Ronnie Shields (born June 6, 1958 in

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...

) is a former professional boxer in the

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, ...

division and is currently a boxing trainer.

Amateur career

Shields had a stellar amateur career. In 1974 he was the National Junior Olympics Featherweight champion. In 1975 he was the National Golden Gloves Featherweight champion. In 1976 and 1978 he was the National Golden Gloves Light welterweight champion. Shields intended to fly on

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 7 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 was an Ilyushin Il-62 that crashed near Okecie airport, Warsaw-Okecie Airport in Poland, on 14 March 1980, as the crew aborted a landing and attempted to go-around, killing all 77 passengers and 10 crew members on ...

, where several of his teammates would later be killed, but got sick. His trainer said: Both some amateur results and pro results can be found at www.boxrec.com/ under his boxing name Ronnie Shields.

Pro career

Shields turned pro in 1980. After winning 14 out of his first 15 bouts, Shields fought tougher competition and defeated tough journeymen like Pete Podgorski and contender

Saoul Mamby Saoul Paul Mamby (June 4, 1947 – December 19, 2019) was an American professional boxer who fought between 1969 and 2008. He held the WBC super lightweight title from 1980 to 1982. Personal Mamby was born in South Bronx, New York, to Victor ...

. Then, in 1984 Shields challenged Billy Costello for the WBC light welterweight title, but lost a decision. In 1986 he took on Tsuyoshi Hamada in Japan for the WBC light welterweight title, but lost a split decision. He retired in 1988.

Trainer

After his boxing career, Shields became a trainer in the sport based in Stafford, Texas. Among the fighters he has worked with are: *

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion in the cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight division ...

* David Tua *

Pernell Whitaker Pernell Whitaker Sr. (January 2, 1964 – July 14, 2019) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2001, and subsequently worked as a boxing trainer. He was a four-weight world champion, having won titles at lightweight, ligh ...

* Vernon Forrest *

Arturo Gatti Arturo Gatti (April 15, 1972 – July 11, 2009) was a Canadian professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2007. A world champion in two weight class (boxing), weight classes, Gatti held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior lightwei ...

* Juan Díaz * Kassim Ouma * Egerton Marcus * Dominick Guinn * Raúl Márquez * Jesse James Leija * Jesús Chávez * Kermit Cintron * Vanes Martirosyan * Romallis Ellis * Tomasz Adamek *

Chris Arreola Cristobal Arreola (born March 5, 1981) is an American former professional boxer who challenged three times for the WBC heavyweight title. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's No.8 heavyweight at the conclusion of 2007 and as No.7 heavyweigh ...

* Jermell Charlo * Artur Szpilka His current stable includes: *

Erislandy Lara Erislandy Lara Santoya (born 11 April 1983) is a Cuban-American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title since 2023 ( Regular version from ...

* Jermall Charlo *

Brian Vera Bryan Lee Vera (born December 28, 1981) is an American professional boxer currently competing as a super middleweight. He is best known for his memorable and notable victories over then-undefeated Andy Lee in 2008, former world champion Sergio M ...

* Edwin Rodríguez *

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, whe ...

* Steve Lovett *

Guillermo Rigondeaux Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (; born 30 September 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer. Who held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and '' Ring'' magazine super bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2017, and the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title fro ...

Efe Ajagba Efe Ajagba (born 22 April 1994) is a Nigerian professional boxer who holds the record for the fastest victory in boxing history after his opponent was disqualified for leaving the ring one second after the opening bell. As an amateur, he won a ...

*Austin Dulay *Sena Agbeko *Filip “El Animal” Hrgović

Awards and recognition

* World Boxing Hall of Fame's ''Trainer of the Year'' (2003)

References

External links

* 1958 births Living people Featherweight boxers Boxers from Texas American boxing trainers Sportspeople from Port Arthur, Texas American male boxers 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-boxing-bio-stub