Noel Magee (born 16 December 1965) is an Irish 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 1985 to 1997. He held the Commonwealth

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

title in 1995.

Background

Magee grew up in the strongly

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

Ardoyne Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Catholic and Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during The Troubles. Foundation The village of Ardoyne was founded in ...

area of Belfast and came from a boxing obsessed family. Magee's younger brother Eamonn stated that for his mother "boxing was as important as school". Magee's three brothers were also boxers with two of them, Eamonn and

Terry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...

, having careers as professional boxers. His brother, Eamonn, was also a Commonwealth champion.

Amateur career

Magee, like his younger brother Eamonn, boxed to national level for Ireland. The highlight of his short amateur career was in 1985 when, at the age of eighteen, he won the Irish Light Heavyweight Title, defeating a young

Steve Collins Stephen Collins (born 21 July 1964) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO m ...

in the final. Magee again beat Collins later that year in a trial for the international team.

Professional career

Still only 19 years of age, Magee on 22 May 1985, turned professional under the mentorship of Pat Brogan, winning his first fight at the European Sporting Club,

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

, England, in which Magee knocked out Nigel Prickett.

Title fight defeats

It was four years before he fought for his title fight when he took on fellow Belfastman

Sam Storey Sam Storey (born 9 August 1963 in Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that ...

in November 1989 for the British Super Middleweight Title, however he lost this fight when the referee stopped the fight in the 9th round. After this loss Noel changed managers and joined the Eastwood stable. Magee went on a winning streak beating his next seven opponents, before he again fought for another this time the British Light Heavyweight Title against

Maurice Core Maurice Core (born 22 June 1965) is British former Boxing, boxer 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, Core started boxing at the Cham ...

in August 1992 but the result was the same, Magee, was stopped in the ninth despite having Core down twice in 3 rounds up going into the 9th. Magee's following fight was also a defeat, this time at the hands of

Dariusz Michalczewski Dariusz Tomasz Michalczewski (born 5 May 1968) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2005. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA, IBF, WBO and lineal light heavyweight titles b ...

for the Vacant IBF Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight Title. Magee also lost his challenge for the European (EBU) Light Heavyweight Title against Fabrice Tiozzo.

Commonwealth title victory

After this series of title fight defeats, Magee was becoming disillusioned with boxing and had informed his promoter

Barney Eastwood Bernard Joseph Eastwood (1932 – 9 March 2020) was an Irish bookmaker and boxing promoter. Eastwood was introduced to boxing through weekly tournaments at a US air base near his home and by the tutelage he received from a school teacher from Co ...

that he was considering changing promoters. The following week Eastwood lined up a fight with the then unbeaten Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Title holder Garry Delaney. The fight took place in May 1995 at the Festival Hall,

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

, Essex, England. Magee was a huge underdog with the bookies offering odds of 10/1 for a Magee win. Magee made his superior hand and foot speed tell by winning the fight with a stoppage in the seventh to take the only major title belt in his professional career. Magee lost the first defence of his title to

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 ...

, and after this Magee lost his will to continue boxing and two years later, after a brief two fight comeback including a loss to

Darren Corbett Darren Corbett (born 9 July 1972 in Belfast, Northern Ireland), nicknamed ''Raging Bull'', is a Northern Irish professional boxer. Corbett's weight fluctuated significantly throughout his career and although he had some fights at both heavyweigh ...

for the Irish Cruiserweight Title, Magee retired from boxing.

Professional boxing record

, - , align="center" colspan=8, 27 Wins (12 knockouts, 15 decisions), 8 Losses (7 knockout, 1 decision), 2 Draws''

, - , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Result , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Record , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Type , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Round , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Location , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , -align=center , Loss , , align=left,

, KO , 2 , 29 April 1997 , align=left,

Belfast 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 ...

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, John Duckworth , PTS , 6 , 28 January 1997 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

, KO , 9 , 30 September 1995 , align=left,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Garry Delaney , TKO , 7 , 9 May 1995 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Fabrice Tiozzo , TKO , 4 , 5 March 1995 , align=left, Vitrolles, France , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, John J. Cooke , PTS , 6 , 21 May 1994 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, John Kaighin , PTS , 6 , 16 October 1993 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

, TKO , 8 , 22 May 1993 , align=left,

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

, Germany , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

, TKO , 9 , 28 September 1992 , align=left,

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 ...

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Roger McKenzie , PTS , 8 , 25 April 1992 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left,

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder o ...

, TKO , 3 , 11 December 1991 , align=left,

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 ...

, Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Frank Minton , TKO , 3 , 13 November 1991 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Simon Collins , PTS , 8 , 11 May 1991 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Roger McKenzie , PTS , 6 , 12 February 1991 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Johnny Melfah , PTS , 6 , 30 October 1990 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Glazz Campbell , PTS , 8 , 15 September 1990 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left,

, TKO , 9 , 29 November 1989 , align=left,

, Northern Ireland , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Paul McCarthy , KO , 2 , 2 October 1989 , align=left, Hanley, England , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Yves Monsieur , TKO , 5 , 15 February 1989 , align=left,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, England , align=left, , - , Draw , , align=left, Ian Bulloch , PTS , 10 , 15 November 1988 , align=left,

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Mike Brothers , TKO , 6 , 3 May 1988 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Draw , , align=left, Rufino Angulo , PTS , 8 , 13 February 1988 , align=left,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, John Held , PTS , 8 , 20 October 1987 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Jimmy Ellis , TKO , 6 , 3 August 1987 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Lennie Howard , TKO , 1 , 24 February 1987 , align=left, Ilford, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Serg Fame , PTS , 8 , 17 November 1986 , align=left,

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 ...

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Jimmy Ellis , PTS , 8 , 13 October 1986 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Geoff Rymer , KO , 1 , 30 May 1986 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Barry Ahmed , TKO , 7 , 23 April 1986 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Winston Burnett , PTS , 8 , 5 March 1986 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Barry Ahmed , PTS , 8 , 20 February 1986 , align=left,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Blaine Logsdon , PTS , 8 , 23 January 1986 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Winston Burnett , PTS , 8 , 11 December 1985 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Winston Burnett , PTS , 8 , 6 November 1985 , align=left,

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Eddie Chatterton , TKO , 1 , 28 October 1985 , align=left,

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Dave Furneaux , TKO , 3 , 12 September 1985 , align=left,

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

, England , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Nigel Prickett , KO , 1 , 22 May 1985 , align=left,

, England , align=left,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magee, Noel 1965 births Living people Boxers from Belfast Male boxers from Northern Ireland Irish male boxers Light-heavyweight boxers