Conventional long name	Korea
Countries	North Korea South Korea
Common name	Korea
Official languages	Korean
Area rank	84th if reunified
Area km2	219,140
Area footnote
Area sq mi	84,610
Percent water	2.8
Population estimate rank	18th if reunified
Population estimate year	2010
Population estimate	73,000,000
Population density km2	328.48
Population density sq mi	850.7
Currency	Won (₩) (N/S)
Time zone	KST
Utc offset	+9 }}

Korea ( ; ''Hanguk'' or ''Joseon'' – (see etymology)) is an East Asian country that is currently divided into two separate states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea), and separated from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the south by the East China Sea.

Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggest the origins of the Korean people were Altaic language-speaking people from south-central Siberia, who populated ancient Korea in successive waves from the Neolithic age to the Bronze Age. The adoption of the Chinese writing system ("Hanja" in Korean) in the 2nd century BC, and Buddhism in the 4th century AD, had profound effects on the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Korea was united by Emperor Taejo of the Goryeo Dynasty in 936. Goryeo was a highly cultural state and created the Jikji in the 14th century, using the world's first movable metal type printing press. The Mongol invasions in the 13th century, however, greatly weakened the nation which was forced to become a tributary state. After the Mongol Empire's collapse, severe political strife followed and Goryeo was replaced by the Joseon Dynasty in 1388.

The first 200 years of Joseon were marked by relative peace and saw the creation of the Korean alphabet Hangul by King Sejong the Great in the 14th century and the rise in influence of Confucianism in the country. During the latter part of the dynasty, however, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname the "Hermit Kingdom". By the late 19th century, the country became the object of the colonial designs of Japan. In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan and remained so until the end of World War II in August 1945.

In 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States agreed on the surrender of Japanese forces in Korea and Soviet troops occupied north of the 38th parallel, while U.S. troops took surrender south of it. This decision by allied armies soon became the basis for the division of Korea by the two superpowers, exacerbated by their inability to agree on the terms of Korean independence. The two Cold War rivals then established governments sympathetic to their own ideologies, leading to Korea's current division into two political entities: North Korea and South Korea. The ensuing conflict between the two was largely a proxy war.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a single-party state with a centrally planned industrial economy. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a free market, democratic, and developed country with membership in the United Nations, WTO, OECD and G-20 major economies.

Etymology

"Korea" derives from the Goryeo period of Korean history, which in turn referred to the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo, the first Korean dynasty visited by Persian merchants who referred to Koryŏ (Goryeo) (고려) as Korea . Koryŏ (Goryeo) is also the name of Goguryeo, which changed its name to Koryŏ (Goryeo) in the 5th century (during the reign of King Jangsu of Goguryeo). Korea is now commonly used in English contexts by both North and South Korea. In the Korean language, Korea as a whole is referred to as ''Han-guk'' (한국) in South Korea, and ''Chosŏn'' (조선) in North Korea. The latter name, also Romanised ''Joseon'', is from the Joseon Dynasty and the earlier Gojoseon. "The Land of the Morning Calm" is an English language title for the country loosely derived from the hanja characters for ''Joseon''.

History

Prehistory and Gojoseon

The Korean Academy of North America discovered ancient human fossils originating from about 100,000 BC in the lava at a stone city site in Korea. Fluorescent and high-magnetic analyses indicate the volcanic fossils may be from as early as 300,000 BC. The best preserved Korean pottery goes back to the paleolithic times around 10,000 BC, and the Neolithic period begins around 6000 BC.

Gojoseon's founding legend describes Dangun, a descendent of heaven, as establishing the kingdom in 2333 BC until the fall in 108 BC.

The original capital may have been at the Manchuria-Korea border, but was later moved to what is today Pyongyang, North Korea. In 108 BC, the Chinese Han Dynasty defeated Wiman Joseon and installed the Four Commanderies of Han in the area of Liaonin region. By 75 BC, three of those commanderies had fallen, but the Lelang Commandery remained as a center of cultural and economic exchange with successive Chinese dynasties until 313, when it fell to Goguryeo.

Proto–Three Kingdoms

The Proto–Three Kingdoms period, sometimes called the Several States Period, is the earlier part of what is commonly called the Three Kingdoms Period, following the fall of Gojoseon but before Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla fully developed into kingdoms.

This time period saw numerous states spring up from the former territories of Gojoseon. Buyeo arose in today's North Korea and southern Manchuria, from about the 2nd century BCE to 494. Its remnants were absorbed by Goguryeo in 494, and both Goguryeo and Baekje, two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, considered themselves its successor. Okjeo and Dongye of northern Korea were eventually absorbed into the growing Goguryeo.

Located in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, Samhan refers to the three confederacies of Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan. Mahan was the largest and consisted of 54 states. Byeonhan and Jinhan both consisted of twelve states, bringing a total of 78 states within the Samhan. These three confederacies eventually developed into Baekje, Silla, and Gaya.

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje) dominated the peninsula and parts of Manchuria during the early Common Era. They competed with each other both economically and militarily.

Goguryeo united Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye and other states in the former Gojoseon territory. Goguryeo was the most dominant power; it reached its zenith in the 5th century, when reign of the Gwanggaeto the Great and his son, Jangsu expanded territory into almost all of Manchuria and part of inner Mongolia, and took the Seoul region from Baekje. Gwanggaeto and Jangsu subdued Baekje and Silla during their times. After the 7th century, Goguryeo was constantly at war with the Sui and Tang dynasties of China.

Founded around modern day Seoul, the southwestern kingdom Baekje expanded far beyond Pyongyang during the peak of its powers in the 4th century. It had absorbed all of the Mahan states and subjugated most of the western Korean peninsula (including the modern provinces of Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, and Jeolla, as well as part of Hwanghae and Gangwon) to a centralised government. Baekje acquired Chinese culture and technology through contacts with the Southern Dynasties during the expansion of its territory. Historic evidence suggests that Japanese culture, art, and language was strongly influenced by the kingdom of Baekje and Korea itself.

Although later records claim that Silla, in the southeast, was the oldest of the three kingdoms, it is now believed to have been the last kingdom to develop. By the 2nd century, Silla existed as a large state, occupying and influencing nearby city states. Silla began to gain power when it annexed the Gaya confederacy in 562 CE. The Gaya confederacy was located between Baekje and Silla. The three kingdoms of Korea often warred with each other and Silla often faced pressure from Baekje and Goguryeo but at various times Silla also allied with Baekje and Goguryeo in order to gain dominance over the peninsula.

In 660, King Muyeol of Silla ordered his armies to attack Baekje. General Kim Yu-shin (Gim Yu-sin), aided by Tang forces, conquered Baekje. In 661, Silla and Tang moved on Goguryeo but were repelled. King Munmu, son of Muyeol and nephew of General Kim launched another campaign in 667 and Goguryeo fell in the following year.

North-South States Period

In the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries, Silla's power gradually extended across the Korean Peninsula. Silla first annexed the adjacent Gaya confederacy. By the 660s, Silla formed an alliance with the Tang Dynasty of China to conquer Baekje and later Goguryeo. After repelling Chinese forces, Silla partially unified the Peninsula, beginning a period often called Unified Silla.

In the north, former Goguryeo General Dae Joyeong led a group of Goguryeo refugees to the Jilin area in Manchuria and founded Balhae (698 - 926) as the successor to Goguryeo. At its height, Balhae's territory extended from northern Manchuria down to the northern provinces of modern-day Korea. Balhae was destroyed by the Khitans in 926.

Unified Silla fell apart in the late 9th century, giving way to the tumultuous Later Three Kingdoms period (892-935). Goryeo unified the Later Three Kingdoms and absorbed Balhae refugees.

Goryeo

The country Goryeo was founded in 918 and replaced Silla as the ruling dynasty of Korea. ("Goryeo" is a short form of "Goguryeo" and the source of the English name "Korea".) The dynasty lasted until 1392.

During this period laws were codified, and a civil service system was introduced. Buddhism flourished, and spread throughout the peninsula. The development of celadon industry flourished in 12th and 13th century. The publication of Tripitaka Koreana onto 80,000 wooden blocks and the invention of the world's first movable-metal-type printing press in 13th century attest to Goryeo's cultural achievements.

Their dynasty was threatened by Mongol invasions from the 1230s into the 1270s, but the dynastic line continued to survive until 1392 since they negotiated a treaty with the Mongols that kept its sovereign power.

In 1350s, King Gongmin was free at last to reform a Goryeo government. Gongmin had various problems that needed to be dealt with, which included the removal of pro-Mongol aristocrats and military officials, the question of land holding, and quelling the growing animosity between the Buddhists and Confucian scholars.

Joseon Dynasty

In 1392, the general Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) with a largely bloodless coup. He named it the Joseon Dynasty in honor of the previous Joseon before (Gojoseon is the first Joseon. "Go", meaning "old", was added to distinguish between the two).

King Taejo moved the capital to Hanseong (formerly Hanyang; modern-day Seoul) and built the Gyeongbokgung palace. In 1394 he adopted Confucianism as the country's official religion, resulting in much loss of power and wealth by the Buddhists. The prevailing philosophy was Neo-Confucianism.

Joseon experienced advances in science and culture. King Sejong the Great (1418–1450) promulgated hangul, the Korean alphabet. The period saw various other cultural and technological advances as well as the dominance of neo-Confucianism over the entire peninsula. Slaves, ''nobi'', are estimated to have accounted for about one third of the population of Joseon Korea.

Between 1592 and 1598, the Japanese invaded Korea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the forces and tried to invade the Asian continent through Korea, but was completely defeated by a Righteous army, Admiral Yi Sun-sin and assistance from Ming China. This war also saw the rise of the career of Admiral Yi Sun-sin with the "turtle ship". In the 1620s and 1630s Joseon suffered invasions by the Manchu.

After invasions from Manchuria, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace. King Yeongjo and King Jeongjo led a new renaissance of the Joseon dynasty.

However, during the last years of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the name the "Hermit Kingdom", primarily for protection against Western imperialism before it was forced to open trade beginning an era leading into Japanese colonial rule.

Korean Empire

Beginning in the 1870s, Japan began to force Korea out of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's traditional sphere of influence into its own. As a result of the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the Qing Dynasty had to give up such a position according to Article 1 of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was concluded between China and Japan in 1895. That same year, Empress Myeongseong was assassinated by Japanese agents.

In 1897, the Joseon dynasty proclaimed the Korean Empire (1897–1910), and King Gojong became Emperor Gojong. This brief period saw the partially successful modernisation of the military, economy, real property laws, education system, and various industries, influenced by the political encroachment into Korea of Russia, Japan, France, and the United States.

In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War pushed the Russians out of the fight for Korea. In Manchuria on October 26, 1909, An Jung-geun assassinated the former Resident-General of Korea, Itō Hirobumi for his role in trying to force Korea into occupation.

Japanese occupation

In 1910, an already militarily occupied Korea was a forced party to the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. The treaty was signed by Lee Wan-Yong, who was given the General Power of Attorney by the Emperor. However, the Emperor is said to have not actually ratified the treaty according to Yi Tae-jin. There is a long dispute whether this treaty was legal or illegal due to its signing under duress, threat of force and bribes.

Korean resistance to the brutal Japanese occupation was manifested in the nonviolent March 1st Movement of 1919, where 7,000 demonstrators were killed by Japanese police and military. The Korean liberation movement also spread to neighbouring Manchuria and Siberia. Over five million Koreans were conscripted for labour beginning in 1939, and tens of thousands of men were forced into Japan's military. Close to 400,000 Korean labourers lost their lives due to the war. Approximately 200,000 girls and women, mostly from China and Korea, were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military. In 1993, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledged the terrible injustices faced by these euphemistically named "comfort women".

