Spencer Oliver (born 27 March 1975) is an English former professional

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 ...

. He was nicknamed "The Omen". Oliver won a silver medal for England in the bantamweight division at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

in Victoria, Canada.

Professional career

From 1995 to 1998, Oliver competed as a professional. When he defeated Bulgaria's Martin Krastev in May 1997 he became the European (EBU) super bantamweight champion. He held onto the title for a year, defending it on three occasions with wins over Serge Poilblan, Vincenzo Belcastro and

Fabrice Benichou Fabrice Benichou (born April 5, 1965) is a French former professional boxer. In 1987 Benichou was rated as the #4 bantamweight in the world. He become World Champion of boxing in 1989. He is three times super bantamweight World Champion, and two ...

Injury

In May 1998 he sought to defend his title again with a bout against Sergey Devakov at

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in London, which ended with Oliver suffering life-threatening injuries. Two minutes into the 10th round, Oliver was felled by a right hook and was counted out, the first loss of his career. It then became apparent that Spencer was seriously injured, a blood clot had formed in his brain, caused by a blood vessel that had been torn from a blow he received earlier in the fight. Spencer's

cutman A cutman is a person responsible for preventing and treating physical damage to a fighter during the breaks between rounds of a full contact match such as a boxing, kickboxing or a mixed martial arts bout. Cutmen typically handle swelling, nose ...

, Eddie Carter, is credited for saving his life, by instructing the paramedics to sedate the boxer in order to minimise the damage. For 15 minutes he was treated in the ring by paramedics and supplied with oxygen, before being taken unconscious to Charing Cross Hospital. He was later transferred to a specialist neurology hospital and underwent a successful operation to remove the blood clot.

Later life

Oliver now works as a pundit for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

and runs a boxing school in Edgware, London. He also hosts a boxing podcast with

Jake Wood Jake Dylan Wood (born 12 July 1972) is an English actor and podcaster, known for his role as Max Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He has also made guest appearances in series including ''Only Fools and Horses'' and ''Red Dwarf''. ...

called ''Pound for Pound''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Spencer 1975 births Living people English male boxers Bantamweight boxers Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Boxers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games European Boxing Union champions Boxers from Greater London Sky Sports presenters and reporters English sports broadcasters