The European Boxing Union (also popularly known to boxing fans as EBU) is an organization that oversees competition in that sport over the continent of Europe.

History

The EBU started life as the (IBU) International Boxing Union in Paris in 1910. The IBU became the EBU in 1946.

During most of the 20th century, and, specially, during that era's first decades, the EBU recognized many world title fights. The European Boxing Union competed against the American based National Boxing Association (NBA), which staged the more widely recognized world title fights.

The European Boxing Union went through a period of economical difficulties during World War II. Because one of the organization's most important rules is that every fighter that fights for an EBU title must be a national and a resident of a European country, and all fights must be held in Europe, it became very hard, if not almost impossible, for the European Boxing Union to stage fights. As a consequence, the European Boxing Union suffered financial difficulties during this period.

In 1963, the National Boxing Association became the World Boxing Association (WBA). Also in 1963, the WBC was formed from a group of WBA members that disagreed with the WBA's policies, and, with two other organizations competing to attract boxers, the EBU's personnel ultimately decided to recognize regional title bouts instead.

During the 1990s, the EBU had some important developments, such as beginning to recognize women's boxing regional championship bouts, and welcoming former Yugoslavian country Bosnia and Herzegovina as a member country.

Currently, winning an EBU title is considered important, but not necessary, by many European boxers in order to go on and fight for a world title of the four most widely recognized world championship boxing organizations, the IBF, WBO, WBA and WBC.

Rules

The EBU follows certain rules, but most rules in EBU bouts obey the rules set by the independent boxing commission of the country where an EBU fight will be held at. Some of the EBU rules are that a fighter must not be younger than 20 years of age when fighting for an EBU championship, and that hotel accommodation for boxers, referees and European Boxing Union officials visiting a country for an EBU fight must be paid by the fight's promoter. The EBU does, however, pay for the air or train tickets of referees and officials that travel away from home for an EBU fight. Other rules are also imposed on EBU recognized events, but not many of the EBU rules interfere with the fighting rules to be followed during the fight itself.

Champions

Flyweight: Andrea Sarritzu

Bantamweight: Jamie McDonnell

Super-Bantamweight: Vacant

Featherweight: Sofiane Takoucht

Super-Featherweight: Ermano Fegatilli

Lightweight: Gavin Rees

Light-Welterweight: Vacant

Welterweight: Vacant

Super-Welterweight: Lukáš Konečný

Middleweight: Vacant

Super-Middleweight: Piotr Wilczewski

Light-Heavyweight: Eduard Gutknecht

Cruiserweight: Alexander Frenkel

Heavyweight: Alexander Dimitrenko

Other regional WBC federations

Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF)

Asian Boxing Council (ABCO)

African Boxing Union (ABU)

Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE)

Central American Boxing Federation (FECARBOX)

CIS and Slovenian Boxing Bureau (CISBB)

South American Boxing Federation (FESUBOX)

References

EBU Championships BoxRec Boxing Records

See also

List of European Boxing Union heavyweight champions

List of European Boxing Union cruiserweight champions

List of European Boxing Union light heavyweight champions

List of European Boxing Union super middleweight champions

List of European Boxing Union middleweight champions

List of European Boxing Union light middleweight champions

List of European Boxing Union welterweight champions

List of European Boxing Union light welterweight champions

List of European Boxing Union lightweight champions

List of European Boxing Union super featherweight champions

List of European Boxing Union featherweight champions

List of European Boxing Union super bantamweight champions

List of European Boxing Union bantamweight champions

List of European Boxing Union flyweight champions

External links

European Boxing Union

Category:Professional boxing organisations Boxing

de:Europäische Box Union es:Unión Europea de Boxeo fr:European Boxing Union ja:ヨーロッパボクシング連合 pl:European Boxing Union ru:Европейский боксёрский союз fi:Euroopan nyrkkeilyliitto uk:EBU

{{infobox boxer|name	Ray Close
Realname	Ray Close
Weight	Super Middleweight
Nationality	Northern Irish
Birth date	January 20, 1969
Death date	-
Birth place	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Home	Chicago, U.S.
Style	Orthodox
Total	29
Wins	25
Ko	14
Losses	3
Draws	1
No contests	0

Ray Close (born January 20, 1969 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a former boxer who fought for most of his career in the Super Middleweight division, ending his career in the Light Heavyweight division. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly Mormon.

Professional career

Close turned professional in October 1988, winning his first fight at the Ulster Hall, Belfast, when he knocked out Manchester's Steve Foster in the second of six rounds on a card that included fellow Northern Irish boxers Eammon Loughran and Sam Storey.

In his seventh bout he beat Rocky McGran to win the vacant Irish Super Middleweight title. He successfully defended the title against Terry Magee, the older brother of Eamonn and Noel, in Dublin in 1991. In 1993, he defeated Vincenzo Nardiello to win the EBU European Super Middleweight title in Italy.