During the Japanese Colonial rule, the Korean language was suppressed in an effort to eradicate Korean national identity. Koreans were forced to take Japanese surnames, known as Sōshi-kaimei. Traditional Korean culture suffered heavy losses, as numerous Korean cultural artifacts were destroyed or taken to Japan. To this day, valuable Korean artifacts can often be found in Japanese museums or among private collections. One investigation by the South Korean government identified 75,311 cultural assets that were taken from Korea, 34,369 in Japan and 17,803 in the United States. However, experts estimate that over 100,000 artifacts actually remain in Japan. Japanese officials considered returning Korean cultural properties, but to date this has not occurred. Korea and Japan still dispute the ownership of the Liancourt Rocks, islets located east of the Korean Peninsula.

There was a significant level of emigration to the overseas territories of the Empire of Japan during the Japanese colonial period, including Korea. By the end of World War II, there were over 850,000 Japanese settlers in Korea. After World War II, most of these overseas Japanese repatriated to Japan.

Korean War

With the surrender of Japan in 1945 the United Nations developed plans for a trusteeship administration, the Soviet Union administering the peninsula north of the 38th parallel and the United States administering the south. The politics of the Cold War resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate governments, North Korea and South Korea.

In June 1950 North Korea invaded the South, using Soviet tanks and weaponry. During the Korean War (1950–1953) millions of civilians died and the three years of fighting throughout the nation effectively destroyed most cities. Around 125,000 POWs were captured and held by the Americans and South Koreans on Geojedo (an island in the south). The war ended in an Armistice Agreement at approximately the Military Demarcation Line.

Division of Korea

The aftermath of World War II left Korea partitioned along the 38th parallel, with the north under Soviet occupation and the south under the occupation of other allied countries. Consequently, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a Soviet-style socialist regime, was established in the north while the Republic of Korea, a Western-style republic, was established in the south. The Korean War broke out when Soviet-backed North Korea invaded South Korea, though neither side gained much territory as a result. The Korean Peninsula remains divided, the Korean Demilitarized Zone being the ''de facto'' border between the two states.

Since the 1960s, the South Korean economy has grown enormously and the economic structure was radically transformed. In 1957 South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana, and by 2008 it was 17 times as high as Ghana's.

The North Korean famine began in 1995 and peaked in 1997. According to South Korea intelligence agency, an internal report by North Korea's Public Security Ministry estimates North Korea lost 2.5 million to 3 million lives from 1995 to March 1998.

Geography

Korea is located on the Korean Peninsula in North-East Asia. To the northwest, the Amnok River (Yalu River) separates Korea from China and to the northeast, the Duman River (Tumen River) separates Korea from China and Russia. The Yellow Sea is to the west, the East China Sea and Korea Strait is to the south, and the Sea of Japan is to the east. Notable islands include Jeju Island (Jejudo), Ulleung Island (Ulleungdo), and Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo).

The southern and western parts of the peninsula have well-developed plains, while the eastern and northern parts are mountainous. The highest mountain in Korea is Mount Paektu or Paektusan (2,744 m), through which runs the border with China. The southern extension of Mount Paektu is a highland called Gaema Heights. This highland was mainly raised during the Cenozoic orogeny and partly covered by volcanic matter. To the south of Gaema Gowon, successive high mountains are located along the eastern coast of the peninsula. This mountain range is named Baekdudaegan. Some significant mountains include Mount Sobaek or Sobaeksan (1,439 m), Mount Kumgang or Kumgangsan (1,638 m), Mount Seorak or Seoraksan (1,708 m), Mount Taebaek or Taebaeksan (1,567 m), and Mount Jiri or Jirisan (1,915 m). There are several lower, secondary mountain series whose direction is almost perpendicular to that of Baekdudaegan. They are developed along the tectonic line of Mesozoic orogeny and their directions are basically northwest.

Unlike most ancient mountains on the mainland, many important islands in Korea were formed by volcanic activity in the Cenozoic orogeny. Jeju Island, situated off the southern coast, is a large volcanic island whose main mountain Mount Halla or Hallasan (1950 m) is the highest in South Korea. Ulleung Island is a volcanic island in the Sea of Japan, whose composition is more felsic than Jeju-do. The volcanic islands tend to be younger, the more westward.

Because the mountainous region is mostly on the eastern part of the peninsula, the main rivers tend to flow westwards. Two exceptions are the southward-flowing Nakdong River (Nakdonggang) and Seomjin River (Seomjingang). Important rivers running westward include the Amnok River, the Chongchon River (Chongchongang), the Taedong River (Taedonggang), the Han River (Hangang), the Geum River (Geumgang), and the Yeongsan River (Yeongsangang). These rivers have vast flood plains and provide an ideal environment for wet-rice cultivation.

The southern and southwestern coastlines of Korea form a well-developed ria coastline, known as ''Dadohae-jin'' in Korean. Its convoluted coastline provides mild seas, and the resulting calm environment allows for safe navigation, fishing, and seaweed farming. In addition to the complex coastline, the western coast of the Korean Peninsula has an extremely high tidal amplitude (at Incheon, around the middle of the western coast. It can get as high as 9 m). Vast tidal flats have been developing on the south and west coastlines.

Demographics

The combined population of the Koreans is about 73 million (North Korea: 23 million, South Korea: 50 million). Korea is chiefly populated by a highly homogeneous ethnic group, the Koreans, who speak the Korean language. The number of foreigners living in Korea has also steadily increased since the late 20th century, particularly in South Korea, where more than 1 million foreigners currently reside. It is estimated that only 26,700 of the old Chinese community now remain in South Korea. However, in recent years, immigration from mainland China has increased; 624,994 persons of Chinese nationality have immigrated to South Korea, including 443,566 of ethnic Korean descent. Small communities of ethnic Chinese and Japanese are also found in North Korea.

Language

Korean is the official language of both North and South Korea, and (along with Mandarin) of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Manchuria area of China. Worldwide, there are up to 80 million speakers of the Korean language. South Korea has around 50 million speakers while North Korea around 23 million. Other large groups of Korean speakers are found in China (around 1.8 million speakers), the United States (around 900,000 speakers), the former Soviet Union (around 350,000), Japan (around 700,000), Canada (100,000), Malaysia (70,000) and Australia (150,000). It is estimated that there are around 700,000 people scattered across the world who are able to speak Korean because of job requirements (for example, salespersons or businessmen with Korean contacts), marriages to Koreans or out of pure interest in the language.

The genealogical classification of Korean is debated. Some linguists place it in the Altaic language family; others consider it to be a language isolate. Korean is agglutinative in its morphology and SOV in its syntax. Like Japanese and Vietnamese, Korean has borrowed much vocabulary from the Chinese or created vocabulary on Chinese models.

Modern Korean is written almost exclusively in the hangul script, which was invented in the 15th century. While hangul may appear logographic, it is actually a phonemic alphabet organised into syllabic blocks. Each block consists of at least two of the 24 hangul letters (''jamo''): at least one each of the 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Historically, the alphabet had several additional letters (see obsolete jamo). For a phonological description of the letters, see Korean phonology. Hanja (Chinese characters) and Latin alphabets are sometimes included within hangul texts, particularly in South Korea.

Culture and arts

In ancient Chinese texts, Korea is referred to as "Rivers and Mountains Embroidered on Silk" (, ) and "Eastern Nation of Decorum" (, ). During the 7th and 8th centuries, the silk road connected Korea to Arabia. In 845, Arab traders wrote, "Beyond China is a land where gold abounds and which is named Silla. The Muslims who have gone there have been charmed by the country and tend to settle there and abandon all idea of leaving."

Korean festivities often showcase vibrant colors, which have been attributed to Mongolian influences: bright red, yellow, and green often mark traditional Korean motifs. These bright colors are sometimes seen in the traditional dress known as hanbok.

One peculiarity of Korean culture is its age reckoning system. Individuals are regarded as one year old when they are born, as Koreans reckon the pregnancy period as one year of life for infants, and age increments increase on New Year's Day rather than on the anniversary of birthdays. Thus, one born immediately before New Year's Day may only be a few days old in western reckoning, but two years old in Korea. Accordingly, a Korean person's stated age (at least among fellow Koreans) will be one or two years more than their age according to western reckoning. However, western reckoning is sometimes applied with regard to the concept of legal age; for example, the legal age for purchasing alcohol or cigarettes in the Republic of Korea is 19, which is measured according to western reckoning.

Literature

Korean literature written before the end of the Joseon Dynasty is called "Classical" or "Traditional." Literature, written in Chinese characters (hanja), was established at the same time as the Chinese script arrived on the peninsula. Korean scholars were writing poetry in the classical Korean style as early as the 2nd century BC, reflecting Korean thoughts and experiences of that time. Classical Korean literature has its roots in traditional folk beliefs and folk tales of the peninsula, strongly influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

Modern literature is often linked with the development of hangul, which helped spread literacy from the aristocracy to the common people and women. Hangul, however, only reached a dominant position in Korean literature in the second half of the 19th century, resulting in a major growth in Korean literature. ''Sinsoseol'', for instance, are novels written in hangul.

The Korean War led to the development of literature centered on the wounds and chaos of war. Much of the post-war literature in South Korea deals with the daily lives of ordinary people, and their struggles with national pain. The collapse of the traditional Korean value system is another common theme of the time.

Religion

Confucian tradition has dominated Korean thought, along with contributions by Buddhism, Taoism, and Korean Shamanism. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, Christianity has competed with Buddhism in South Korea, while religious practice has been suppressed in North Korea. Throughout Korean history and culture, regardless of separation; the influence of traditional beliefs of Korean Shamanism, Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have remained an underlying religion of the Korean people as well as a vital aspect of their culture; all these traditions have coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years up to today despite strong Westernisation from Christian missionary conversions in the South or the pressure from Communism's Juche government in the North.

According to 2005 statistics compiled by the South Korean government, about 46% of citizens profess to follow no particular religion. Christians account for 29.2% of the population (of which are Protestants 18.3% and Catholics 10.9%) and Buddhists 22.8%.

Islam in South Korea is practiced by about 45,000 natives (about 0.09% of the population) in addition to some 100,000 foreign workers from Muslim countries.

Cuisine

Korean cuisine is probably best known for kimchi, a side dish which uses a distinctive fermentation process of preserving vegetables, most commonly cabbage. Kimchi is said to relieve the pores on the skin, thereby reducing wrinkles and providing nutrients to the skin naturally. It is also healthy, as it provides necessary vitamins and nutrients. Gochujang (Korean traditional sauce made of red pepper) is also commonly used, often as pepper (chilli) paste, earning the cuisine a reputation for being spicy.

Bulgogi (roasted marinated meat, usually beef), galbi (marinated grilled short ribs), and samgyeopsal (pork belly) are popular meat entrees. Fish is also a popular commodity, as it is the traditional meat that Koreans eat. Meals are usually accompanied by a soup or stew, such as galbitang (stewed ribs) and doenjang jjigae (fermented bean paste soup). The center of the table is filled with a shared collection of sidedishes called banchan.

Other popular dishes include bibimbap which literally means "mixed rice" (rice mixed with meat, vegetables, and red pepper paste) and naengmyeon (cold noodles). A common snack in Korea is kimbab, which is rice mixed with vegetables and meat wrapped with seaweed. While an increasingly wide variety of ingredients are used in kimbap, fish in either raw or cooked form is rarely used, perhaps due to kimbap's origin as a portable, packable snack and fish could quickly spoil if unrefrigerated.

Instant noodles are also a very popular snack food. Koreans also enjoy food from ''pojangmachas'' (street vendors), where one can buy tteokbokki (rice cake and fish cake with a spicy gochujang sauce), fried squid and glazed sweet potato. Soondae, a sausage made of cellophane noodles and pork blood, is widely eaten.

Additionally, some of other common snacks includes "chocopie", shrimp cracker, "bbungtigi" (fried rice cracker), and "nu lung ji" (slightly burnt rice). Nu lung ji can be eaten as it is or boiled with water to make a soup. Nu lung ji can be eaten as a snack or a dessert.

Education

The modern Korean school system consists of six years in elementary school, three years in middle school, and three years in high school. Students are required to go to elementary and middle school, and do not have to pay for their education, except for a small fee called a "School Operation Support Fee" that differs from school to school. The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks South Korea's science education as the third best in the world and being significantly higher than the OECD average.

