Stephen Haughian (born 20 November 1984) is a professional boxer from Lurgan,

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

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Amateur career

Haughian had little experience boxing as a senior

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

but did represent

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at national level and was victorious over Benjamin Besmi in an international ''"dual meet"'' between the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and Irish teams in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in October 2003.

Professional career

He then turned professional and had his first pro fight in March 2005, which he won at the

King's Hall, Belfast The King's Hall was a multi-purpose venue located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The King's Hall consisted of 6 event venues. The King's Hall is owned by the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS) (previously the North East Agricultural Associ ...

in which Haughian beat Belfast fighter James Gorman on points over four rounds on a card that included

Eamonn Magee Eamonn Magee (born 13 July 1971) is a retired Irish professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2007, Retrieved 1 July 2016. becoming the World Boxing Union Welterweight Champion in 2007. He also held the Commonwealth light-welterweight tit ...

, Andrew Murray,

Jim Rock Jim Rock (born 12 March 1972) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He is the only boxer to have held the Irish title at four different weights divisions: light-middleweight, middleweight, super-middleweight and ...

and

Neil Sinclair Neil Sinclair (born 23 February 1974), is a Northern Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2010. He challenged once for the WBO welterweight title in 2010. At regional level, he held the British welterweight title from 2001 ...

. Haughian has compiled an impressive record of 16 wins from his 17 outings since turning professional in 2005. The sole blemish on his record remains a controversial points defeat to Giammario Grassellini for the IBF Intercontinental title at the Kings Hall in Belfast in late 2007. Haughian however reversed that result last time out by outpointing his Italian rival decisively on a Bernard Dunne undercard in November 2008. The County Armagh boxer stepped up to the next level when he headlined a first ever pro fight night at the Craigavon Leisure Centre on Saturday, 7 February 2009, it was on this night that haughian became the Irish welterweight champion by stopping the champion Billy walsh from Cork in the third round. In January 2009 Haughian was nominated in the Prospect of the Year category at the irish-boxing.com National Boxing Awards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haughian, Stephen 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Lurgan Irish male boxers Welterweight boxers Boxers from County Armagh