Eubank fights

Later the same year Close faced Chris Eubank for the WBO Super Middleweight title. In what would be the first of his two fights against Eubank, the match was declared a draw. After an October win against Ray Domenge, Close again faced Eubank in a rematch at Belfast's King's Hall. Despite having the partisan Belfast crowd behind him, Close lost the match on a split points decision. Both fights with Eubank caused considerable controversy, as Eubank floored Close in the first and had him on the verge of a knockout, yet the fight was declared a draw. The second fight, in which Close performed better, was deemed a points loss.

Revoked licence and retirement

A third fight with Eubank was scheduled in 1995. However shortly before the match the British Boxing Board of Control revoked Close's licence after he failed an MRI scan. Two lesions were subsequently found on his brain. Although Close had his British licence revoked he obtained a licence to in the U.S. from the Illinois State Boxing Commission. Close generally fought journeyman boxers in the United States, and finished his career with a run of five straight victories with his last fight being against Cleveland's Larry Willis in which Close won by a knockout in the fifth of eight rounds.

There was some press speculation in 2002 that Close was going to make a return to the ring in an unlicensed boxing event in Belfast, however the fight did not materialise.

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:People from Belfast Category:Boxers from Northern Ireland

it:Ray Close

Name	Gabriel Campillo
Realname	Gabriel Campillo
Nickname	Chico Guapo
Weight	Light Heavyweight
Nationality	Spaniard
Birth date	December 19, 1978
Birth place	Madrid
Total	21
Wins	18
Ko	6
Losses	3
No contests	1

Gabriel Campillo (born 19 December 1978 in Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid) is a professional boxer from Spain. He resides in Madrid, Spain. His nickname is "Chico Guapo". His professional record includes 21 fights: 18 wins (6 knockouts), 2 loss and 1 no-contest. He won the WBA light heavyweight title from Argentinian Hugo Hernán Garay on June 20, 2009. He lost the belt to Beibut Shumenov on January 30, 2010 in a split-decision loss.

References

{{s-ttl | title=WBA Light Heavyweight Champion| years=June 20, 2009 – January 29, 2010}}

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Spanish boxers

de:Gabriel Campillo es:Gabriel Campillo fr:Gabriel Campillo fi:Gabriel Campillo

Name	Paul McCloskey
Realname	Paul McCloskey
Nickname	''Dudey''
Official website
Weight	Light Welterweight
Nationality	|nationality Irish
Birth date	August 03, 1979
Birth place	Dungiven, Northern Ireland
Home	Dungiven, Northern Ireland
Style	Southpaw
Total	23
Wins	22
Ko	12
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

}}

Paul McCloskey (born 3 August 1979 in Dungiven, Northern Ireland) is an Irish southpaw professional boxer who fights in the light welterweight division.

McCloskey is the former Irish senior amateur champion, former British light-welterweight champion and current European light-welterweight champion.

Gaelic games

McCloskey played both Gaelic football and hurling at underage and briefly at senior level for the local clubs in Dungiven - St. Canice's Dungiven and Kevin Lynchs respectively. He was part of the Dungiven side that won the Derry Senior Football Championship and Ulster Senior Club Football Championship in 1997.

Amateur career

McCloskey boxed out of the St. Canices ABC and fought for Ireland at amateur level and was a three-time Irish champion and five-time senior Ulster champion at in the light welterweight division. He failed to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics by ending up in third place at the 2nd AIBA European 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Warsaw, Poland.

Professional career

McCloskey turned professional in March 2005 on the undercard of a bill that included Eamonn Magee and Neil Sinclair at the King's Hall, Belfast. In his debut McCloskey defeated experienced Englishman "Dangerous" David Kehoe with a third round knockout.

In December 2007 he won the IBF International light-welterweight title, stopping Tontcho Tontchev in round four.

After beating Nigel Wright on points in July 2008, he fought Colin Lynes on 5 December 2008 for the vacant British light-welterweight title. McCloskey won, forcing Lynes to retire after the ninth round.

Following his British title victory, McCloskey was named Boxer of the Year at the Irish National Boxing Awards in January 2009.

On 13 March, McCloskey retained his British light-welterweight title in emphatic fashion with a fourth-round stoppage of Dean Harrison in Widnes.

McCloskey won the vacant European light welterweight title on 6 November 2009, when he defeated Spanish boxer Daniel Rasilla after original opponent and champion Mbaye withdrew due to injury.

McCloskey defended his European title against Giuseppe Lauri from Italy on 11 June at the Kings Hall, Belfast, with an 11th round knockout.

McCloskey's next defence of his European title was against Barry Morrison in Letterkenny, County Donegal, on 2 October 2010. McCloskey won the fight with a seventh round stoppage of his Scottish opponent.

His third defense of the title would've been against second Italian challenger, Michele Di Rocco on March 5, 2011. Michele Di Rocco has a record of (21-1-1) with 12 kos and his only loss was by knockout in the 7th round against Giuseppe Lauri, whom McCloskey knocked out in the 11th round. But this match has been cancelled due to the Khan fight being worked out.