Korea also ranks second on math and literature and first in problem solving. Although South Korean students often rank high on international comparative tests, the education system is sometimes criticised for its emphasis on passive learning and memorization. The Korean education system is much more strict and structured than the education systems of most Western societies. Also, high cost and dependence on non-school private institutions (Hagwon (학원)), a for-profit private institute, academy or cram-school prevalent in South Korea, is criticised as a major social problem. After students enter university, however, the situation is markedly reversed.

Science and technology

One of the best known artifacts of Korea's history of science and technology is Cheomseongdae (첨성대, ), a 9.4-meter high observatory built in 634.

The earliest known surviving Korean example of woodblock printing is the Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra. It is believed to have been printed in Korea in 750-751 AD which, if correct, would make it older than the Diamond Sutra. Goryeo silk was highly regarded by Westerners and Korean pottery made with blue-green celadon was of the highest quality and sought after by even Arabian merchants. Goryeo had a bustling economy with a capital that was frequented by merchants from all over the known world.

During the Joseon period the Geobukseon (turtle Ship) was invented, which were covered by a wooden deck and iron with thorns, as well as other weapons such as the bigyeokjincheolloe cannon (비격진천뢰, ) and the hwacha.

The Korean alphabet hangul was also invented during this time by King Sejong the Great.

Sport

While association football remains one of the most popular sports in Korea, the martial art of taekwondo is still considered to be the national traditional sport. Baseball is also increasing in popularity.

Taekwondo

Taekwondo is the national sport of Korea and one of the country's most famous sports. According to ancient Korean history, soldiers learned taekwondo as a principal source of physical training. Besides fighting skills, taekwondo is known to enhance the spirit of the practitioner, through its mind and body training. Taekwondo has become an official Olympic sport, starting as a demonstration event in 1988 and becoming an official medal event in 2000.

Ssireum

Ssireum is a form of wrestling that has been practiced in Korea for thousands of years, with evidence discovered from the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC to 688). Ssireum is the traditional national sport of Korea. During a match, opponents grip each other by sash belts wrapped around the waist and the thigh, attempting to throw their competitor to the sandy ground of the ring. The first opponent to touch the ground with any body part above the knee or to lose hold of their opponent loses the round.

Ssireum competitions are traditionally held twice a year, during the Tano Festival (the 5th day of the fifth lunar month) and Chuseok (the 15th day of the 8th lunar month). Competitions are also held throughout the year as a part of festivals and other events.

See also

Famous Korean people

Inter-Korean Summit

Korean name

List of rulers of Korea

National treasures of North Korea

National treasures of South Korea

Notes

References

Cumings, Bruce. ''Korea's Place in the Sun'', Norton, 1997. ISBN 0-393-31681-5

Kim, et al. ''Women of Korea: A History from Ancient Times to 1945'', Ewha Womans University Press, 1976. ISBN 89-7300-116-7.

Asian Info website

Park's Associates

STJI.edu.cn

UMSL.edu

Diamond-dilemma.com

Korea Expat Community WorknPlay's Korea information page

(Review of ).

Further reading

Chun, Tuk Chu. "Korea in the Pacific Community". ''Social Education'' 52 (March 1988), 182. EJ 368 177.

Cumings, Bruce. ''The Two Koreas''. New York: Foreign Policy Association, 1984.

''Focus On Asian Studies''. Special Issue: "Korea: A Teacher's Guide". No. 1, Fall 1986.

Gi-Wook Shin/Michael Robinson (Ed.). ''Colonial modernity in Korea,'' Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.]: Harvard University, Asia Center; Distributed by Harvard Univ. Press 1999. ISBN 0-674-14255-1.

Joe, W.J. & Choe, H.A. ''Traditional Korea: A Cultural History'', Seoul: Hollym, 1997.

Joungwon, A.K. ''Divided Korea: The Politics of Development'', Harvard University Press, 1975.

Lee Ki-baik. ''A New History of Korea''. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1984.

Lee Sang-sup. "The Arts and Literature of Korea". ''The Social Studies'' 79 (July–August 1988): 153–60. EJ 376 894.

Tae-Jin, Y. "The Illegality of the Forced Treaties Leading to Japan's Annexation of the Great Han Empire", In the ''Korean National Commission for UNESCO'', Vol. 36, No. 4, 1996.

Dennis Hart, ''From Tradition to Consumption: Construction of a Capitalist Culture in South Korea''. Seoul: Jimoondang Pub., 2003.

The Gloucestershire Regiment and The Battle of the Imjin River, Korean War

Briefing note for OECD Health Data 2009: How Does Korea Compare: Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development. (2009).

External links

The official website of the Republic of Korea (Korea.net)

Category:East Asia Category:Disputed territories in Asia Category:Divided regions

af:Korea ang:Corēa ar:كوريا ast:Corea bo:ཀོ་རི་ཡ། bs:Koreja br:Korea bg:Корея cs:Korea cy:Corea da:Korea de:Korea et:Korea es:Corea eo:Koreio eu:Korea fa:کره (کشور) fr:Corée gl:Corea xal:Солңһудин Орн ko:한국 hi:कोरिया hr:Koreja io:Korea id:Korea ia:Corea os:Корей it:Corea he:קוריאה jv:Koréa krc:Корея csb:Kòreja sw:Rasi ya Korea la:Corea lv:Koreja lt:Korėja jbo:dcosyn/xanguk mk:Кореја mr:कोरिया ms:Korea nl:Korea ne:कोरिया ja:朝鮮 no:Korea nn:Korea oc:Corèa tpi:Koria nds:Korea pl:Korea pt:Coreia ro:Coreea qu:Kuriya ru:Корея sm:Kolea sa:कोरिया sc:Corèa scn:Corea simple:Korea sk:Kórea sl:Koreja so:Kuuriya sr:Кореја (држава) fi:Korea sv:Korea tl:Korea ta:கொரியா kab:Kurya roa-tara:Coree th:ประเทศเกาหลี tr:Kore uk:Корея ug:چاۋشيەن vi:Triều Tiên fiu-vro:Korea war:Korea yi:קארעע yo:Korea zh-yue:朝鮮 bat-smg:Kuoriejė zh:朝鲜 (称谓)

name	Yahir Reyes
birth place	Tijuana, Mexico
nationality	Mexican
height
weight
weight class	Featherweight
style	Freestyle
fighting out of	Tijuana, Mexico
team	Team Reyes
mma kowin	4
mma subwin	8
mma decwin	2
mma koloss	3
mma subloss	3
mma decloss	1
sherdog	6114
updated	}}

Yahir Reyes (born August 14, 1985 in Tijuana) is a Mexican mixed martial artist. He is most known for his stint with Bellator Fighting Championships, fighting in their first season featherweight tournament. Reyes made it to the final round of the tournament which took place at Bellator 10, fighting Joe Soto. Reyes lost via submission, also losing him the featherweight title.

Mixed martial arts record

|- |Loss |14-6 | Joe Soto |Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |Bellator 10 | |2 |4:11 |Ontario, California, United States | |- |Win |14-5 | Estevan Payan |KO (Spinning Back Fist) |Bellator 6 | |2 |1:56 |Robstown, Texas, United States | |- |Win |13-5 | Nick Gonzalez |Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) |Bellator 1 | |1 |2:11 |Hollywood, Florida, United States | |- |Win |12-5 | Paris Ruiz |KO (Punches) |COF 13: Aztec Alliance | |2 |4:22 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |11-5 | Fred Leavy |Decision (Split) |MMA Xtreme 18 | |3 |5:00 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |10-5 | Zus Gutierrez |Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |MMA Xtreme 17 | |1 |2:03 |Honduras | |- |Win |9-5 | Charles Williams |Submission (Triangle Choke) |MMA Xtreme 15 | |1 |3:00 |Mexico City, Mexico | |- |Loss |8-5 | Jose Luis Cocafuego |Submission (Heel Hook) |MMA Xtreme 12 | |1 |1:22 |Mexicali, Mexico | |- |Win |8-4 | Art Diaz |Submission (Armbar) |MMA Xtreme 11 | |1 |0:51 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |7-4 | Robert Peralta |Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |MMA Xtreme 9 | |1 |N/A |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |6-4 | Benjamin la Cobra |Submission (Armbar) |MMA Xtreme 8 | |2 |N/A |Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | |- |Win |5-4 | Rick Screeton |Submission (Armbar) |MMA Xtreme 7 | |2 |0:13 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |4-4 | John Wallace |KO (Punches) |MMA Xtreme 6 | |2 |1:01 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Loss |3-4 | Landon Piercey |TKO (Corner Stoppage) |MMA Xtreme 3 | |2 |5:00 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |3-3 | Issac Peralta |TKO |MMA Xtreme 1 | |1 |N/A |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Loss |2-3 | Angelo Catsouras |TKO (Corner Stoppage) |Total Combat 12 | |1 |5:00 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |NC |2-2 | Rick Screeton |No Contest |Total Combat 9 || |N/A |N/A |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Loss |2-2 | Chris David |TKO (Punches) |Total Combat 4 | |1 |N/A |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |2-1 | Michael Chupa |Decision (Unanimous) |Total Combat 2 | |3 |3:00 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Win |1-1 | Angel Yocupicio |Submission (Armbar) |Reto Maximo 2 | |2 |3:19 |Tijuana, Mexico | |- |Loss |0-1 | Ivan Lopez |Decision (Unanimous) |Reto Maximo 1 | |2 |5:00 |Tijuana, Mexico |

References

External links

Category:Living people Category:1985 births Category:Mexican mixed martial artists Category:Featherweight mixed martial artists Category:People from Tijuana

{{infobox boxer|name	Vic "The Raging Bull" Darchinyan
Real name	Vakhtang Darchinyan
Nationality	Armenian
Nickname	The Raging Bull
Weight	Super flyweight & Bantamweight
Height	5 ft. 5½ in. (166 cm.)
Birth date	January 07, 1976
Birth place	Vanadzor, Armenian SSR USSR
Home	Sydney, Australia
Style	Southpaw
Total	40
Wins	36
Ko	27
Losses	3
Draws	1|no contests0

Vakhtang "Vic" Darchinyan (; born 7 January 1976 in Vanadzor, Armenia) is an Armenian professional boxer HyeFighters who is the former Undisputed WBA, WBC & IBF super flyweight World Champion. Darchinyan is a former IBF flyweight champion and he has captured 4 IBO titles in his career. He is a southpaw boxer, who currently trains with Angelo Hyder. Previously, he was trained by former 3-division world champion, Jeff Fenech in Sydney and briefly Billy Hussein.

Amateur career

Darchinyan's amateur career was 158-18 record with 105 knockouts, fighting in many different countries and he participated for Armenia in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. He went to the third round in the 112 lb division before losing against Bulat Jumadilov of Kazakhstan. Darchinyan moved to Australia after competing in the Olympics and eventually became an Australian citizen on 7 July 2004. Darchinyan turned pro at age 24 on 3rd November 2000.

Olympic Results

Defeated opponent

Defeated Ilfat Ryazapov (Russia) 20-11

Lost to Bulat Jumadilov (Kazakhstan) 8-15

Pro career

He won his IBF title on 16 December 2004 in his first fight in the United States, beating respected champion Irene Pacheco of Colombia, via 11th round technical knock-out. He made six successful defenses of the title winning all by stoppage.

In his third title defense, he displayed his power by knocking out Filipino challenger Diosdado Gabi with a single straight left. In his last two fights he broke Glenn Donaire's jaw and knocked out Victor Burgos in the 12th round, who later underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain.

Darchinyan returned 3 months later and won the vacant IBO super flyweight title, stopping Filipino veteran Federico Catubay. Vic decided to outbox and outpunch his larger opponent and finally finished him off in round 12. He voluntarily relinquished the IBO title prior to fighting in an IBF eliminator.

In 2007, Darchinyan suffered his first defeat from Nonito Donaire, brother of Glenn Donaire, in a title bout via TKO. Darchinyan was caught with a left hook which floored him, in an exchange with Donaire in the fifth round. Darchinyan managed to get up but immediately fell on the ropes and the referee stopped the fight. Darchinyan lost the IBF and IBO World Flyweight titles to Donaire. The match was eventually awarded Knockout of the Year and Upset of the Year by Ring Magazine.

