Duke McKenzie (born 5 May 1963) is a British former

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

who competed from 1982 to 1998.. Retrieved 13 December 2016. He is a three-weight world champion, having held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

title from 1988 to 1989; the WBO

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

title from 1991 to 1992; and the WBO

junior-featherweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

title from 1992 to 1993. At regional level he held 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, ...

flyweight title from 1985 to 1988; the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

flyweight title from 1986 to 1988; and the British

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title from 1993 to 1994. After retiring from the sport, McKenzie has worked as a boxing commentator for broadcaster

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

Professional career

Previously a highly successful professional boxer, McKenzie has been British champion at two weights, a European champion once and world champion at three different weights. His professional record is 39-7 (20 by KO).

Flyweight

He won the

title (5 June 1985) with a fourth round stoppage over Danny Flynn. He later defended this against

Charlie Magri Carmel Magri (born 20 July 1956), who boxed under the name Charlie Magri, is a British former professional boxer. He is from a Tunisian family that settled in Mile End, London, where he grew up. During his professional career he held the WBC a ...

(20 May 1986) and added Magri's

flyweight title. Both titles were relinquished when McKenzie won the

flyweight Title on 5 October 1988 with an 11th-round knockout over

Rolando Bohol Rolando Bohol (born December 25, 1965) is a Filipino former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1994. He held the IBF flyweight title in 1988, and challenged once for the IBF bantamweight title in 1994. Professional career Bohol turne ...

. After two title defences and one non-title, McKenzie lost the IBF flyweight title to

Dave McAuley David Anthony McAuley, MBE (born 15 June 1961, Larne) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 1983 to 1992. He held the IBF flyweight title from 1989 to 1992 and challenged twice for the WBA flyweight title, i ...

on 7 June 1989 in his first defeat.

Bantamweight

An unsuccessful challenge for the European (

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Co ...

) Bantamweight title on 30 September 1990 saw McKenzie lose to

Thierry Jacob Thierry Jacob (born 8 March 1965), is a French former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 1994. Professional career Jacob turned professional in 1984 & amassed a record of 26-2 before he unsuccessfully fought Venezuelan boxer Jos� ...

of France. On 30 June 1991 McKenzie became a world champion for a second time, winning the WBO

title with a 12-round decision over Gaby Canizales. This was lost to Rafael Del Valle on 13 May 1992 when McKenzie suffered his first knockout loss, in the first round.

Super bantamweight

On 15 October 1992 McKenzie became a three-weight world champion, beating Jesse Benavides after twelve rounds for the WBO Super Bantamweight title. On 9 June 1993, Daniel Jimenez beat McKenzie on points, in his first defence of this title.

Featherweight

On 18 December 1993 McKenzie became a four-weight regional champion, beating John Davison for the British

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title. An attempt to become world champion at this division ended in a knockout loss to Steve Robinson on 1 October 1994. McKenzie's next fight was an unsuccessful challenge for Mehdi Labdouni's

featherweight title. McKenzie's last fight, in March 1998, saw him lose in farcical circumstances in the first round to 4-4 Santiago Rojas.

Life after boxing

He previously commentated on boxing for

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

and BBC television with

John Rawling John Rawling is a British boxing, track and field, darts and yachting commentator, currently working for BT Sport, ITV and Talksport. He has become known as one of the best known voices of boxing commentary. With BT, John commentates alongside ...

. He joined ITV with Rawling when boxing returned to the network in September 2005. He has also broadcast for BoxNation, Primetime and Al Jazeera. He also runs a flourishing gymnasium in Purley.

Personal life

He is the brother of former British and European champion

Clinton McKenzie Clinton McKenzie (born 15 September 1955) is a former British professional boxer. He fought in the light welterweight division and became the British light welterweight title holder and briefly held the European title. Background McKenzie was ...

, and former

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

and politician

Winston McKenzie Winston Truman McKenzie (born 23 October 1953) is a British political activist and perennial candidate for public office. He is currently a founder and leader of the Unity in Action Party. He has been a member of every major UK political party, a ...

. On 4 March 1989, Duke witnessed the

Purley station rail crash The Purley station rail crash was a train collision that occurred just to the north of Purley railway station in the London Borough of Croydon on Saturday 4 March 1989, leaving five dead and 88 injured. The collision was caused by the driver of o ...

, and was amongst those who helped in the aftermath.Whalley, Kirsty (1 March 2009)
"Death in the afternoon: 20 years on, Croydon remembers the Purley Rail Crash"
''Your Local Guardian''.

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Ltd. is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in print ...

. Retrieved 14 December 2016.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Duke 1963 births Living people English male boxers People from Croydon Sportspeople from Surrey Boxers from Greater London Members of the Order of the British Empire British Boxing Board of Control champions European Boxing Union champions International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Organization champions World flyweight boxing champions World bantamweight boxing champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions