Willie Limond
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Willie Limond (2 February 1979 – 15 April 2024) was a Scottish
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 ...
and footballer. He held the
EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
European Union
super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...
title in 2004, the Commonwealth
lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...
title from 2006 to 2007, the Commonwealth
super lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
title from 2013 to 2014, and the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
super lightweight title in 2014.


Early career

Limond started out as a footballer, making five league appearances for Albion Rovers in the 1998–99 season. Limond's professional boxing career began in 1999 with a win over journeyman Lenny Hodgkins,l. He then beat a number of superfeatherweight boxers, including a notable win over future WBU
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, ...
champion and IBO world title challenger, Choi Tseveenpurev. This led to a showdown with fellow Scotsman Alex Arthur for the British Superfeatherweight title on 12 December 2003 at the Braehad Arena,
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. Both men were undefeated, and the bout was thought to be the biggest all-Scottish bout for the British title in some 30 years. Limond was defeated by TKO in the 8th round. There were rumours of a rematch following, but it never happened.


EBU-EU Superfeatherweight title

Following his loss to Alex Arthur, Limond went on to pick up a few more wins before earning himself a shot at
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 ...
Superfeatherweight title. He fought the French champion Youssouf Djibaba on 19 June 2004, at the Braehead Arena, the same venue where he had a lost to Alex Arthur almost a year earlier. Limond won the vacant belt via unanimous decision. After a series of victories over journeyman and a successful defence of his newly won crown against Spain's Alberto López, in subsequent bouts Limond moved on from the EU title. Looking to ascend further up the rankings, Limond went on to win the Celtic Superfeatherweight title against recent Commonwealth title challenger, Kevin O'Hara.


Commonwealth Lightweight title

After his Celtic title win, followed by an easy victory over Jus Wallie, Limond stepped up to
lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...
and took on Ghana's Joshua Allotey for the vacant
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
title. On 4 November 2006 at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Limond won the title via unanimous decision. Limond lost the title in his first defence, to rising prospect Amir Khan on 14 July 2007. He had knocked Khan down in the sixth round but ultimately failed to defeat the
2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
Silver medallist Khan, and was retired by his own corner at the end of the eighth. The loss was not without controversy, as some spectators thought that Khan had been given a long count after Limond had sent him to the canvas.


IBO Inter-Continental & WBU Lightweight title

With the loss of his Commonwealth title, he defeated Martin Watson for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental title on 29 March 2008, at the
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre The SEC Centre (originally known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre until 2017) is Scotland's largest Exhibition center, exhibit ...
, Glasgow on a unanimous points decision, which placed him back in the reckoning for a world title fight. This was followed by a points victory over Matt Scriven, before going onto challenge for the WBU lightweight title. Willie Limond was due to be fighting Zambian champion Godwin Mutampuka in Paisley on 27 February for the vacant WBU lightweight title but his opponent failed his medical, with rumours being it was due to being
HIV positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of th ...
. Instead, Limond fought Harry Ramogoadi to a points victory in a non-title bout. Limond eventually got his chance, and fought English champion Ryan Barrett for the WBU lightweight title on 29 June. Limond won the bout at the Thistle Hotel, Glasgow by unanimous decision.


Bout with Erik Morales

On 11 September 2010, Limond took on former champion
Erik Morales Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to quadruple champion, win world championships in four weight classes, rangin ...
for the WBC Silver light-welterweight title. Limond started off strongly landing some clean shots, however the experience of Morales proved too much as in the 6th round he caught Limond with a blistering body shot. As a result, Limond went down three times in the sixth round and the referee called the fight off, awarding Morales a KO Victory.


After Morales: new promoter, victory against Arek Malek and Crolla fight

After signing with promoter Tommy Gilmour, Limond scored an easy six-round decision over Polish journeyman Arek Malek at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow in June 2011. On 25 November 2011, Limond fought Anthony Crolla for the British lightweight title but lost by unanimous decision. Englishman Crolla, a friend of Limond's, was the stronger in the latter rounds with the scorecard 120–108, 120-108 and 120–109. After the bout Limond refused to confirm that he would retire but instead consider his options.


Limond comeback

Willie returned from the Anthony Crolla setback with a routine 6 round win over Englishman William Warburton in Dundee, after moving up to light welterweight from lightweight. 2013 began with a bang when Willie Limond fought fellow Scot Eddie Doyle, the unbeaten British masters champion, for the Commonwealth light welterweight title. Limond won in style, dropping his younger opponent twice before winning in the first round by way of TKO.


Death

In April 2024, Limond suffered a seizure. After ten days at Monklands Hospital in
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Airdrie (; ; ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau 400 ft (130 m) above sea level, 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow. , it had a population of 37,130. Airdrie developed as a market town in the late 17th ce ...
, Limond died on 15 April 2024, at the age of 45.


Professional boxing record


References


External links

* *
Official Website


12 June 2007. * ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/7867903.stm Limond relishes Mutampuka test {{DEFAULTSORT:Limond, Willie 1979 births 2024 deaths Boxers from Glasgow Scottish male boxers Lightweight boxers Albion Rovers F.C. players