Controversial draw with Gorres

On 2 February 2008, Darchinyan fought Z Gorres to a controversial split draw at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines in an IBF super flyweight eliminator where the winner would challenge the champion Dimitri Kirilov. The bout began with a knockdown for Darchinyan in the first round, which appeared to be a slip by Gorres when replayed. The crowd was upset with the referee calling the slip a knockdown and began to pelt the ring with bottles of water, coins and other objects. Gorres came back in the second round to floor Darchinyan with a left hand, but Darchinyan beat the count, which again prompted some arena fans to pelt the ring with objects. Gorres was knocked down in the fifth round, but the referee ruled it a slip. A clash of heads in the sixth round opened up a bad gash on Gorres. In the ninth round, Darchinyan connected with a right hand, sending Gorres down for the second time in the fight. Gorres would fall to the canvas on at least three other occasions in the final three rounds, with the referee ruling all of them slips. The final scores were 113-112 for Gorres, 114-112 for Darchinyan, and 113-113 for the draw. Darchinyan's promoter, Gary Shaw filed an official protest with the IBF over the officiating of the bout.

Despite the draw, Darchinyan earned the right to take on Kirilov for being higher in the ratings and willing to accept the fight.

2nd World Title

6 months later, Darchinyan was back in what most experts called a career-best performance, taking on IBF Junior Bantamweight champion Dimitri Kirilov at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma Washington. Darchinyan dominated from the opening bell and showed an improvement in speed and boxing skill as he eventually caught Kirilov in round 5, dropping him twice enroute to a th round KO. Darchinyan was ahead 40-36 on all three judges' scorecards.

Super Flyweight Unification

On November 1, 2008, Darchinyan fought WBC and WBA super flyweight champion Cristian Mijares at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Darchinyan was the aggressor from the outset, getting inside with big punches including a left uppercut that knocked Mijares down in the first round. With his unorthodox crouching style, Darchinyan seemed to confuse Mijares, who was often content to counterpunch rather than attack. Mijares connected with just one combination the entire fight, that during a brief span of the fifth round. Darchinyan, however, was unhurt and unfazed. In the ninth round, Darchinyan caught Mijares with a right hand. Then as Mijares backed away, Darchinyan lunged and landed a straight left hand that knocked out Mijares. Darchinyan became the first man in history to unify the titles in the weight class. With the victory, Darchinyan matched Jeff Fenech's record as a 3 time world champion, along with Kostya Tszyu's record as undisputed world champion.

Super Flyweight Title Defenses

On February 7, 2009, Darchinyan successfully defended his undisputed WBC/WBA/IBF titles against multiple time championJorge Arce, winning by TKO in the 11th round. The early rounds were somewhat competitive, but as each round progressed, Darchinyan asserted his dominance more and more. In the 11th round the doctor stopped the bout as Arce was severely cut on both eyes.

On December 12, 2009, having vacated his IBF belt in an unsuccessful attempt to move up to bantamweight, Darchinyan successfully defended his unified WBC/WBA title against Tomás Rojas, winning by KO in the 2nd round.

On March 6, 2010, Darchinyan successfully defended his unified WBC/WBA title against Rodrigo Guerrero, winning a unanimous decision.

Bantamweight Title Attempt

While retaining his WBC and WBA super flyweight belts, Darchinyan vacated his IBF belt in order to move up to bantamweight to fight IBF champion Joseph Agbeko in Sunrise, Florida on July 11, 2009. He lost a unanimous decision in a fight in which he looked almost too overly aggressive and could not seem to cope with the Ghanan's style and was repeatedly walking into straight right hands. Agbeko spoiled Darchinyan's goal of winning his third world title in a different division. Two judges scored the bout 114-113 for Agbeko, while the third had it for the Ghanaian Agbeko, 116-111. Despite the defeat at bantamweight, Darchinyan was still recognized as super flyweight champion by both the WBC and WBA.

In May 2010 Darchinyan won the vacant IBO Bantamweight title with a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Eric Barcelona in his adopted land of Australia. Following the win it was recently announced that Darchinyan would be putting his title on the line when he took part in Showtime's four man bantamweight tournament along with Joseph Agbeko, Abner Mares and IBF Bantamweight champ, Yonnhy Perez and lost in the semi-final against México's Mares. In the consolation bout, Darchinyan rocked Perez in round one, knocked him down in round two and was in command all the way. Perez had his moments but wasn't able to hold off Darchinyan's aggression. The bout ended when Perez was cut by an accidental headbutt at 1:07 of round five. Scores were 50-44 on all cards. Darchinyan dedicated his victory to lives lost in the 1915 Armenian Genocide, as well as the Australians for Anzac Day for the following day.

Professional boxing record

|- | style="text-align:center;" colspan=8|36 Wins (27 knockouts, 8 decisions), 3 Losses (1 knockout, 2 decisions), 1 Draw |- | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Result | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Round | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center | | |align=left| Evans Mbamba | | |2011-09-03 |align=left| Yerevan, Armenia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |36-3-1 |align=left| Yonnhy Pérez |TD |5 |2011-04-23 |align=left| Nokia Theater, Los Angeles, California, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |35-3-1 |align=left| Abner Mares |SD |12 |2010-12-11 |align=left| Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |35-2-1 |align=left| Eric Barcelona |UD |12 |2010-05-20 |align=left| Leagues Club, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |34-2-1 |align=left| Rodrigo Guerrero |UD |12 |2010-03-06 |align=left| Agua Caliente Casino, Rancho Mirage, California, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |33-2-1 |align=left| Tomás Rojas |KO |2 |2009-12-12 |align=left| Agua Caliente Casino, Rancho Mirage, California, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |32-2-1 |align=left| Joseph Agbeko |UD |12 |2009-07-11 |align=left| BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |32-1-1 |align=left| Jorge Arce |RTD |11 |2009-02-07 |align=left| Honda Center, Anaheim, California, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |31-1-1 |align=left| Cristian Mijares |KO |9 |2008-11-01 |align=left| Home Depot Center, Carson, California, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |30-1-1 |align=left| Dimitri Kirilov |KO |5 |2008-08-02 |align=left| Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington, United States |align=left| |-align=center |style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw |29-1-1 |align=left| Z Gorres |SD |12 |2008-02-02 |align=left| Cebu City Waterfront Hotel & Casino, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, Philippines |align=left| |-align=center |Win |29–1 |align=left| Federico Catubay |TKO |12 |2007-10-20 |align=left| Auburn RSL Club, Auburn, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |28–1 |align=left| Nonito Donaire |TKO |5 |2007-07-07 |align=left| Harbour Yard Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |28–0 |align=left| Victor Burgos |TKO |12 |2007-03-03 |align=left| Home Depot Center, Carson, California, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |27–0 |align=left| Glenn Donaire |TD |6 |2006-10-07 |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |26–0 |align=left| Luis Maldonado |TKO |8 |2006-06-03 |align=left| Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |25–0 |align=left| Diosdado Gabi |TKO |8 |2006-03-03 |align=left| Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, California, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |24–0 |align=left| Jair Jimenez |TKO |5 |2005-08-24 |align=left| Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |23–0 |align=left| Mzukisi Sikali |TKO |8 |2005-03-27 |align=left| State Sports Centre, Homebush Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |22–0 |align=left| Irene Pacheco |TKO |11 |2004-12-16 |align=left| Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, United States |align=left| |-align=center |Win |21–0 |align=left| Falazona Fidal |TKO |2 |2004-04-16 |align=left| Basketball Stadium, Dandenong, Victoria, Australia | |-align=center |Win |20–0 |align=left| Wandee Singwancha |KO |5 |2003-12-12 |align=left| Badgery's Pavilion, Homebush Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |19–0 |align=left| Dozer Tobing |KO |11 |2003-10-03 |align=left| Badgery's Pavilion, Homebush Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |18–0 |align=left| Alejandro Felix Montiel |UD |10 |2003-08-08 |align=left| Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |17–0 |align=left| Wandee Singwancha |TKO |4 |2003-06-13 |align=left| Auburn RSL Club, Auburn, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |16–0 |align=left| Raul Eliseo Medina |TD |8 |2003-04-11 |align=left| Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |15–0 |align=left| Phises Vor Surapol |TKO |3 |2002-12-13 |align=left| Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, Rosehill, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |14–0 |align=left| Albert Resley |TKO |3 |2002-11-09 |align=left| Challenge Stadium, Perth, Western Australia, Australia | |-align=center |Win |13–0 |align=left| Hamadani Tomagola |KO |4 |2002-10-25 |align=left| Star City Casino, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |12–0 |align=left| Panomdej Ohyuthanakorn |TKO |4 |2002-08-02 |align=left| Le Montage Function Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |11–0 |align=left| Junior Farzan Ali |TKO |6 |2002-06-14 |align=left| Enmore Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |10–0 |align=left| Prasob Nookliang |KO |2 |2002-04-19 |align=left| La Montage Function Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |9–0 |align=left| Win Nationman |TKO |3 |2002-02-08 |align=left| Le Montage Function Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |8–0 |align=left| Puna Eminent |KO |3 |2001-11-16 |align=left| Nineveh Sports Club, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |7–0 |align=left| Sande Kizito |TKO |7 |2001-10-18 |align=left| Star City Casino, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left| |-align=center |Win |6–0 |align=left| Prasob Nookliang |TKO |6 |2001-08-31 |align=left| Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |5–0 |align=left| David Picknell |KO |3 |2001-08-03 |align=left| Bellevue Function Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |4–0 |align=left| Sande Kizito |PTS |6 |2001-06-29 |align=left| Bellevue Function Centre, Bankstown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |3–0 |align=left| Selvio Glinoco |TKO |2 |2001-04-20 |align=left| Le Montage Function Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |2–0 |align=left| Hichem Blida |PTS |4 |2001-02-09 |align=left| Le Montage Events Centre, Leichhardt, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |-align=center |Win |1–0 |align=left| Sande Kizito |PTS |6 |2000-11-03 |align=left| Star City Casino, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |align=left|

See also

List of flyweight boxing champions

List of super flyweight boxing champions

List of current world boxing champions

List of undisputed boxing champions

Ring Magazine pound for pound

List of boxing triple champions

Notes and references

External links

See him in The HyeFighter Show

Official website

{{s-ttl | title=IBF Junior Bantamweight Champion| years=August 2, 2008 – July 28, 2009''Title vacated''}} {{s-ttl | title=WBC Super Flyweight Champion| years=November 1, 2008 – August 3, 2010''Status changed''}} |- {{s-ttl | title=WBA Super Flyweight ChampionSuper Champion| years=November 1, 2008 – ''present''}} |- {{s-ttl | title=Undisputed Junior Bantamweight Champion| years=November 1, 2008 – July 28, 2009''Titles fractured''}} |- {{s-ttl | title=IBO Bantamweight Champion| years=May 20, 2010 – December 11, 2010}}

{{s-ttl| title = WBC Super Flyweight ChampionEmeritus Champion |years = August 3, 2010 - ''present'' }}

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:Armenian boxers Category:Australian Armenians Category:Australian boxers Category:Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:World Boxing Association Champions Category:World Boxing Council Champions Category:International Boxing Federation Champions Category:Olympic boxers of Armenia Category:Southpaw boxers Category:People from Vanadzor

de:Wachtang Dartschinjan fr:Vic Darchinyan hy:Վախթանգ Դարչինյան ja:ビック・ダルチニアン pl:Wachtang Darczinjan pt:Vic Darchinyan ru:Дарчинян, Вахтанг Рубенович simple:Vic Darchinyan fi:Vic Darchinyan th:วิค ดาร์ชิเนียน

name	Lennox Lewis, CM, CBE
realname	Lennox Claudius Lewis
nationality	British, Canadian
nickname	''The Lion''
weight	Heavyweight
height
reach
birth date	September 02, 1965
birth place	West Ham, London, England
style	Orthodox
total	44
wins	41
ko	32
losses	2
draws	1
no contests	0
Medaltemplates	}}

}}

Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE (born September 2, 1965) is a retired boxer and the most recent undisputed heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship. As an amateur he won gold representing Canada at the 1988 Olympic Games after defeating future heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe in the final.

