O'Neil Bell (29 December 1974 – 25 November 2015) was a Jamaican

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 1998 to 2011. He held the

undisputed Undisputed may refer to: Film * ''Undisputed'' (film), a 2002 action-thriller-drama film ** ''Undisputed'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the film * Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, a 2006 American martial arts film * Undisputed III: Redempt ...

cruiserweight title in 2006 and the lineal cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2007.

Professional career

Bell lost his second fight against

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n amateur star (M. Benguesima) but kept winning for years after that. He defeated former IBF champion Arthur Williams twice by KO and climbed the rankings. He defeated Canadian

Dale Brown Dale Brown (born 2 November 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been ''New York Times'' Best Sellers. Early life Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and w ...

in a controversial but unanimous decision on May 20, 2005, on

Friday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Box ...

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 ...

title. He unified the title by beating Frenchman

Jean-Marc Mormeck Jean-Marc Gilbert Mormeck (born 3 June 1972) is a French former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He is a two-time unified world cruiserweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC and ''The Ring'' world titles twice between 20 ...

on January 7, 2006, for his WBA and WBC belts, making Bell the second

champion of the division, with

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

being the first. The

later stripped Bell in April 2006 for pulling out of a mandatory bout against

Steve Cunningham Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and between ...

because of a tooth problem. After nearly 11 months of inactivity, Bell was due to take part in the postponed Superfighter Tournament at

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

on December 1 of that year. Bell lost the WBA, WBC and lineal cruiserweight titles to

on March 17, 2007 in the Frenchman's backyard in Levallois,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

via a close but unanimous decision. On April 19, 2008, in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, Bell fought former WBC light heavyweight champion

Tomasz Adamek Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek (; born 1 December 1976) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight class (boxing), weight classes, including the World Boxing Council, WBC light heavyweig ...

. Bell was dropped in the first round and quit after the end of round seven, complaining of feeling dizzy and sick. After the Adamek fight, Bell announced his move to the heavyweight division, saying that making the cruiserweight limit sapped his strength for his last two fights. Bell's first heavyweight bout was scheduled to be against

Willie Palms William L. Palms (born October 6, 1972), known as Willie Palms, is an American professional boxer. Amateur career Palms had a stellar amateur career, and won the U.S. National Championships as Super Heavyweight champion in 1997. Professional c ...

on January 14, 2009, but that fight never occurred.

Professional boxing record

Outside the ring

On February 5, 2007, Bell allegedly threw an axe at his sparring partner, Larry Slayton, while training in the woods of Big Bear, California. He was subsequently arrested for assault with a deadly weapon but was released.

2007 disappearance

According to ESPN's

Wednesday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Box ...

on August 8, 2007, Bell, who was originally scheduled to appear, was unavailable to fight and could not be contacted in any way. He was scheduled to appear against Louis Azille on the fight card, but his promoter pulled him from the fight three weeks prior because he could not be located.

Death

Bell was shot and killed while being robbed in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, on November 25, 2015.Chaykovsky, Edward (November 25, 2015)
"O'Neil Bell Shot and Killed By Robbers in Atlanta"
BoxingScene. Retrieved November 25, 2015.

References

External links

*
Bell wins the IBF cruiserweight title
at

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

O'Neil Bell profile
at Cyber Boxing Zone {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Oneil 1974 births 2015 deaths World cruiserweight boxing champions International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions Place of birth missing Jamaican male boxers Jamaican murder victims People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state) Male murder victims Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) The Ring (magazine) champions