Sam Sexton (born 18 July 1984) is a British 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 2005 to 2018. At regional level, he held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Commonwealth title from 2009 to 2010, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

title from 2017 to 2018, and won the

Prizefighter series The Prizefighter series was a professional boxing tournament created by boxing promoter Barry Hearn and aired on Sky Sports. The format has an initial eight fighters, who compete in four quarter-finals of rounds (number and length of the rounds i ...

in 2008.

Professional career

Early career

Sexton started his professional career in September 2005, in his home town of Norwich when he defeated Paul Bonson over six rounds at Carrow Road. He ended up compiling a record of 7-0 before he was defeated by former ABA champion

Derek Chisora Derek Chisora (born 29 December 1983) is a British professional boxer. He has challenged twice for the WBC heavyweight title in 2012 and 2022. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Common ...

at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inte ...

. The referee stopped the fight with 26 seconds to go in the last round. A distraught Sexton said after the fight "Maybe the occasion got to me. I really don't know. I'll go back watch the fight probably have a week off. I'll be back straight. I just didn't feel myself, but I'm not one to make excuses. I boxed, I lost, that's just the way it is".

Prizefighter champion

On 12 September 2008, Sexton competed in the "

Prizefighter 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 ...

" competition in

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 ...

. He defeated Pelé Reid in the quarter-final and

Luke Simpkin Luke Simpkin (born 5 May 1979 in Derby) is a British light heavyweight boxer based in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, England. His record stands at 11 wins, 32 losses and 3 draws after 46 bouts. Simpkin competed in the "Prizefighter Profession ...

in the semi-final, both by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

. Sexton then defeated Chris Burton in the final, the only boxer with an unbeaten professional record, the fight was stopped 2:10 into the third and final round. Talking of his pride at winning the tournament and picking up the £25,000 top prize, Sexton said: "Winning this is by far my top moment in boxing. I've represented England and that was fantastic boxing for my country but this is something completely different...I don't think I'm far off a British title shot now and I will see what I get offered. Hopefully I will be boxing for the British title as soon as possible." Following the tournament Sexton returned to the ring in November in order to challenge for his first professional title belt, the Southern Area Championship. In the opposing corner, Colin Kenna was stopped in the 6th round to give Sexton his first professional belt.

Commonwealth heavyweight champion

Sexton vs. Rogan, Rogan II

Sexton fought

Martin Rogan Martin Rogan (born 1 May 1975) is a retired Irish professional boxer. He won the first televised Prize Fighter 2008 defeating 3 fighters on the same night taken the title winning £25,000. He held the Commonwealth heavyweight title in 2009 and c ...

for his first defence of the Commonwealth heavyweight title, at the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

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 Kingdom ...

on 15 May 2009. Sexton defeated Rogan, handing him his first professional loss, after the doctor ruled that Rogan was unfit to continue in the 8th round due to a closed eye. On 6 November at the same venue, he stopped Rogan in a rematch to retain his title. Rogan's corner threw in the towel before the start of the 7th round, handing Sexton the win. Rogan cited a neck injury preventing him using his left arm when interviewed afterwards, as the reason for being pulled out by his corner.

Sexton vs. Chisora II

On 13 February 2010, Sexton was due to fight Danny Williams for the British title at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-s ...

but had to pull out with a hand injury. The fight was rearranged for May but Sexton pulled out after his mother suffered a brain aneurysm and was replaced by

. Sexton fought for the British title on 18 September, matched up against Derek Chisora. Sexton was stopped in the 9th round losing the second defence of his title.

Sexton vs. Price

On 19 May 2012, at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, Sexton was defeated by David Price by a fourth-round KO, in a fight for the vacant

and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. The fight was ordered by the BBBofC on 9 February after Tyson Fury vacated in order to step up. Price controlled the bout with his jab and distance, hurting Sexton badly whenever he connected. In the fourth round Price knocked Sexton out cold.

British heavyweight champion

Sexton vs. Cornish

On 6 October 2017, Sexton defeated Gary Cornish by unanimous decision and won the vacant British title at the Meadowbank Sports Centre,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Sexton vs. Fury

On 14 February 2018,

Hennessy Sports Mick Hennessy is a British boxing coach (sport), manager and boxing promoter, promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Hennessy Sports. He was known for promoting Tyson Fury. References

British boxing promoters Living people Year of birth m ...

along with Infinitum announced that Sexton would make his first defence of the British heavyweight title at Macron Stadium's Premier Suite in Bolton on 12 May against Hughie Fury, live and exclusive on Channel 5. The bout would mark the first time in nearly seven years that the British title would be contested for on

terrestrial TV Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an anten ...

. Speaking of the fight, Mick Hennessy said, "I'm delighted to bring the historic British Heavyweight Championship back to mainstream, free-to-air, television on Channel 5 where it will be seen by the biggest viewing audience possible due to their considerable reach and exposure. I can't believe that it will be nearly seven years since the British Heavyweight title was last seen on free-to-air in the UK on Channel 5." Fury started the fight moving around the ring throwing jabs and right hands. The movement looked to frustrate Sexton in round 3. Fury knocked Sexton down twice in the fight in dropping him in rounds 4 and 5. Fury won the British title defeating Sexton via TKO in round 5; Referee Terry O'Connor stopped the fight after Fury knocked Sexton down with a right hand in round 5. Sexton got back to his feet, but the referee stopped it anyway. The fight peaked at 2.9 million viewers.

Retirement

Sexton retired from boxing in December 2019.Sam Sexton calls it a day - Eastern Daily Press
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Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sexton, Sam 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Norwich English male boxers Heavyweight boxers Prizefighter contestants Commonwealth Boxing Council champions British Boxing Board of Control champions