Lewis turned professional in 1989, winning his first 21 fights. In 1992 he knocked out Donovan Ruddock to take over the number one position in the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings and eventually be declared WBC heavyweight champion in 1993. Lewis lost the title to Oliver McCall in 1994 but defeated McCall in a rematch to win the vacant WBC title in 1997. Lewis went on to defend the title four times, becoming the lineal champion after beating Shannon Briggs by KO in 1998. He became undisputed champion after defeating Evander Holyfield in November 1999. After defeating Mike Tyson by KO in 2002 and stopping Vitali Klitschko in 2003, Lennox Lewis retired from boxing in 2004.

Throughout his professional career, Lewis suffered two losses, both of which he avenged in rematches, both by knockout. Along with Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield, Lewis is one of only three boxers in history to have won the heavyweight championship three times.

Lewis is tall and has an reach, much longer than average for his height. During his boxing prime, he weighed about . Lewis often referred to himself as "the pugilist specialist."

Early life

Lewis was born on September 2, 1965, in West Ham, London, England to Jamaican-born parents. At birth he weighed , and was given the name ''Lennox'' by the doctor, who said he looked like a Lennox. Lewis moved to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in 1977 at the age of 12. He attended Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute for high school, where he excelled in Canadian football, soccer and basketball.

Amateur career

Lewis eventually decided that his favourite sport was boxing. He became a dominant amateur boxer and won the world amateur junior title in 1983.

At the age of 18, Lewis represented Canada as a super heavyweight at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He advanced to the quarter-finals, where he lost a decision to American Tyrell Biggs, the eventual gold medalist.

Lewis chose not to turn professional after the Olympics, and instead fought four more years as an amateur, hoping for a second chance to win a gold medal. After winning several more amateur titles during those years, he travelled to Seoul, South Korea for the 1988 Summer Olympics and achieved his goal. In the gold medal match, Lewis defeated future world champion Riddick Bowe by a second round technical knockout (TKO).

Professional boxing career

Having achieved that goal, Lewis declared himself a professional boxer and moved back to his native England. He claimed he'd always considered himself British, but many British fans regard him as "a Canadian at heart and a Briton for convenience", as he had trained only in Canada and the United States and already lived half his life in North America.

He signed with the boxing promoter Frank Maloney and the early part of his pro career was filled with knockouts of journeymen. After he signed with American promoter Main Event he captured the European heavyweight title late in 1990 against Frenchman Jean Maurice Chanet, added the British heavyweight title in March 1991 and the Commonwealth title in April 1992. By this time, Lewis was a consensus top-five heavyweight in the world. During this period Lewis defeated the unbeaten top ten rated fellow Briton Gary Mason, former WBA World Heavyweight Champion Mike Weaver, 1984 Olympic Gold medallist Tyrell Biggs, former Cruiserweight World Champions Glenn McCrory and Osvaldo Ocasio and fringe contenders Levi Billups and Mike Dixon.

WBC Champion

On 31 October 1992, Lewis knocked out Canadian Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in two rounds for the number one contender's position in the WBC world rankings. At the time it was Lewis' most impressive win, and established him as one of the world's best heavyweights. Sportscaster Larry Merchant declared following the win "We have a great new heavyweight."

The win over Ruddock made Lewis the number one contender for Riddick Bowe's heavyweight championship. Bowe refused to face Lewis, and held a press conference to dump the title in a trash can and relinquish it. On 14 December 1992, the WBC declared Lewis its champion, making him the first world heavyweight titleholder from Britain in the 20th century.

Lewis successfully defended the belt three times, defeating Tony Tucker, who was decked (in the third and ninth rounds) for the first time in his career, and he followed this up with knockout victories over Phil Jackson and Frank Bruno. The Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno fight was the first time that two British-born boxers had fought for the world heavyweight title.

Loss to McCall

Lennox Lewis lost his WBC title to Oliver McCall on 24 September 1994 in a huge upset. In the second round, McCall connected with a powerful left/right combination, putting Lewis down on his back. Lewis was up at the count of six, but stumbled forward into the referee. The referee felt Lewis was dazed and ended the fight, giving McCall the win by technical knockout. Lewis and others argued that the stoppage was premature and that a champion should be given the benefit of the doubt.

Regaining the WBC title

In his first comeback fight Lewis was given a chance to fight for the mandatory challenger position within the WBC and won it by knocking out American contender Lionel Butler. However, at the behest of promoter Don King the WBC chose to bypass him and give Mike Tyson the first shot at the title that had recently been won by fellow Briton Frank Bruno against Oliver McCall. Bruno had previously lost to both Lewis and Tyson.

While Lewis had the No. 1 contender's slot in the WBC rankings he knocked out Australian Justin Fortune, then defeated former WBO Champion Tommy Morrison in October 1995, and Olympic gold medallist and former WBO champion Ray Mercer by a close majority decision in May 1996. Lewis successfully sued to try to force Tyson to make a mandatory defense of the WBC title against him or force Tyson to give up the title, winning a four million dollar settlement from promoter Don King. Rather than fight Lewis, Tyson relinquished the WBC belt to fight Evander Holyfield, and the title was declared vacant. This set up a rematch between Lewis and McCall, who squared off on February 7, 1997 in Las Vegas for the WBC title. In one of the strangest fights in boxing history, McCall refused to box in the fourth and fifth rounds, then began crying in the ring, forcing the referee to stop the fight and award Lewis the victory and the title. As newly re-crowned WBC champion, Lewis successfully defended the title during 1997 against fellow Briton and former WBO world champion Henry Akinwande, who was disqualified after five rounds for excessive clinching. Lewis then met Poland's Andrew Golota, whom he knocked out in the first round. During 1998, Lewis again retained the WBC world title when he knocked out lineal champion Shannon Briggs in five rounds. (Briggs had recently outpointed George Foreman in a controversial fight, to win the lineal title.) and beat formerly-undefeated European champion Željko Mavrović from Croatia in a 12-round unanimous decision. Lewis stated in 2006 that his fight with Mavrovic was the most awkward win of his career.

Lewis Vs. Holyfield

On March 13, 1999, Lewis faced WBA and IBF title holder Evander Holyfield in New York City in what was supposed to be a heavyweight unification bout. Lewis fought a brilliant tactical fight, keeping Holyfield off balance with a long jab and peppering him with combinations almost at will. Although most observers believed Lewis had clearly won the fight, the bout was declared a draw, to much controversy. The raw statistics of the fight suggested the bout belonged to Lewis, who landed 348 punches compared to Holyfield's 130. Lewis also out-jabbed Holyfield 137 to 52. Judge Eugenia Williams, who scored the fight in Holyfield's favour, said she saw Lewis land fewer punches than Holyfield.

Lewis Vs. Holyfield II

The sanctioning bodies ordered a rematch. Eight months later in Las Vegas (November 13, 1999), the two men fought again in a more open and entertaining contest than the original fight, with the two boxers having some heavy exchanges from rounds 6 to 9. The punch stats however still clearly favoured Lewis who landed 195 punches to Evander Holyfield's 137 punches, although interestingly Lewis landed 119 power shots and 76 jabs, showing a definite shift in his tactics from the first fight when he focused more on the jab. This time around the 3 Judges did score the fight unanimously (115-113, 116-112 & 117-111) all in favour of Lewis who became undisputed heavyweight champion of the World.

In 1999, Lewis was given one of the most prestigious sports awards in Britain, being voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Reign as Undisputed Champion

After Lewis defeated Holyfield the WBA ordered Lewis to defend the title against John Ruiz of Puerto Rico, then an obscure Don King fighter who had been made the WBA's #1-ranked contender. The WBA gave permission for Lewis to fight his WBC mandatory Michael Grant first if he would fight Ruiz next, which Lewis agreed to. Opposed to this, Ruiz's promoter challenged this decision in court on the basis of a clause in the Lewis-Holyfield rematch contract that said Lewis's first bout as undisputed champion would be against the WBA's number one contender. Lewis was therefore to be stripped of his WBA belt if he fought Grant first.

Lewis proceeded to fight the 6 ft 8 inch American Michael Grant who he considered the best contender available. He successfully defended his WBC, IBF and IBO titles against Grant with a second round knockout victory in Madison Square Garden in April 2000.

Later that same year Lewis knocked out South African Francois Botha in two rounds in London, before winning a 12-round decision against New Zealander and IBF mandatory opponent, David Tua in Las Vegas.

Lewis Vs. Rahman

On April 21, 2001, Lewis was knocked out by 15-to-1 underdog Hasim Rahman in a bout in South Africa. The loss, coupled with Lewis's earlier TKO loss to McCall, led many ringside observers to question Lewis's heart and chin. Prior to the bout, Lewis had a role in the film ''Ocean's Eleven'' in which he "boxed" against Wladimir Klitschko, and many feel that the distraction and disrupted training schedule contributed significantly to his loss.

Lewis Vs. Rahman II

Lewis immediately sought a rematch with the new champion; however, Rahman, now being promoted by Don King, tried to secure another opponent for his inaugural title defence. Lewis took Rahman to court to honour the rematch clause in their contract. Rahman was ordered to honour the clause and give Lewis a rematch in his first title defence. While promoting the rematch with Rahman on ESPN's Up Close, the fighters got into a brawl similar to the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in front of Howard Cosell on ''Wide World of Sports''. Many felt the brawl was staged to promote the fight, so the reality of the episode is still a matter of debate. Lewis regained the title on November 17 by outclassing and then knocking out Hasim Rahman in the fourth round of their rematch.

Lewis vs. Tyson

On June 8, 2002, Lewis defended his title against Mike Tyson. A fight many had hoped would be a classic turned out to be one-sided as Lennox used his jab and superior reach to score a dominant knockout victory over "Iron Mike." By the end of the seventh round Tyson was tired and sluggish, his face swollen and his eyes cut. He was knocked out in the eighth by a right hook from Lewis. After the fight was over, George Foreman declared "He [Lewis] is, no doubt, the best heavyweight of all time. What he's done clearly puts him on top of the heap."

This fight was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the U.S., until it was surpassed by De La Hoya-Mayweather in 2007.

Ticket sales were slow because they were priced as high as $2,400, but a crowd of 15,327 turned up to see the biggest sporting event ever in the city of Memphis, Tennessee. Tyson also had to pay Lewis $335,000 out of his purse for biting him at the news conference to announce the fight, which was originally scheduled for April 6, 2002 in Las Vegas. Las Vegas, however, rejected the fight because of Tyson's licensing problems and several other states refused Tyson a license before Memphis finally bid $12 million to land it.

Lewis vs. Klitschko

In May 2003, Lewis sued boxing promoter Don King for $385 million, claiming that King used threats to have Tyson pull out of a rematch scheduled with Lewis for a month later. Lewis then scheduled a fight with Kirk Johnson for the championship belt of the less-recognized IBO, but dropped it when Johnson suffered an injury in training. Instead, Lewis fought Vitali Klitschko, the WBC's No. 1 contender and former WBO titlist at short notice. Lewis had planned to fight him in December, but since Klitschko had been on the undercard of the Johnson fight anyway, they agreed to square off on June 21. Lewis entered the ring at a career high 256½ pounds. Lewis was dominated in the early rounds and was wobbled in round two by solid Klitschko punches. Lewis opened a cut above Klitschko's eye with a right cross in the third round and gave a better showing in the fourth round, and gaining the upper hand in fifth and sixth rounds. Before the start of round seven the doctor advised that the fight should be stopped because of a severe cut above Klitschko's left eye, awarding Lewis victory by TKO. Klitschko was leading 58–56 on all three judges' scorecards when the fight was stopped.

Interviewed about the fight by HBO, doctor Paul Wallace explained his decision:

"When he raised his head up, his upper eyelid covered his field of vision. At that point I had no other option but to stop the fight. If he had to move his head to see me, there was no way he could defend his way against a punch."

Klitschko's face required sixty stitches.

