Michael Morris (born 18 December 1968), who fought under the name Michael Armstrong, 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 eel, ...

, who was British

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 Ne ...

champion in 1992.

Career

Born in Moston,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

and based in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surroun ...

, Armstrong moved into boxing from

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gen ...

and made his professional debut in January 1988, knocking John Hales out in the first round. Beaten only twice in his first 15 fights, in September 1990 he challenged for

Modesty Napunyi Modesty Napunyi (13 March 1957 — 20 December 2002 (aged 45)) born in Nairobi, was a Kenyan amateur featherweight and professional super bantam/ feather/super featherweight boxer of the 1970s, '80s and '90s who made his international amateur d ...

's Commonwealth

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title, losing in a ninth round knockout. He won his next three fights, including a final eliminator against Darren Elsdon, setting up a challenge for John Doherty's British super featherweight title in April 1992 at the

G-Mex Centre Manchester Central Convention Complex (commonly known as Manchester Central or GMEX (Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre)) is an exhibition and conference centre converted from the former Manchester Central railway station in Manchester, En ...

in Manchester. Armstrong stopped Doherty in the seventh round to become British champion. In July 1993, he was fined £1,000 and given an 18-months suspended sentence after being found guilty of a drug offence. He lost the British title in October when he was stopped in the sixth round by

Neil Haddock Neil Haddock (born 22 June 1964) is a Welsh former lightweight and super featherweight boxer. Before turning professional he won a silver medal as a lightweight at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. His early career as a professional lightweight wa ...

. He was out of the ring until May 1993, when he faced

Jon Jo Irwin John Irwin (born 31 May 1969, Doncaster), known as Jon Jo Irwin, is a retired English amateur featherweight and professional feather/super featherweight boxer of the 1990s. Boxing career Amateur As an amateur he represented England and won a ...

for the vacant

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

Penta-Continental super featherweight title, losing on points. Armstrong was stopped in the third round by Bamana Dibateza in October 1994 when an arm wound that had been stitched reopened. In May 1995 he challenged

Floyd Havard Floyd Havard (born 16 October 1965) is a Welsh former super featherweight boxer. He was twice British super featherweight champion, from 1988–1989 and 1994-1996. In 1994 he made an unsuccessful bid for the IBF super featherweight title agains ...

for the British super featherweight title, losing by knockout in the ninth round.Harding, John (2016) ''Lonsdale's Belt: Boxing's Most Coveted Prize'', Pitch Publishing Ltd., He went on to start Armstrong's Gym in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

.Salford boxer turned loan shark jailed for threats
,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, 16 July 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2017 In 2010, he received a four year prison sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to f ...

, eight of

criminal damage Property damage (or cf. criminal damage in England and Wales) is damage or destruction of real or tangible personal property, caused by negligence, willful destruction, or act of nature. It is similar to vandalism and arson (destroying prope ...

and single counts of

affray In many legal jurisdictions related to English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of one or more persons in a public place to the terror (in french: à l'effroi) of ordinary people. Depending on their act ...

and illegal money lending, and ordered to pack back £268,992. After being released from prison in 2012, he returned to working as a boxing trainer and promoter.

References

External links

*
Michael Armstrong Interview with the former British super-featherweight Champion
, British Boxers, Youtube.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Michael 1968 births Living people English male boxers Featherweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers