Sechew Powell (born June 6, 1979) is an American 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 bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who competed from 2002 to 2014 and challenged for the
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
junior middleweight
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...
title in 2011.
Early life
Powell was born and raised in
Brownsville,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
of
Jamaican immigrant parents.
Powell’s father and former manager is
Novric Powell.
He is the brother of
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...
champion
David Branch
,
whom Powell has helped train for fights,
of college wrestler Novric Reese
,
and of fellow
middleweight 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, ...
Jamelle Hamilton, who has fought alongside Powell in multiple tournaments.
Amateur career
Nicknamed "Iron Horse", Powell was an amateur standout. In a rare event, Powell and his brother Jamelle Hamilton were crowned co-champions of the 139-pound novice division in the
Daily News Golden Gloves.
[
]
Powell was the 2000
National Golden Gloves Light Middleweight Champion
This is a list of United States national Golden Gloves champions in the light middleweight division, along with the state or region they represented. The weight limit for light middleweights was contested at until the division was discontinued af ...
and 2001
United States Amateur Light middleweight champion. He won the world under 19 championship in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1998
and received a full scholarship at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at
Northern Michigan University
Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...
in 2002, where he trained with coach Al Mitchell
and studied
forensic engineering
Forensic engineering has been defined as ''"the investigation of failures - ranging from serviceability to catastrophic - which may lead to legal activity, including both civil and criminal".'' It includes the investigation of materials, produc ...
and
auto repair
An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or mor ...
.
Professional career
Powell turned pro in 2002 and was undefeated in his first 20 fights before losing to
Kassim Ouma
Kassim Ouma (born 12 December 1978) is a Ugandan professional boxer. He held the IBF junior middleweight title from 2004 to 2005, and has challenged twice for a world middleweight title in 2006 and 2011.
Early life
Born into poverty, at the age ...
in 2006. In 2007, he won a close decision over
Ishe Smith
Ishé Oluwa Kamau Ali Smith ( ; born July 22, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2019. He held the IBF junior middleweight title in 2013, and is the first boxer from Las Vegas to become a professional world ...
and had a KO win over
Terrance Cauthen
Terrance Davin Cauthen (born May 14, 1976) is an American boxer. Nicknamed "Heat", Cauthen won the Lightweight Bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Cauthen grew up in Trenton, New Jersey and trained in Philadelphia.Longman, Jere"BO ...
.
After racking up a 15-0 record, in May 2005 Powell met the also unbeaten
Cornelius Bundrage
Cornelius Bundrage (born April 25, 1973) is an American professional boxer. He is a two-time former world champion, having held the IBF junior middleweight title twice between 2010 and 2015. In 2006 he was a contestant on season two of the '' ...
. Seconds coming into the fight, Bundrage and Powell threw simultaneous right hands to each other's chin, resulting in an extremely rare double knockdown. In shock of the event the referee did not score any knockdowns and Powell immediately sent down Bundrage for the second time with a straight left, who fell two times while trying to stand up and the bout was stopped.
He trained with coach
Buddy McGirt
James Walter "Buddy" McGirt (born January 17, 1964) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1997, and has since worked as a boxing trainer. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF junior we ...
in his professional career.
Powell also trained out of
Gleason's Gym
Gleason's is a boxing gym located on the Brooklyn waterfront. The gym was founded by Peter Gagliardi, a former bantamweight, who changed his name to Bobby Gleason. It moved to Manhattan and then to Brooklyn. Gleason's is now owned by Bruce Silverg ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
.
On June 11, 2008 Powell fought
Deandre Latimore
Deandre Latimore (born August 31, 1985) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2012, and challenged once for the IBF junior middleweight title in 2009.
Early years and amateur career
Deandre began boxing at the age o ...
at the
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. Powell entered the fight ranked #1 by the
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
in the
junior middleweight
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...
division. Both men hurt each other repeatedly throughout the fight, but it was Latimore who came up big in the seventh round when he hurt Powell with a right hook. An uppercut rocked Powell along the ropes and his head was repeatedly snapped back as he absorbed punch after punch. With less than a minute left in the round, the referee stepped in and called it off, much to the dismay of Powell. At the time of the stoppage, all three judges had the fight even, 57-57.
Powell tested positive for
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...
in his post-fight drug test and was suspended for 60 days by the
New York State Athletic Commission
The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat
Hand-to-hand combat (someti ...
.
Powell avenged his loss to Latimore by fighting him again two years later and winning with a twelve-round majority decision in an
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
title eliminator in
Durant
Durant may refer to:
People
* Durant (surname)
Fictional characters
* Durant (Pokémon), a species in ''Pokémon Black'' and ''White''
* ''John Durant'' (General Hospital), a character on the soap opera ''General Hospital''
Places
* Durant, ...
,
Oklahoma.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Sechew
1979 births
Living people
Light-middleweight boxers
National Golden Gloves champions
Boxers from Brooklyn
American male boxers