Martin Power (born 14 February 1980) 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 2001 to 2012. 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, ...
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 2005 to 2006 and challenged twice for the Commonwealth bantamweight title in 2006 and 2007.
Early Professional Career
Power made his professional debut in June 2001 with a victory over Sean Grant 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
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
. He compiled an unbeaten ledger of 19-0 with wins over the likes of
Rocky Dean and
Shinny Bayaar
Shinebayar Sukhbaatar 'Shinny Bayaar' (born 27 August 1977) is a Mongolian professional boxer with British nationality fighting in the flyweight division. He is based in Oldham, Greater Manchester and is the former British Flyweight champion.
P ...
before getting a crack at the vacant British title in May 2005. He won the title with a win over Dale Robinson at the Elephant & Castle center in
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
to become British
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 ...
champion.
British champion and Commonwealth challenger
Following his victory over Robinson Power defended his title twice beating
Ian Napa
Ian Napa (born 14 March 1978) is a Zimbabwe born British former professional boxer originally. He held the British bantamweight title twice between 2007 and 2012, and the EBU European bantamweight title from 2008 to 2009.
Early professional ca ...
on a split decision over 12 rounds and Issac Ward who was stopped in the 8th round. Both contests took place 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 June 2006 Power got the opportunity to add 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 ...
title to his British when he met unknown South African
Tshifhiwa Munyai
Tshifhiwa Munyai (born 8 May 1985) is a South African professional boxer who challenged for the WBA super-bantamweight title in 2014. He also held the Commonwealth bantamweight title from 2006 to 2007, and the IBO super-bantamweight title in 2 ...
once again in
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
. Munyai proved to be more than a handful and stopped Power in the 9th round to inflict the first professional defeat of his career on Power. A return match was organised in January 2007 but this match-up worked out even worse for Power as he was again defeated this time when his corner pulled him out in the 4th round with a shoulder injury. Power never lost the British Title he relinquish it as he wasn't fit to defend it against Nicky Booth due to his shoulder injury.
Defeats to Napa and Davies
In November 2007 Power challenged former foe
Ian Napa
Ian Napa (born 14 March 1978) is a Zimbabwe born British former professional boxer originally. He held the British bantamweight title twice between 2007 and 2012, and the EBU European bantamweight title from 2008 to 2009.
Early professional ca ...
for the British title that he had himself relinquished. Napa had beaten
Jason Booth
Jason Booth (born 7 November 1977) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2016. He held the IBO super-flyweight title from 2003 to 2004, and challenged once for the IBF super bantamweight title in 2010. At regional level ...
for the vacant version and Power was to be his first defence. Napa ended up winning the rematch in 12 rounds and Power crashed to his third consecutive defeat. On 18 December 2008, after being out of the ring for over a year, Power travelled to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and lost for the fourth time in a row this time against
Gary Davies
Gary Davies (born 13 December 1957) is a British broadcaster. From 1982 to 1993 he was a BBC Radio 1 disc jockey and a regular presenter of ''Top of the Pops''.
As of September 2022 Gary Davies can be heard on BBC Radio 2 presenting Saturd ...
, who would go on to become a British champion himself, via a 2nd-round TKO.
Changing stables
Power chose to return to the amateur club in which he began his boxing career in a bid to return to winning ways. Power had initially joined the St Pancras amateur boxing club as an eight-year-old and went on to win a number of amateur titles for the club. Returning to the club as a professional also meant that Power would team up with St Pancras head coach CJ Hussein. On 2 June 2009 Power returned to action with Hussein in his corner and defeated Sid Razak 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 ...
. The return to winning ways did not last however, when in his next outing, on 11 September 2009, Power lost to
Stuart Hall by stoppage in the 8th round of their 8-round contest. On 11 December 2009 Power met former British and Commonwealth title challenger Matthew Edmonds at the
Newport Leisure Centre in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and scored a 5th round stoppage, topping off a mixed year since the return to St. Pancras.
British title challenge
On 23 July 2010 Power returned to championship action as the challenger to former conqueror
Stuart Hall who had gone on to lift the title with a win over
Ian Napa
Ian Napa (born 14 March 1978) is a Zimbabwe born British former professional boxer originally. He held the British bantamweight title twice between 2007 and 2012, and the EBU European bantamweight title from 2008 to 2009.
Early professional ca ...
earlier in the year. The fight, in
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, saw Hall once again come out on top with the referee stopping the contest in the 10th round. For Hall it was only the 11th pro fight of his career and the 10th win with Power slipping to a sixth career defeat.
BBC Sport , Stuart Hall defends British bantamweight title
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Martin
Living people
Bantamweight boxers
1980 births
English male boxers
Boxers from Greater London