Ray Gilbody (born 21 March 1960) 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 ee ...

who after a successful amateur career held the British

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. 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 is derived from Ba ...

title between 1985 and 1987, and fought for the European title twice in 1986.

Amateur career

Born in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

and raised in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, Gilbody had a successful career as an amateur in which he won three national schools titles, several other junior titles and three senior ABA titles — at

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

in 1979 and at bantamweight in 1980 and 1982.Prentice, David (2012)
BORN in Southport, boxing out of St Helens, but proud to call himself as a Warrington lad, Gilbody was a remarkable fighter whoever tried to claim him
, ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

'', 12 May 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2017 He fought with the Great British boxing team that was captained by his older brother George Gilbody at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, and in 1982 he represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and won a bronze medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.Ray Gilbody
, sports-reference.com. Retrieved 23 December 2017 In all he represented his country over 50 times.

1980 Olympic results

*Round of 64: bye *Round of 32: defeated Joao Luis de Almeida (Angola) by decision, 5-0 *Round of 32: lost to Daniel Zaragoza (Mexico) by decision, 1-4

Professional career

He made his professional debut in March 1983, stopping George Bailey in the second round at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. In December, in his fifth fight, he challenged for John Farrell's

BBBofC The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

Southern Area bantamweight title, the fight ending a draw. In April 1984 he stopped Dave George in a British title eliminator, but suffered a setback in February 1985 when he was forced to retire against Sandy Odanga with a suspected dislocated wrist. He won the British title in June 1985, beating defending champion John Feeney on points. He successfully defended the title in November, stopping Farrell in the eighth round.Skentelbery, Gary (2010)
Boxer Gilbody still in the ring!
, Warrington Worldwide, 14 June 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2017 In February 1986 he unsuccessfully challenged for

Ciro De Leva Ciro may refer to: * Ciro (given name), a list of the people who share the Italian and Spanish given name *Ćiro (given name), a list of the people who share the Croatian given name *Ciro (opera), 1654 opera by Francesco Cavalli *Cyrus Cuneo (1879- ...

's European title in

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

, losing a narrow decision, with one judge scoring the fight a draw. When the title became vacant, he faced

Antoine Montero Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana, ...

in Paris in October, the Spanish-born Frenchman stopping him in the first round. Gilbody made a second defence of his British title in February 1987,

Billy Hardy Billy Hardy (born 5 September 1964 in Sunderland) is a former bantamweight and featherweight boxer champion. He held the British championship at bantamweight and featherweight, as well as the European and Commonwealth featherweight titles. Th ...

taking the title with a third round stoppage. This was Gilbody's final fight. Gilbody subsequently worked as a boxing coach in Warrington. Gilbody's brother

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

was also a successful amateur, who represented Britain at Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbody, Ray 1960 births Living people English male boxers Bantamweight boxers People from Warrington Boxers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Great Britain Boxers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games