Because Klitschko had fought so bravely against Lewis, boxing fans soon began calling for a rematch. The WBC agreed, and kept the Ukrainian as its No. 1 contender. Lewis initially was in favour of a rematch:

"I want the rematch, I enjoyed that fight. It was just a fight. We went at it. You have to play dollars and cents but I'm opting more for the rematch."

Negotiations for the rematch followed but Lewis changed his mind Instead, Klitschko fought and defeated Kirk Johnson on December 6 in WBC Eliminator, setting up a mandatory rematch with Lewis. Lewis announced his retirement shortly thereafter and vacated the title. Lewis commented later:

"So, when it came time for me to see if I should fight Klitschko again, I thought - at my worst, at my worst! I beat Klitschko and look what I did to his face! I was at my worst - just think [what would’ve happened] if I’d trained just a little bit harder. I didn’t need to fight him again."

Hanging up the gloves

Lewis announced his retirement in February 2004 and decided to pursue other interests, including sports management and music promotion. Lewis said he would not return to the ring. At his retirement, Lewis's record was 41 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, with 32 wins by knockout. Though it was rumoured in an article published by the ''Daily Mail'' on the February 24 that he would return to fight Klitschko once again, Lewis quickly shot down those rumours on his personal website. In 2008 Lewis commented on a possible match up with Riddick Bowe. "He waits until I am in retirement to call out my name," said Lewis. "I will come out of retirement to beat up that guy. I'll beat him up for free."

Along with Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano he is one of three world heavyweight champions to have retired with no unavenged defeats.

Outside of boxing

In 2002, Lewis was reportedly offered £5m by WWE chairman Vince McMahon to take up wrestling with WWE. His camp held discussions over a possible match with former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar in February 2003, at the No Way Out pay-per-view event. He had borne the Union Flag for the British Bulldog before his match against Bret "The Hitman" Hart at SummerSlam in 1992.

In 2003, Lewis made a brief cameo appearance in the Jennifer Lopez and LL Cool J video "All I Have".

Lewis played in the World Series of Poker in both 2006 and 2007, and was knocked out without winning any money.

Lewis appeared on NBC's ''Celebrity Apprentice'' in 2008. He came in fourth place (out of 14).

Lewis has also done a public service announcement against domestic violence for Do Something.

In 2008, Lewis was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. In 2009, in his first year of eligibility, Lewis was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

On May 8, 2010, Lewis was let go by HBO as a commentator for ''Boxing After Dark''.

Personal life

Upon retiring from boxing, Lewis moved to Miami Beach with his wife, Violet Chang, a former Miss Jamaica runner-up. The couple have a daughter named Ling (born 2004), a son named Landon (born 2006) and in 2009 the couple welcomed their third child, a daughter. Lewis told AventuraUSA.com in 2007 that he is contemplating opening an "international boxing academy" and perhaps one day starting a record label, but contrary to rumours, he has yet to embark on either endeavour. Lewis supports the English football team West Ham United, the place of his birth.

Lewis is an avid amateur chess player, and funded an after-school chess program for disadvantaged youths, one of whom earned a university chess scholarship at Tennessee Tech.

Amateur highlights

Record: 75–7 (58 KOs)

1983 Junior World Super Heavyweight Champion

Represented Canada as a Super Heavyweight at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Results were:

*Defeated Mohammad Youssuf (Pakistan) TKO 3

*Lost to Tyrell Biggs (United States) points

1985 Silver Medalist at World Cup competition.

1986 Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland

1987 Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist at Pan American Games in Indianapolis. Lost to Jorge Luis Gonzalez of Cuba in the final.

1987 Won the North American Super Heavyweight championship competition, defeating Jorge Luis Gonzalez

Won the Super Heavyweight Gold medal for Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

*Defeated Chris Odera (Kenya) TKO 2

*Defeated Ulli Kaden (East Germany) TKO 1

*Defeated Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) forfeit

*Defeated Riddick Bowe (United States) TKO 2.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|41 Wins (32 knockouts), 2 Losses, 1 Draw |- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;" |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center |Win||41–2–1||align=left| Vitali Klitschko ||||| |align=left| Staples Center, Los Angeles, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |colspan=8|Lewis vacated his IBF title on September 5, 2002. |-align=center |Win||40–2–1||align=left| Mike Tyson ||||| |align=left| The Pyramid, Memphis, Tennessee}} |align=left|}} |-align=center |colspan=8|Lewis was awarded The Ring Magazine Championship belt in 2002. |-align=center |Win||39–2–1||align=left| Hasim Rahman ||||| |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Loss||38–2–1||align=left| Hasim Rahman ||||| |align=left| Carnival City Casino, Brakpan, Gauteng}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||38–1–1||align=left| David Tua ||||| |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||37–1–1||align=left| Francois Botha ||||| |align=left| New London Arena, Millwall, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||36–1–1||align=left| Michael Grant ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, New York, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |colspan=8|Lewis was stripped of his WBA title on April 29, 2000, for refusing to fight John Ruiz. |-align=center |Win||35–1–1||align=left| Evander Holyfield ||||| |align=left| Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |style="background: #c5d2ea"|Draw||34–1–1||align=left| Evander Holyfield ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, New York, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||34–1||align=left| Željko Mavrović ||||| |align=left| Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||33–1||align=left| Shannon Briggs ||||| |align=left| Boardwalk Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||32–1||align=left| Andrew Golota ||||| |align=left| Caesar's Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||31–1||align=left| Henry Akinwande ||||| |align=left| Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||30–1||align=left| Oliver McCall ||||| |align=left| Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||29–1||align=left| Ray Mercer ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, New York, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||28–1||align=left| Tommy Morrison ||||| |align=left| Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||27–1||align=left| Justin Fortune ||||| |align=left| Point Theatre, Dublin}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||26–1||align=left| Lionel Butler ||||| |align=left| ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Loss||25–1||align=left| Oliver McCall ||||| |align=left| Wembley Arena, Wembley, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||25–0||align=left| Phil Jackson ||||| |align=left| Boardwalk Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||24–0||align=left| Frank Bruno ||||| |align=left| Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||23–0||align=left| Tony Tucker ||||| |align=left| Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |colspan=8|Lewis was declared the WBC Heavyweight Champion on 14 December 1992, after then-champion Riddick Bowe refused to defend against him. |-align=center |Win||22–0||align=left| Donovan Ruddock ||||| |align=left| Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||21–0||align=left| Mike Dixon ||||| |align=left| Harrah's Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||20–0||align=left| Derek Williams ||||| |align=left| Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||19–0||align=left| Levi Billups ||||| |align=left| Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||18–0||align=left| Tyrell Biggs ||||| |align=left| The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win ||17–0||align=left| Glenn McCrory ||||| |align=left| Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||16–0||align=left| Mike Weaver ||||| |align=left| Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||15–0||align=left| Gary Mason ||||| |align=left| Wembley Arena, Wembley, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||14–0||align=left| Jean Chanet ||||| |align=left| National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||13–0||align=left| Mike Acey ||||| |align=left| Superstars Nite Club, Kitchener, Ontario}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||12–0||align=left| Ossie Ocasio ||||| |align=left| Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||11–0||align=left| Dan Murphy ||||| |align=left| Sheffield Town Hall, Sheffield, Yorkshire}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||10–0||align=left| Jorgé Dascola ||||| |align=left| Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||9–0|| align=left| Michael Simuwelu ||||| |align=left| Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||8–0|| align=left| Calvin Jones ||||| |align=left| Leisure Centre, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||7–0||align=left| Noel Quarless ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||6–0||align=left| Greg Gorrell ||||| |align=left| Memorial Auditorium, Kitchener, Ontario}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||5–0||align=left| Melvin Epps ||||| |align=left| Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||4–0||align=left| Steve Garber ||||| |align=left| City Hall, Hull, Yorkshire}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||3–0||align=left| Andrew Gerrard ||||| |align=left| National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, London}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||2–0||align=left| Bruce Johnson ||||| |align=left| Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||1–0||align=left| Al Malcolm ||||| |align=left| Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London}} |align=left|

Styles from birth

Lennox Lewis, CM (1988–1999)

Lennox Lewis, CM, MBE (1999–2002)

Lennox Lewis, CM, CBE (2002–present)

See also

List of heavyweight boxing champions

List of WBC world champions

List of Canadian sports personalities

List of British heavyweight boxing champions

List of European Boxing Union heavyweight champions

References

External links

Official Site

BBC Sports-Lewis' career in photos

Lennox Lewis Profile at AventuraUSA.com

Boxing-Encyclopedia

Category:1965 births Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Category:Black British sportspeople Category:Black Canadian sportspeople Category:Boxers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:Boxers at the 1987 Pan American Games Category:Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:British boxers Category:Canadian boxers Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Category:Boxers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Category:English boxers Category:English emigrants to Canada Category:English people of Jamaican descent Category:Heavyweight boxers Category:International Boxing Federation Champions Category:International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Category:Canadian people of Jamaican descent Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada Category:Olympic boxers of Canada Category:Olympic gold medalists for Canada Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Kitchener, Ontario Category:People from West Ham Category:Sportspeople from Ontario Category:Super-heavyweight boxers Category:The Apprentice (U.S. TV series) contestants Category:World heavyweight boxing champions Category:World Boxing Association Champions Category:World Boxing Council Champions Category:Living people Category:Olympic medalists in boxing

da:Lennox Lewis de:Lennox Lewis et:Lennox Lewis es:Lennox Lewis fr:Lennox Lewis id:Lennox Lewis it:Lennox Lewis he:לנוקס לואיס jv:Lennox Lewis nl:Lennox Lewis ja:レノックス・ルイス no:Lennox Lewis pl:Lennox Lewis pt:Lennox Lewis ro:Lennox Lewis ru:Льюис, Леннокс simple:Lennox Lewis fi:Lennox Lewis sv:Lennox Lewis tr:Lennox Lewis uk:Леннокс Льюїс

Name	Zab Judah
Realname	Zabdiel Judah
Nickname	Super
Height
Reach
Weight	Light WelterweightWelterweightSuper Welterweight
Nationality	American
Birth date	October 27, 1977
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Style	Southpaw
Total	50
Wins	41
Ko	28
Losses	7
Draws	0
No contests	2 }}

Zabdiel Judah (born October 27, 1977) is an American professional boxer. Judah has won five world titles between the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions, and is a former undisputed welterweight champion. He is also a former WBO junior welterweight champion and was ranked #8 in the welterweight division by ''The Ring'' magazine. After compiling an amateur record of 110–5, Judah turned professional in 1996. On February 12, 2000, Judah won the IBF junior welterweight title by defeating Jan Piet Bergman by fourth round knockout. He successfully defended the IBF title five times before losing to Kostya Tszyu by second round technical knockout on November 3, 2001. Judah's actions after the fight, which included throwing a stool across the ring and sticking his gloved fist into referee Jay Nady's neck, resulted in him being fined $75,000 and receiving a six-month suspension. On July 12, 2003, Judah defeated DeMarcus Corley by split decision to win the WBO junior welterweight title. He made one successful defense of the WBO title before moving up to welterweight.

On April 10, 2004, Judah lost by unanimous decision to Cory Spinks for the undisputed welterweight championship, but Judah would defeat Spinks by ninth round technical knockout in a rematch ten months later. After defeating Cosme Rivera by third round technical knockout, Judah was upended by Carlos Baldomir on January 7, 2006. ''The Ring'' would name Baldomir's victory over Judah the upset of the year for 2006. On April 8, 2006, Judah lost to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. by unanimous decision in a fight that saw a near-riot inside the ring, when Judah low blowed Mayweather in round ten, causing both fighters' cornermen to come in the ring while police had to come in and control the situation. Judah was fined $350,000 and had his boxing license revoked for one year. On June 9, 2007, Judah lost by eleventh round technical knockout to Miguel Cotto for the WBA welterweight title. On August 2, 2008, Judah lost to Joshua Clottey by technical decision in a fight for the vacant IBF welterweight title.

