Steven Bendall (born 1 December 1973) is a British 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 competed from 1997 to 2013. He held the

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. ...

English

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

title twice in 2005 and 2008 and the IBO Inter-Continental middleweight title from 2001 to 2003. Bendall boxed to national level as an amateur before turning professional in May 1997, winning his first fight at the Rivermead Leisure Centre,

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, England, in which Bendall knocked out Hackney's Dennis Doyley on an undercard that included

Junior Witter Junior Witter (born 10 March 1974) is a British former world champion professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2015. He held the WBC light welterweight world title from 2006 to 2008 and challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title ...

and Tony Booth. Bendall's explosive knockout power lead him to win his first 14 fights, the majority inside the distance, before he fought for his title fight when he took on

Brendan Ingle Brendan Ingle (19 June 1940 – 25 May 2018) was an Irish boxing trainer, manager and former professional boxer based in Sheffield, England. Ingle trained four world champions in total at his Wincobank gym, including Johnny Nelson, "Prince" ...

trained Jason Collins in December 2001 for the WBU Intercontinental Middleweight Title. Bendall continued his winning streak beating Collins on points to win his first title as a professional. He then added the Vacant IBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title in March 2002 when he knocked out Ukrainian Viktor Fessetchko. His first defeat came in September 2004 when he lost to dangerous English fighter

Scott Dann Scott Dann (born 14 February 1987) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre back. He began his Football League career with Walsall F.C., Walsall, before moving on to Coventry City F.C., Coventry City an ...

during his challenge for the Vacant British Middleweight Title. Bendall later won the English Middleweight Title but then lost it to

Wayne Elcock Wayne Elcock (born 12 February 1974) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2009. He challenged once for the IBF middleweight title in 2007. At the regional level, he held the British middleweight title from 2007 to 2 ...

. He has also challenged for the EBU European Middleweight Title losing in the 3rd round against Germany's

Sebastian Sylvester Sebastian Sylvester (born 9 July 1980) is a German former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2011 and held the IBF middleweight title from 2009 to 2011. Professional career In March 2007 Sylvester retained the WBA Inter-Continental ...

and the Commonwealth Middleweight title losing to

Darren Barker Darren Barker (born 19 May 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2013. He held multiple titles at middleweight, including the IBF title in 2013; the Commonwealth title from 2007 to 2009; the British title in 20 ...

. Bendall shot back up to title winning prominence when in June 2008 he defeated Liverpool's

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

Silver medalist

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

over 10 rounds in Birmingham. It was Smiths first defeat as a professional. On 7 December 2013 in

Neuwied Neuwied (, ) is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the Neuwied (district), District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt ...

, Germany, Bendall was given a chance to fight the dangerous Ghanaian John Akulugu for the vacant WBU

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

World Title and proceeded to stop him with a 6th-round KO. Akulugu who had won his last 9 fights all by KO was also down in round 2 and round 4. The same month

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. As an amateur he r ...

took the WBU Cruiserweight World Title.

References

External links

*
Personal website of Steve Bendall
1973 births Living people English male boxers Middleweight boxers Boxers from Coventry {{England-boxing-bio-stub