Lee McGregor (born 24 December 1996) is a Scottish
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who has held the
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 ...
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 since 2018, 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, ...
bantamweight title since 2019, and 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 ...
bantamweight title since 2021.
Professional career
McGregor made his professional debut on 11 November 2017, scoring a first-round
technical 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 ...
(TKO) victory against Stefan Sashev at the
Royal Highland Centre
The Royal Highland Centre, originally the Royal Highland Showground, is an exhibition centre and showground located at Ingliston in the western outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, adjacent to Edinburgh Airport and the A8.
History
The Royal Highla ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.
After compiling a record of 3–0 (3 KOs), he defeated Goodluck Mrema via second-round TKO to capture the vacant
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 ...
Youth
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 on 23 June 2018, at the
SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
His next fight came against former
Commonwealth flyweight champion Thomas Essomba on 13 October at the
York Hall
The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inter ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, with the vacant
Commonwealth bantamweight title on the line. McGregor captured the title via twelfth-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 ...
(KO) victory in only his fifth professional bout. Following a
points decision (PTS) victory against Brett Fidoe in a non-title fight in May 2019, Mcgregor made the first defence of his Commonwealth title, defeating Scott Allan via eighth-round TKO on 22 June at the
Emirates Arena
The Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, known for sponsorship reasons as the Emirates Arena, is an indoor arena and velodrome in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, Scotland. Built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, these venues hosted the badminto ...
in Glasgow.
McGregor returned to the Emirates Stadium for his next fight, facing
British bantamweight champion and fellow Scot,
Kash Farooq, on 16 November in a
unification fight for the British and Commonwealth titles. In what was described by media outlets as a "controversial decision", McGregor emerged victorious via twelve-round
split decision
A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor.
A split dec ...
(SD) with two judges scoring the bout 115–112 and 114–113 in favour of McGregor, while the third judge scored it 114–113 to Farooq.
Following a TKO victory against Ryan Walker in a non-title fight in August 2020, McGregor sought to add another title to his collection by challenging reigning champion
Karim Guerfi
Karim Guerfi (born 8 March 1987) is a French professional boxer who has held the European featherweight title since August 2021 and previously held the European bantamweight title three times between 2013 and March 2021. He has also challenged ...
for the
European bantamweight title on 19 March 2021, at the Whites Hotel in
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
, England. McGregor knocked his opponent to the canvas three times in the first round. Guerfi made it back to his feet on all three occasions, however, the referee called a halt to the contest after the third knockdown at 2:43 of the round.
McGregor made his first EBU bantamweight title defense against Vincent Legrand on 6 August 2021, at the Falls Park in
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, on the undercard of the
WBA interim featherweight title clash between
Michael Conlan and
T. J. Doheny. McGregor had a poor start to the fight, as he was knocked down in the second round, but successfully rallied back to knock Legrand out in the fourth round.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Lee
Living people
1996 births
Boxers from Edinburgh
Scottish male boxers
Bantamweight boxers
Commonwealth Boxing Council champions
British Boxing Board of Control champions