After defeating Ernest Johnson, Ubaldo Hernandez and Jose Armando Santa Cruz, Judah returned to the light welterweight division and won a split decision over previously unbeaten Lucas Matthysse on November 6, 2010, to win the vacant WBO NABO light welterweight title. On March 5, 2011, the Brooklyn native defeated Kaizer Mabuza by seventh round technical knockout to win the vacant IBF light welterweight title.

On July 23, 2011, Judah lost his IBF light welterweight title by a 5th round knockout to Britain's Amir Khan at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre Las Vegas. Khan landed a devastating right uppercut to the body and Judah, who dropped to his knees in pain, was counted out two minutes 47 seconds into the 5th round.

Amateur career

Judah began boxing at the age of six and compiled an amateur record of 110–5. He was a two-time US national champion and three-time New York Golden Gloves champion. He also won the 1996 PAL national championship. Judah attempted to earn a spot on the 1996 US Olympic boxing team. After defeating Ishe Smith and Hector Camacho, Jr., Judah lost to David Díaz in the finals, preventing Judah from qualifying for the Olympic boxing team.

Professional career

Light Welterweight

Judah made his professional debut as an 18 year old on September 20, 1996, in Miami, Florida and defeated Michael Johnson by technical knockout in the second round. After winning bouts over George Crain and Omar Vasquez in May and June 1997 respectively, Judah closed the year with first-round knockouts over Cesar Castro, James Salava and Ricardo Vasquez. Judah began 1998 by knocking out Steve Valdez in the first round in January. Valdez, who had never been stopped in his career, went down four times in the fight. In March, Judah and his opponent, Esteban Flores, accidentally clashed heads in the second round, causing a cut to open above Flores' eye and the bout was stopped in round three as Flores could not continue because of the cut. The bout went into the books as a technical draw, but the result was changed to a no contest in May 1998. On April 14, 1998, Judah battered two-time Dominican Republic champion Angel Beltre, stopping him in the second round.

The victory earned Judah a bout against Micky Ward for the vacant USBA junior welterweight title. Judah defeated Ward by unanimous decision to win the title. Judah successfully defended the USBA title by stopping Darryl Tyson in the eleventh round on October 15, 1998. Tyson was knocked down three times before the fight was stopped. Judah captured the interim IBF junior welterweight title with a fourth-round knockout over Wilfredo Negron in January 1999.

On February 12, 2000, at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, Judah fought Jan Piet Bergman for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title. Judah knocked Bergman down twice in the first round, but Bergman sent Judah down to the canvas in the second round. Judah knocked out Bergman in the fourth round to win the title. On June 20, 2000, Judah made his first title defense against Junior Witter in Glasgow, Scotland. It was an awkward fight for Judah, as Witter rarely engaged in an extended exchange of punches. Witter frequently switched between fighting right-handed and left-handed, making him an elusive opponent. By the middle rounds, however, Judah's consistent body punching slowed Witter down, and in the fifth round, Judah caught Witter with a straight left hand that hurt Witter and sent his mouthpiece skittering across the ring. Judah defeated Witter by unanimous decision.

Two months later, on August 5, 2000, at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Judah defeated former IBF junior welterweight champion Terron Millett by fourth round knockout. Judah was knocked down in the first round from a left hand. Judah rose quickly, and from that point on he dominated the fight. Judah hurt Millett with two combinations near the end of the first round. In round two, Judah sent Millett down with a right hand to the chin. Millett survived the round, but he was clearly hurt. In round four, Judah charged across the ring and inflicted a series of blows on Millett, dropping him to the canvas for the second knockdown in the fight. Millett got up, but Judah continued his assault and knocked Millett down again. Millett rose at the count of four, but his legs were unsteady and the referee decided to stop the bout.

In his third title defense, Judah stopped Hector Quiroz in the eighth round on October 20, 2000, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Judah battered and bloodied Quiroz until the referee followed the advice of the ringside doctor and stopped the one-sided bout. On January 13, 2001, Judah defeated Reggie Green by tenth round technical knockout at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Judah had trouble landing punches effectively against Green for the majority of the fight, but in round ten, he knocked Green down with a left hook. Green beat the count, but Judah then ran across the ring and sent Green down to the canvas with a right hand, forcing the referee to stop the fight. On June 23, 2001, Judah defeated Allan Vester by third round knockout in his fifth successful defense of the IBF title. In round two, Judah put Vester down to the canvas twice. In the third round, Judah knocked out Vester with a left hand that connected on Vester's temple. Vester went down on his knees and nearly lost his mouthpiece. The referee stopped the fight right before the closing bell. The fight would set up a unification match between Judah and WBC and WBA junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, who defeated Oktay Urkal on the undercard.

Unification Match with Tszyu

The much anticipated matchup between Judah and Tsyzu took place on November 3, 2001, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada for the undisputed junior welterweight championship. Judah entered the fight as a 3-to-1 favorite to win, and he won the first round by utilizing his superior quickness to land several punches on Tsyzu. With 10 seconds left to go in round two, Tszyu landed a right hand clean on Judah's chin and he backed away from Tszyu with his hands down. Tszyu went after Judah, throwing another right hand that landed on his chin and sent Judah crashing to the canvas. Judah jumped up instinctively and tried to signal that he was fine to referee Jay Nady, but was still dazed by the punch and fell down a second time. When Judah collapsed, Nady waved the fight over, resulting in a technical knockout victory for Tsyzu and Judah's first professional loss.

While Tszyu celebrated in his corner, Judah was in disbelief of what just happened and became infuriated. Judah picked up his stool and hurled it towards center ring. While being restrained by his father and trainer, Yoel Judah, he broke loose and walked up to Nady and stuck his gloved fist into his neck and had to be pulled off by cornermen. A few minutes later, Jimmy Lennon, Jr. announced the official decision, and Judah screamed out in agony and again had to be restrained by a growing number of security guards and cornermen. Judah was fined $75,000 and suspended for six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

After defeating Omar Weis by unanimous decision in July 2002, Judah challenged DeMarcus Corley for the WBO junior welterweight title on July 12, 2003, at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Judah knocked Corley down with a left hand in the third round en route to defeating Corley by split decision. Judah broke his left hand during the fight. In his first and only defense of the WBO title, Judah knocked out Jaime Rangel in the first round on December 13, 2003.

Welterweight

Cory Spinks

On April 10, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Judah fought Cory Spinks for the undisputed welterweight championship. Judah had trouble at the start figuring out how to fight Spinks, the taller fighter. He could not move forward to get inside, but was having success moving laterally. Spinks scored a knockdown in the eleventh round, but Judah came back and put Spinks down to the canvas in the final round. In the end, Spinks defeated Judah by unanimous decision with scores of 114–112 twice and 116–111.

For the rest of 2004, Judah defeated Rafael Pineda by split decision and Wayne Martell by first round technical knockout. On February 5, 2005, Judah would get a rematch with Spinks at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Spinks' hometown. The fight was the first major bout in St. Louis in more than 40 years, and it was a sellout. Judah was the aggressor throughout the fight. He knocked Spinks down to his knees at the bell in the seventh round, but it was not ruled a knockdown. Spinks had a strong start to the ninth round and connected with a left hand, then followed with a right hand and a combination, but Judah scored a knockdown moments later. Judah pressed the attack after the first knockdown and avoided Spinks' desperate efforts to tie him up. After Spinks was knocked down for the second time, the referee stopped the fight, and Judah became the new undisputed welterweight champion.

Undisputed Welterweight Champion

In his first fight as undisputed welterweight champion, he fought Cosme Rivera on May 14, 2005, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Judah sent Rivera down with a straight left hand to the face less than 30 seconds into the bout. Rivera beat the count, but was knocked down again about 10 seconds later. Judah hit Rivera hard several times in the second round, and in the third round, he connected with a left uppercut, that caused Rivera to stagger backwards and fall into the ropes before hitting the canvas. Rivera rose at the count of five, but he was badly hurt and the referee stopped the fight.

His next fight took place on January 7, 2006 at Madison Square Garden in New York City against Carlos Baldomir. For Judah, the fight was viewed as a tuneup bout that would lead to a lucrative bout between Judah and WBC junior welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., which was tentatively scheduled for April. Judah entered the fight as a 10-to-1 favorite over Baldomir. The stage was set when Judah unsportingly punched Baldomir on the thigh during the prefight introductions instead of touching gloves to show sportsmanship. The early rounds of the fight were close, but as the rounds passed, Judah was doing less than necessary to win, while Baldomir kept applying pressure on Judah. In round seven, Judah was hurt by a right hand and Baldomir landed a series of right hands to Judah's head along the ropes during the tenth round. Baldomir defeated Judah by unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 114–113, and 115–112 from the three judges. ''The Ring'' named Baldomir's victory over Judah the upset of the year for 2006. Judah's IBF and WBA belts were not on the line, because Baldomir did not pay sanctioning fees to the IBF and WBA. Baldomir did win ''The Ring'' and WBC titles, while the WBA "super" title was vacated after Judah's loss (WBA "regular" titleholder Luis Collazo became the sole WBA champion), but the IBF still recognized him as their champion.

With the loss to Baldomir, it appeared that Judah's much anticipated bout with Mayweather was off, but Judah's promoter Don King and Mayweather's promoter Bob Arum reworked the deals so the fight would go on. Mayweather was scheduled to earn a minimum $6 million while Judah was to earn $3 million plus a percentage of the profits, but because of Judah's loss, Mayweather earned a minimum $5 million while Judah was guaranteed $1 million plus a percentage of profits above $7 million. The fight took place on April 8, 2006, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Judah started strongly and put up a valiant fight, at times matching Mayweather's speed and punching precision. It appeared that Judah scored a knockdown in the second round when Mayweather's glove touched the canvas; however, referee Richard Steele ruled it a slip. In round four, Judah landed a right hand to the head that caused Mayweather to retreat to the ropes and cover up. The momentum changed in the fifth round, when Mayweather hurt Judah with a combination to the face. Then Mayweather landed a right hand on the bridge of Judah's nose, and blood began to flow. The seventh round was the most dominant for Mayweather to that point. Once again, he drew blood from Judah's nose. A combination from Mayweather backed Judah into a corner, and Judah's foot movement was considerably slower than it had been earlier in the fight.

With about 10 seconds left in the tenth round, Judah hit Mayweather with a low blow and followed it with a right hand to the back of Mayweather’s head. As Mayweather hopped around the ring in pain, Steele called time to give Mayweather a rest period. Mayweather’s uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, climbed into the ring and approached Judah. Yoel Judah entered the ring and threw a punch at Roger. At that point, members of both fighters' camps entered the ring and an all-out melee ensued. More than a dozen security officers and police officers rushed into the ring and managed to control the situation. After the ring was cleared, Roger Mayweather was ejected from the fight. Mayweather cruised through the last two rounds on his way to a unanimous decision victory by scores of 116–112, 117–113, and 119–109.

After the fight, the purses for both fighters were withheld until video of the fight could be reviewed. Don King argued that Mayweather should have been disqualified because his uncle was the first person to enter the ring. At an April 13 hearing, the Nevada State Athletic Commission fined Roger Mayweather $200,000 and revoked his boxing license for one year. At a hearing on May 8, the Commission disciplined the other offenders in the melee. It fined Yoel Judah $100,000 and revoked his license for one year, fined Mayweather cornerman Leonard Ellerbe $50,000 and suspended his license for four months, and fined Zab Judah $350,000 and revoked his license for one year.

Return from Suspension

On April 13, 2007, Judah made his return to the ring against Ruben Galvan at the Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi. Judah came out strongly in the first round, landing numerous shots on Galvan. During the round, a bad cut opened near the top of Galvan's head. The referee called for a timeout to allow the doctor to take a look at the cut. Due to the severity of the cut, the fight was waved off. The cut was ruled to be caused by an accidental foul with an elbow and since the fight did not go past four rounds, the fight was ruled a no contest.

