Shakeel Phinn (born October 31, 1990) is a Canadian

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 has held the WBC– NABF and IBF North American

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

titles since 2019.

Early life

Phinn was born on October 31, 1990, in

Brossard Brossard ( , , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal, Greater Montreal area. According to the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. His father, Benjamin, was an amateur boxer. Phinn played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Champlain College Saint-Lambert Champlain College Saint-Lambert (French language, French: ''Collège Champlain Saint-Lambert)'' is an English-language college in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, Canada that is part of Quebec's CEGEP public education system. It is a campus of Champlain Re ...

, where he was named team offensive MVP for the 2010–11 season. He joined oneXone Boxing Gym in Saint-Hubert initially to stay conditioned and work on his footwork. He was quickly drawn into the sport and enrolled as an amateur fighter at the gym, competing in his first amateur bout at the age of 21. Within a year, he won the Quebec provincial championship.

Professional career

Phinn made his professional debut on January 31, 2015, defeating Eddie Gates via fourth-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

. However, he lost in his second bout that April against compatriot Roody Rene on the

Adonis Stevenson Stevenson Adonis (born 22 September 1977), best known as Adonis Stevenson, is a Haitian Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2018. He won the WBC, '' Ring'' magazine and lineal light heavyweight titles in 2013 by defeat ...

–

Sakio Bika Sakio Bika (born 18 April 1979) is a Cameroonian-born Australian professional boxer. He held the WBC super-middleweight title from 2013 to 2014, and previously the IBO super-middleweight title from 2008 to 2010. In 2015 he challenged once for ...

undercard in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. After three straight victories he knocked out the third-ranked Canadian

Guillaume Tremblay-Coude in November, although he suffered the first knockdown of his career in the fight. Three months later, just over a year after turning pro, he beat hometown hero Paul Bzdel in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

to win the vacant national

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

title. His

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD) victory headlined the first night of professional boxing held in the city in 16 years. His eventual sixteen-fight winning streak would be snapped in December 2017, when he suffered his second career loss versus undefeated

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

prospect Ramón Aguiñaga by

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

(MD) in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, falling to 16–2. On December 1, 2018, he faced undefeated American Dario Bredicean for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental super middleweight title on the Adonis Stevenson–

Oleksandr Gvozdyk Oleksandr Serhiyovych Gvozdyk (also Hvozdyk; ; born 15 April 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council, WBC and Lineal championship, lineal light-heavyweight titles from 2018 to 2019. As an Amateur boxing, amateu ...

undercard in Quebec City, the night Stevenson suffered a life-threatening brain injury that prematurely ended his career. Phinn battled the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

native to a controversial

majority draw A majority draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporatin ...

– one judge scored it 98–92 in clear favor of Phinn, but was overruled by the other two who scored it 95–95. After a win over Mexican

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 ...

Juan Carlos Raygosa, he defeated Argentine southpaw Elio Germán Rafael on June 8, 2019, by tenth-round TKO for the vacant WBC– NABF and IBF North American super-middleweight titles. In November he travelled to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

to face undefeated local Mateusz Tryc, losing by UD after eight rounds for the third loss of his career.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

He co-owns the Donnybrook Boxing Gym in

Saint-Henri, Montreal Saint-Henri () is a neighbourhood in southwestern Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest. Saint-Henri is bounded to the east by Atwater Avenue, to the west by the town of Montreal West, to the north by Autoroute Ville-Mari ...

with fellow pro fighter Ian MacKillop. Within a year of its opening, it housed more professional fighters than any other gym in the country.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phinn, Shakeel 1990 births Living people Canadian male boxers Super-middleweight boxers Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Black Canadian boxers Black Canadian sportsmen Sportspeople from Brossard Boxing people from Quebec 21st-century Canadian sportsmen