Maurice Core (born 22 June 1965) is British former
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
and now a boxing trainer. He won the British light-heavyweight title in 1992 and went on to fight for the European title.
Career
Born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Core started boxing at the Champs Camp gym in
Moss Side
Moss Side is an Inner city, inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester city centre, city centre, It had a population of 20,745 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Cho ...
in 1982, where he was trained by
Phil Martin. Core had 65 amateur fights before beginning his professional career. During his time as an amateur he was charged with nine attempted murders and imprisoned in
Strangeways Prison
HM Prison Manchester is a Category A and B men's prison in Manchester, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It is still commonly referred to as Strangeways, which was its former official name derived from the area in which it is l ...
; He was later cleared and awarded substantial damages.
[Bunce, Steve (2000)]
Champs Camp tells a Moss Side story
, ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'', 8 October 2000. Retrieved 22 February 2015 His first pro fight was a win over Dennis Banton in 1990. He won 9 of his first 10 pro fights, with a drawn fight against
Nicky Piper
Nicky Piper MBE (born 5 May 1966) is a retired Welsh super middleweight and light heavyweight boxer from Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff. His career was at its peak in the 1990s; he became the Commonwealth Light-heavyweight champion in 1995. He was ...
in May 1990.
In September 1992 he fought
Noel Magee
Noel Magee (born 16 December 1965) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1997. He held the Commonwealth light heavyweight title in 1995.
Background
Magee grew up in the strongly nationalist Ardoyne area of Belfast and ...
for the vacant British light-heavyweight title, stopping Magee in the 9th round to take the title.
[Maylett, Chris (2013)]
‘Hard Core’ – Career Interview with former British champion Maurice Core
", britishboxers.co.uk, 6 May 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2015 He successfully defended the title in December 1993 against
Simon Harris
Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...
, stopping the Londoner in the 11th round. Martin's death from cancer in April 1994 deeply affected Core. He went on to challenge
Fabrice Tiozzo for the European title but was stopped in the fourth round — Core's first defeat as a pro. Core moved on to work with
Jimmy Tibbs
Jimmy may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy
* ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma
* ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...
for his last few fights,
beating Eric French and
Frank Minton in 1995 before his final fight, a loss to
Mark Prince in July 1996.
After retiring from boxing he became a trainer at the Moss Side gym where he had learned his trade, going on to work with fighters such as
Carl Thompson,
Michael Jones,
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 ...
and
Michael Katsidis
Michael Alan Katsidis ( ; el, Μιχάλης Κατσίδης; born 15 August 1980) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He held the WBO interim lightweight title twice between 2007 and 2010, and challeng ...
.
, '' Sporting Life'', 19 October 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2015
References
External links
Career record
at boxrec.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Core, Maurice
1965 births
Living people
Light-heavyweight boxers
English male boxers
Boxers from Manchester