On June 9, 2007, Judah took on WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in New York City before a soldout crowd at Madison Square Garden. In the first round, Cotto landed a low blow that put Judah to the canvas. Referee Arthur Mercante, Jr. offered a stern warning to Cotto. In the third round, Judah took yet another low blow from Cotto, which resulted in Cotto receiving a point deduction. Cotto and Judah delivered an all-action brawl, but after weathering some difficult early rounds as he figured out Judah's southpaw style and adjusted to his speed, Cotto took over the bout. In round seven, both fighters went toe-to-toe and in round eight he hurt Judah several times. In round nine, Judah took a knee to gain a breather from Cotto's aggressive style. By the tenth round, Judah was bleeding from a cut over his right eye and was hurt by an uppercut from Cotto that sent him retreating to the ropes, but Judah stayed upright. Early in the eleventh round, Cotto landed a combination that dropped Judah to the canvas. He managed to get to his feet, but Cotto went after Judah with a relentless attack, turning him sideways along the ropes as he continued to throw punches. That forced the referee to stop the fight.

Judah, who trailed 97–91 on all three scorecards, claimed he had been weakened by the two low blows early in the fight. He said, "The first low blow was very hard. The second one took a lot out of me. The low blows affected me from the time they hit me." Cotto earned $2.5 million plus a piece of the pay-per-view profits, while Judah earned $1 million plus a percentage of the profits.

Judah fought Edwin Vazquez at the Hard rock resort in Biloxi, Mississippi on September 7, 2007. Despite suffering a cut over his left eye, Judah defeated the overmatched Vazquez by unanimous decision. Judah hurt Vazquez several times over the course of the contest, but he injured his left hand midway through the fight and was unable to finish off Vasquez. On November 17, 2007, in Providenciales, Judah defeated Ryan Davis by unanimous decision to win the vacant IBC light middleweight title. Judah was scheduled to fight Shane Mosley on May 31, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, but it was postponed after Judah needed 50 stitches in his right arm after slipping in his bathroom and smashing it through a glass shower door.

On August 2, 2008, Judah lost to Joshua Clottey by technical decision in a fight for the vacant IBF welterweight title at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Judah began the busier fighter, showing quick hands and throwing effective combinations behind a jab. Clottey began steadily closing the distance between himself and his opponent from the third round, landing an increasing number of punches that took their toll on Judah. In round four, Clottey landed an uppercut that caused Judah to lose his balance, and by the end of the round, Judah had blood running down his nose. Judah staged a comeback in the sixth round as he landed a flurry of punches, but in the middle of the seventh round, Clottey landed a right hand that hurt Judah and caused him to back into a corner. In round nine, Judah suffered a cut over his right eye and the fight was stopped after he said he could not see. The referee had ruled the cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads and so the fight went to the scorecards. Two judges scored the fight 86–85 and the other judge scored it 87–84, all in favor of Clottey.

Comeback Trail

After the loss to Clottey, Judah fought Ernest Johnson on November 8, 2008, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Judah dominated the bout early, but in round three, Judah suffered two cuts from accidental head butts. Finding success with lead right hands and short left hands. Judah won the bout by unanimous decision with scores of 99–91, 98–92, and 98–92.

On November 6, 2009, Judah took on Ubaldo Hernandez from Mexico at Palms Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The former undisputed welterweight champion won the fight by TKO in the 2nd round.

Judah was in line for a fight with Devon Alexander, after the latter's win against Juan Urango. He has also been linked to a match with Timothy Bradley, as he was considered as a possible replacement for Marcos Maidana. The former undisputed champion publicly challenged both of them on more than one occasion in 2010. Promoter Gary Shaw tried to began negatiations with Judah for a potential bout in 2010. However, Judah declined the match but promised to fight Bradley and Alexander after a tune-up fight on July 16 at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

The Brooklyn native's tune up fight in July was co-promoted by Main Events and Super Judah Promotions. In June 2010, Judah expressed his intention in moving down to the light welterweight division after the upcoming fight, hoping to revitalize his career. His opponent was Jose Armando Santa Cruz of Mexico (28–4; 17 KO). Judah won the bout by TKO in round three.

Return to Light Welterweight

On November 6, 2010, Judah won a split decision over previously undefeated Lucas Matthysse in a fight for the vacant WBO NABO light welterweight title at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The former world champion fought in the junior welterweight division for the first time in almost seven years.

The Brooklyn native began the busier fighter, using the jab and trying to land uppercuts for the first two rounds, while Matthysse worked on the body. In round three, a clash of heads opened a cut outside of the left eye of Judah. Matthysse displayed more aggression and became the aggressor in the third and the fourth round and Judah switched to a defensive tactic. In the next two rounds, the American boxer picked up the pace, beginning to land more combinations. The seventh round was less active but in the eight, Judah landed some hard right counter shots. Judah continued to box throughout the ninth round but Matthysse began to show more power in the tenth, focusing on the head of his opponent and knocking down the American boxer after a hard right hand to the jaw. Judah got up but he was hurt, and the Argentine fighter tried to press the attack after the knockdown. However, Judah held and worked on the defensive and managed to finish the bout. Two judges scored the fight 114–113 for Judah, while the other judge scored it 114–113 for Matthysse.

Following the win against Matthysse, negotiations for a fight against Kaizer Mabuza began. Both sides eventually agreed to a March 5 bout, with the vacant IBF junior welterweight title on the line. Former champion Pernell Whitaker joined Judah's training camp to help him prepare for the match. Whitaker said: "I don't train guys to be like me. I help guys to do the things that work for them. If I can teach you how to hit and not get hit, that's a blessing for you. Zab has the same abilities I have, but Zab still has to put it together and do it the way that Zab knows how to do it." On March 5, 2011, Judah defeated Mabuza via technical knockout in the seventh round, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, claiming the IBF title again after almost ten years.

Judah fought Amir Khan on July 23. Judah was knocked out by Khan in the 5th round after Khan landed a massive body shot. Judah was unable to answer the referee's 10 count, thus recording his 7th career loss. Khan was ahead 40-36 on all three judges score cards at the time of the knock out. Judah was adamant that the body shot should have been called low (despite landing on the belt line) and claimed that he had been expecting a mandatory five-minute recovery period.

Professional boxing record

|- |align="center" colspan=8|41 Wins (28 knockouts, 12 decisions), 7 losses (3 knockouts, 4 decisions), 2 No Contests |- |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center |Loss |41–7 |align=left| Amir Khan | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |41–6 |align=left| Kaizer Mabuza | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |40–6 |align=left| Lucas Matthysse | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |39–6 |align=left| Jose Santa Cruz | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |38–6 |align=left| Ubaldo Hernandez | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |37–6 |align=left| Ernest Johnson | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |36–6 |align=left| Joshua Clottey | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |36–5 |align=left| Ryan Davis | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |35–5 |align=left| Edwin Vasquez | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |34–5 |align=left| Miguel Cotto | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |style="background:#dae2f1;"|NC |34–4 |align=left| Ruben Galvan | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |34–4 |align=left| Floyd Mayweather Jr. | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |34–3 |align=left| Carlos Baldomir | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |34–2 |align=left| Cosme Rivera | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |33–2 |align=left| Cory Spinks | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |32–2 |align=left| Wayne Martell | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |31–2 |align=left| Rafael Pineda | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |30–2 |align=left| Cory Spinks | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |30–1 |align=left| Jaime Rangel | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |29–1 |align=left| DeMarcus Corley | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |28–1 |align=left| Omar Gabriel Weis | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |27–1 |align=left| Kostya Tszyu | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |27–0 |align=left| Allan Vester | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |26–0 |align=left| Reggie Green | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |25–0 |align=left| Hector Quiroz | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |24–0 |align=left| Terron Millett | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |23–0 |align=left| Junior Witter | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |22–0 |align=left| Jan Piet Bergman | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |21–0 |align=left| David Sample | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |20–0 |align=left| Juan Torres | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |19–0 |align=left| Wilfredo Negron | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |18–0 |align=left| Darryl Tyson | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |17–0 |align=left| Otilio Villarreal | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |16–0 |align=left| Micky Ward | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |15–0 |align=left| Angel Beltre | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |style="background:#dae2f1;"|NC |14–0 |Align=left| Esteban Flores | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |14–0 |align=left| Steve Valdez | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |13–0 |align=left| Anthony Johnson | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |12–0 |align=left| Ricardo Vazquez | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |11–0 |align=left| Rick Edson | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |10–0 |align=left| James Salava | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |9–0 |align=left| Cesar Castro | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |8–0 |align=left| Omar Vasquez | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |7–0 |align=left| Troy Cain | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |6–0 |align=left| Paul Denard | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |5–0 |align=left| Chris Slaughter | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |4–0 |align=left| John Scalzi | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |3–0 |align=left| Jose Luis Torres | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |2–0 |align=left| Pablo Tejada | | | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |1–0 |align=left| Michael Johnson | | | |align=left| |align=left|

Personal life

Judah has nine brothers and two sisters. Five of his brothers also box, with three of them, Josiah, Joseph and Daniel Judah, boxing professionally. Judah's father and trainer, Yoel Judah, is a six-time kickboxing world champion and a seventh degree black belt. Judah's father is an avowed Black Hebrew Israelite and Judah's family has declared themselves Jewish. However, that declaration is controversial because Judah thanked "his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" after his 2005 fight against Spinks. Zab is now a Born again Christian.

In July 2006, he was arrested after a celebrity basketball game at Madison Square Garden on a Family Court warrant. In August 2007, Judah became involved in a fight at Stereo nightclub in New York. According to the ''New York Daily News'', Judah started throwing punches after he was hit first by someone who approached him. Two of the perpetrator's friends then joined in the fight and eventually everyone involved were kicked out of the club. After reviewing the videotape, the club indicated the perpetrators "might have been plotting something."

New York Police linked rapper Fabolous to a crew of robbers who targeted Judah twice. According to police reports, the Street Fam Crew, the gang that attempted to rob Judah, is made up of 20 members, all former drug dealers from Fabolous' Brooklyn neighborhood. In 2006, three men tried to rob Judah as he stood next to his Lamborghini on West 27th Street at 10th Avenue in New York City. The three men drove up to Judah in a minivan at about 5 am, and came out. One man pulled a handgun on Judah, and told him to put his jewelry on the hood of his car, but Judah ran instead. The muggers followed in their minivan, but crashed into a tree a block away. All three robbers fled the scene, but one was captured by a Homeland Security agent on his way to work, and another was grabbed by a nearby cab driver.

See also

Notable boxing families

List of light welterweight boxing champions

List of welterweight boxing champions

List of The Ring world champions

List of WBC world champions

List of WBA world champions

List of IBF world champions

List of WBO world champions

List of boxing triple champions

References

External links

Zab Judah fight-by-fight career record

HBO Boxing bio

Zab Judah profile from BoxingGurus.com

{{s-ttl | title=IBF Junior Welterweight ChampionInterim Title | years=January 16, 1999 – February 12, 2000Won full title}} |- {{s-ttl | title=IBF Junior Welterweight Champion | years=February 12, 2000 – November 3, 2001}} {{s-ttl | title=WBO Junior Welterweight Champion | years=July 12, 2003–2004Vacated}} {{s-ttl | title=WBC Welterweight Champion''The Ring'' Welterweight Champion | years=February 5, 2005 – January 7, 2006}} {{s-ttl | title=WBA Welterweight Super Champion | years=February 5, 2005 – January 7, 2006Stripped}} |- {{s-ttl | title=IBF Welterweight Champion | years=February 5, 2005 – April 8, 2006}} {{s-ttl | title=Undisputed Welterweight Champion | years=February 5, 2005 – January 7, 2006''Titles fractured''}} |- {{s-ttl | title=IBF Junior Welterweight Champion | years=March 5, 2011 – July 23, 2011}}

Category:1977 births Category:African American boxers Category:African-American Christians Category:International Boxing Federation Champions Category:Light-welterweight boxers Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from New York Category:Southpaw boxers Category:World Boxing Association Champions Category:World Boxing Council Champions Category:World Boxing Organization Champions Category:Welterweight boxers Category:World light-welterweight boxing champions Category:World welterweight boxing champions Category:World boxing champions

de:Zab Judah fr:Zab Judah it:Zab Judah ja:ザブ・ジュダー ru:Джуда, Заб fi:Zab Judah