Steve Robinson (born 13 December 1968, in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

) is a Welsh 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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who held the WBO

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, ...

title from 1993 to 1995. He was trained by the late boxing coach, Ronnie Rush.

Professional career

On 17 April 1993 the defending Featherweight Champion, Ruben Palacios from

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, was due to defend his title in Washington, England against John Davison from England. However, the champion failed an HIV test by the

BBBC 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. ...

prior to the bout and was immediately stripped of his title by the WBO. With only two days to go before the bout, the promoters had to find another opponent to face Davison. Steve Robinson accepted the chance to fight for the WBO crown. Robinson won the bout by a points decision against all the odds. He was the new WBO World Featherweight Champion. He was a worthy champion with 7 successful defences of his title. On 30 September 1995 he defended his title for the last time, against ''Prince''

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.Davies, Gareth A (8 June 2015)"Prince Naseem Hamed: 'I always thought they w ...

from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. Hamed dominated the fight and Steve Robinson was knocked out in the eighth round. He challenged for the European featherweight title on 3 February 1997, against the holder Billy Hardy, but was beaten on points. He challenged for the European title, against John Jo Irwin on 4 December 1999 and won the bout on a points decision, and became the new

European Boxing Union The European Boxing Union (EBU), formerly known as the International Boxing Union (IBU), is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the EBU European Championship, in addition to their ...

Featherweight Champion. However, 6 months later on 23 June 2000, he lost his title to István Kovács from

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He challenged for the European featherweight title again on 25 May 2001, but ended in defeat over 12 rounds against Manuel Calvo from Spain. Further defeats followed and Steve Robinson had decided to retire after his sixth loss in a row. He made his announcement after his points defeat to Steve Conway on 27 April 2002. He said after the bout, "I don't want to end it this way but there you are – it's happened. I've seen the great heights and I've some fantastic memories but I've beaten better men than Steve Conway and I just think it's time to call it a day."

In retirement

On 1 February 2006, Robinson started ''Train Station 2'', a "White Collar Boxing" fitness centre in Cardiff. He now runs Steve Robinson's Boxing Gym in his home town of Cardiff where he hopes to train a world champion. In 2009 and 2010, he acted in the films ''The Boxer'' and ''Risen''. In September 2020, Robinson announced that he had joined the Welsh National Party.

References

External links

Steve Robinson on www.johnnyowen.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Steve 1968 births Living people Welsh male boxers Featherweight boxers World featherweight boxing champions World Boxing Organization champions Boxers from Cardiff