title holder
Martin Power
Martin Power (born 14 February 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2012. He held the British bantamweight title from 2005 to 2006 and challenged twice for the Commonwealth bantamweight title in 2006 and 2007.
...
. Going into the fight Haskins was confident saying ''"I think he's gonna come in and try to take me out. That's what I want. I've changed a few things, and hopefully it'll work on the night."'' The fight which was Haskins debut 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 ...
in London ended in the 6th round with Munyai scoring a tko.
British title challenges
Following the stoppage, Haskins next meaningful fight was almost a year later in September 2007 when he returned to the York Hall to take on new British Bantamweight holder
Ian Napa
Ian Napa (born 14 March 1978) is a Zimbabwe born British former professional boxer originally. He held the British bantamweight title twice between 2007 and 2012, and the EBU European bantamweight title from 2008 to 2009.
Early professional car ...
. The fight once again proved to be a disappointment for Haskins with ringside reporters claiming he was looking tired before he retired hurt with an arm injury in the 7th round, handing the feather-fisted Napa the only knockout win of his career. in March 2008 Haskins put the memory of defeat behind him by scoring a win over former British title challenger
Jamie McDonnell over 8 rounds in
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
. The win set him up for another crack at a title, this time against the British Super-Flyweight champion
Andy Bell. The fight with Bell took place in November 2008 and ended with a unanimous points decision for the Bristolian in what was considered to be a close fight. Speaking after the fight Haskins paid tribute to his opponent saying ''"I don't know what to say. It feels great. I knew Andy Bell is a great fighter, he is very tough. He hits hard as well and it just feels great to be champion"'' On 10 July 2009 Haskins defended his belt for the first time against Sheffield's Ross Burkinshaw, winning in the 4th round.
British and Commonwealth champion
On 11 December 2009 Haskins added the Commonwealth Super Flyweight title to his collection after defeating the unbeaten
Don Broadhurst
Don Broadhurst is a retired English professional boxer who competed in the Flyweight division. He hails from Birmingham and boxed for Frank Warren's Sports Network. He held the Commonwealth super flyweight champion from 31 October 2 ...
on points in
Newport, Wales and becoming a two weight Commonwealth champion. Haskins claimed the belt having scored a unanimous points victory on all three judges scorecards in what was described as a 'scrappy' contest. Following the fight Haskins was scheduled to face Italian Andrea Sarritzu for the European title at super flyweight only for the contest to be called off on a total of four occasions, another fight against the Frenchman Karim Guerfi also fell through after the fighters failed to agree terms.
The delays meant that Haskins was out of the ring for over a year until on 30 April 2011 he met Bulgarian boxer Fikret Remziev over six rounds, scoring a fourth round stoppage, at the
Olympiad Leisure Centre
The Olympiad Leisure Centre is a leisure centre in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England.
History
The centre opened in 1989 and is owned by Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the Loc ...
in
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...
. Speaking about the delays promoter
Chris Sanigar described the period as being "very frustrating" and said that he'd like to see Haskins fight for the British title again with a view to stepping up to Bantamweight to challenge
Jamie McDonnell at some point in the future.
To add to Haskin's disappointment, he was stripped of the Commonwealth belt after failing to defend it.
On 14 July 2011, Haskins travelled to Morocco to accept a short notice challenge for the WBA Inter continental and the IBF International bantamweight titles. His opponent, Mohamed Bouleghcha had won the titles in April and as the fight was at bantamweight meant that Haskins would have to not only concede home advantage but also weight advantage as he had not fought in the division for four years. Haskins won a victory over 12 rounds, including two knockdowns, and said that the victory represented that he was now ready for the world stage.
Prizefighter champion
In October 2011 Haskins became Prizefighter champion, without losing a single round throughout the tournament.
European champion
On 14 December 2012, Haskins had a big chance to step closer to a world title shot by facing
Stuart Hall for the EBU European bantamweight title. He won the fight and became European bantamweight champion. Lee's next fight after that was to defend the title against
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
fighter 'Stephane Jamoye' in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. He lost the fight along with his European title, but the fight was rated by many critics as "one of the most entertaining fights of 2012". What followed over the next two years was being crowned British bantamweight champion, along with a few defences of the title. In February 2015 Haskins earned another opportunity to fight for the vacant EBU European title against French fighter 'Omar Lamiri' in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, Monaco. The fight was stopped due to Haskins suffering a cut over his right eye in a clash of heads during the 8th round. The fight went to the score cards, and as his first European title shot he was victorious.
World champion
In March 2015, Haskins received a call from the IBF confirming that he is to fight Japan's
Ryosuke Iwasa
is a Japanese professional boxer. He held the IBF super-bantamweight title from 2017 to 2018 and the interim version from 2019 to April 2021. He also challenged from the unified WBA (Super) and IBF super-bantamweight titles in April 2021.
Car ...
, for the Interim world title due to the current champion Randy Caballero suffering from injury. Lee Haskins put on a remarkable display in his fight for the IBF world interim bantamweight title against Ryosuke Iwasa, and knocked out his opponent inside six rounds. Haskins is Bristol's first world champion in 15 years. He was set to fight
Randy Caballero on 21 November 2015, however Caballero failed to make weight, and Haskins was promoted to full champion by the IBF. In May 2016, he defended the title for the first time, defeating Ivan Morales in Cardiff.
On 15 December 2016, Haskins made a successful second defence of his IBF World Bantamweight title on the undercard of the
Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook bill at
The O2
The O2 (formerly known as the Millennium Dome) is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, Town square, piazzas, ...
against
Stuart Hall. This would be the second time the pair had fought, with the first fight being for the vacant EBU Bantamweight title back in 2012. Haskins unorthodox angles and movement banked the early rounds to give Hall too much to do down the stretch and claim a unanimous decision win. The judges scored the bout 115–113, 117-111 and 116–112, all in favour of Haskins.
World Title loss & Comeback Trail
On 27 April 2017 it was announced that Haskins would make his third IBF Title defence against
Ryan Burnett
Ryan Burnett (born 21 May 1992) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 2013 to 2019. He was a unified bantamweight world champion, having held the WBA (Unified) and IBF titles between 2017 and 2018. At regional level he held ...
in Belfast at the
Odyssey Arena
The Odyssey Complex, consisting of Odyssey Place and the SSE Arena, is a sports, entertainment and science learning complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The concept of the complex originated in 1992 and wa ...
.
Haskins vs. Joyce
On 1 February 2020, Haskins faced David Oliver Joyce. Haskins started well, dominating the first two rounds, but was stopped by Joyce at the end of the fifth round. After the fight, Haskins announced his retirement from professional boxing.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
*
Lee Haskins - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankingsa
Box.Live
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskins, Lee
Super-flyweight boxers
Bantamweight boxers
1983 births
Living people
English male boxers
International Boxing Federation champions
People from Brixton
Boxers from the London Borough of Lambeth
21st-century English sportsmen