Dean Pithie (born 18 January 1974) is a male British former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who fought in the

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

division. He is a former

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

Inter-Continental super featherweight champion.

Boxing career

Hailing from Willenhall ABC in

Willenhall, Coventry Willenhall is a suburb of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. Willenhall is in the south-east of the city adjacent to the suburbs of Binley, Ernesford Grange and Whitley. It covers the area bounded by the Rugby to Coventry railway lin ...

Pithie won the 1994 ABA featherweight title. Highlights in his amateur career included defeating future world champion

Prince Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.. Retrieved 25 February 2016. He held multiple featherweight world championships, including the WBO ti ...

. He represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the 57 kg division, at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Pithie turned professional in February 1995 at the Tryst Sports Centre,

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In his debut Pithie defeated

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

's Colin McAuley with a third round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

and knocked out McAuley again in his second fight. Dean Pithie won 12 of his next 13 fights, drawing the other with Kelton McKenzie. He avenged this draw in his next fight. This brought his record to 15-0-1 (7 KO). He fought Steffy Bull in his next fight for the

Intercontinental Championship, disposing of Bull by the way of TKO. Pithie made one defence of his title before being beaten by

Gary Thornhill Gary Thornhill (born 11 February 1968) is a former English professional boxer who fought at featherweight and super featherweight. He is a former World Boxing Organization ( WBO) Intercontinental super featherweight champion, as well as a BBB ...

to record his first professional defeat. Pithie managed to put himself back into contention for minor belts with two successive wins after this defeat, and earned at shot at Andrew Matabola for his WBC international title. However Pithie was defeated by way of 8th Round TKO. Pithie claimed the WBC International title in his next fight however, avenging his loss at the hands of Matabola by 2nd round TKO. Pithie was rated alongside the best featherweights in the country, and was tipped in some circles for British, European, and possibly world honours eventually. After 2 defences, Pithie fought

Michael Gomez Michael Gomez (born Michael Armstrong; 21 June 1977) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and l ...

for the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Super Featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

title, losing on points. After a draw with Jim Wiseman at Skydome, Coventry, Dean fought a

Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the nati ...

by the name of Afif Djelti for the IBO super featherweight world title. Pithie was knocked out in 6 rounds. Pithie went on to win the

title, defeating Liverpudlian

Alex Moon Alex "The Full-Moon" Moon (born 17 November 1971) born in Liverpool is an English professional feather/ super feather/light/ light welter/ welter/light middleweight boxer of the 1990s and 2000s, who won the World Boxing Union (WBU) Intercontine ...

in front of a capacity crowd in his hometown of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, Pithie called on former Coventry boxer Steve Earlyto train him for the bout which was live on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. This was to be a career highpoint. Pithie came out punching in the 12th round just like the first. Pithie only managed to hold the bout for one defence, a reign which would be co-terminus with the end of his career, losing his final fight to Glaswegian

Craig Docherty Craig Docherty (born 27 September 1979) is a Scottish former professional boxer. Competing from 1998 to 2017, he held the Commonwealth super-featherweight title from 2003 to 2005. Life and career Docherty became a professional boxer in 1998 ...

. Pithie's Final Record was 25 won, 5 lost, 2 draw.

Personal life

Pithie lives in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pithie, Dean English male boxers 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Coventry Boxers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Super-featherweight boxers Commonwealth Games competitors for England