Patrick Ford (17 December 1955 – 13 November 2011) born Patrick Forde, was a Guyanese and British Commonwealth Featherweight champion boxer who challenged twice for the world featherweight title, and who was credited with paving the way for Guyanese professional boxers that followed. Ford won sixteen consecutive professional bouts at the start of his career in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Nigeria, between 1978 and 1980. One of the opponents he knocked out, unbeaten Cecil Ferandez, died after getting knocked out by Ford in the ring in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is t ...

in 1979.

World Title challenges

After stopping

Eddie Ndukwu Eddie Ndukwu (born 1 June 1950) is a Nigerian amateur and professional bantam/ super bantam/featherweight boxer of the 1960s, '70s and '80s who as an amateur won the gold medal at bantamweight in the Boxing at the 1966 British Empire and Comm ...

in August 1980 to win the Commonwealth (British Empire) featherweight title, on September 13, 1980, Ford lost a majority decision to

Salvador Sanchez Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

for the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

featherweight title in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. One judge had the bout a draw at 145–145. On February 14, 1981, Ford was knocked out by

Eusebio Pedroza Eusebio Pedroza (March 2, 1956 – March 1, 2019) was a Panamanian boxer who held the WBA and lineal featherweight championship from 1978 to 1985, having defended the title against 18 different contenders, more than any other boxer in featherwe ...

at 3:04 of round 13 in a failed attempt to win the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

featherweight title. After losing his next two fights, Ford retired. Ford won three comeback fights in Guyana between 1985 and 1987, finishing his career with a ten-round decision over Albert Brown on May 31, 1987.

Later life as trainer

Ford was a sergeant in the Guyanese Army, and also a licensed plumber. Ford lived in New York City after retirement, training amateur and professional boxers at Gleason's Gym in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He died from complications after a heart attack at Kings County Hospital Center on November 13, 2011.

References

External links

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Image - Patrick Ford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Patrick 1955 births 2011 deaths Featherweight boxers Guyanese male boxers Guyanese military personnel