He was defeated by Amir Khan at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Saturday 16 April 2011 when the fight was stopped in the sixth round. This was the result of an unintentional head clash which left McCloskey with a cut above his eye. Khan was winning all six rounds on the judges scorecards at the time of the stoppage and was declared the winner by technical decision.

His next fight will be a WBA title eliminator against Breidis Prescott which will be held in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on September 10.

Professional boxing record

{{S-start} loss amir khan | style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|22 Wins (12 knockouts), 1 Losses 0 Draw 0 No Contest |- style="text-solid solid; "|Rd., Time | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes |- align=centerLight Welterweight Title.}} |- align=center

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Boxers from Northern Ireland Category:People from Dungiven

Name	Kiko Martinez
Realname	Francisco Martinez Sanchez
Nickname	''"La Sensación"''
Weight	super bantamweight
Nationality	|nationality Spanish
Birth date	28 November, 1984
Birth place	Alicante, Spain
Home	Alicante, Spain
Style	Orthodox
Total	28
Wins	25
Ko	18
Losses	3
Draws	0
No contests	0

Francisco Martinez Sanchez more commonly known as Kiko Martinez (born 28 November, 1984) is a professional boxer from Alicante, Spain, who fights in the super bantamweight division. From April 15, 2011, he is the current EBU Super bantamweight champion (for third time in his career).

Amateur career

Martinez fought extensively as an amateur. He fought 40 amateur bouts and never lost, with 38 of those victories being by knockout. Martinez stated that he ''"could have gone to the Olympics – the Spanish amateur boxing association wanted me to sign a four-year contract but I wanted to turn professional"''.

Professional career

Debut

Martinez turned professional and had his first pro fight in March 2005, which he won at La Cubierta Stadium, Leganes in Madrid beating David Casero by knockout in the third round on a card that included Javier Castillejo.

Martinez went on to win all of his first 11 fights with each victory coming via a knockout within four rounds.

European titles

EBU title

On 10 March 2006, Martinez faced Frenchman Salem Bouaita for his EBU European Union super bantamweight title at Pabellon de Elche in Spain. This was Martinez's first fight which went past four rounds and the fight went the full scheduled 10 rounds. Martinez was given a unanimous points win and won the title.

Martinez won a further four fights and became the mandatory challenger European super bantamweight title.

Bernard Dunne fight for the EBU title

The EBU made Martinez the mandatory challenger for, Irish fighter, Bernard Dunne's European super bantamweight title.

Martinez and Dunne clashed on 25 August 2007 at the Point, Dublin, Ireland. This was Martinez first fight outside of Spain and despite being the challenger he was confident of victory. Martinez stated before the fight that ''" might be a little shorter than Bernard bit I'm 5 foot 4 inches of a headache for him"''.

On the night of the fight the Point Depot filled with expectant Irish boxing fans and the fight was beemed live on RTE, the Irish national television broadcaster. The fight started with Dunne keeping his guard low and circling Martinez. However, Martinez quickly had Dunne on the canvas with an overhand right. Dunne appeared stunned and unaware of what had happened. Dunne beat the count but was floored twice more before the referee stopped the fight inside of only 90 seconds of round one.

The Martinez camp stated that they knew there would be a first round victory and that many of them had placed bets worth thousands of pounds with Irish bookmakers at odds of 66/1 that Martinez would win in the first round.

Challenge of Wayne McCullough

Martinez had signed to fight another Irishman, the Las Vegas based former WBC bantamweight champion, Wayne McCullough at Belfast's Kings Hall on 1 December 2007.

McCullough had not fought for over two year and the Kings Hall venue was sold out for the fight. It was agreed that the non title fight would take place at 8st 12 lb mark. However, on the day before the fight there was uproar during the weigh-in and the fight was cancelled amid chaotic scenes.

McCullough had already contracted to fight at 2 lb over the 8st 10 lb championsiop weight and he weighed in at 8st 9 lb. However, Martinez failed to make the agreed weight and was 1.75 lb over the agreed weight.

Martinez was given a couple of hours to shed the excess weight, but did not return to weigh in again and the scales were closed by a BBBofC official. A furious McCullough stated ''"I couldn't believe it. He comes in over the weight and then after being asked to take it off he just sits there and does nothing. I just can't believe what has happened. I was ready to fight and ready to win and he comes in that much over the weight."''.

Martinez first loss

Kiko Martinez made his first defence of the EBU super bantamweight title against Rendall Munroe. This was a title that he had successfully taken from Bernard Dunne in August 2007. The fight against Munroe took place at the Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham on 7 March 2008.

The fight turned out to be fairly uneventful as Munroe countered Martinez by blocking and counterpunching, without ever troubling the champion. While Martinez failed to land the big shots that had seen him stop Bernard Dunne. The fight went the full 12 rounds, with Munroe winning by a majority points decision.

The judges scorecards were as follows:

Franco Ciminale: 113–115 Freddy Rafn Christensen: 113–115 Esa Lehtosaari: 114–114

References

External links

Kiko Martinez's record @ boxrec

Photo gallery of the McCullough weigh-in

Category:1984 births Category:Spanish boxers Category:Living people