James Patrick "Shea" Neary ( ; born 18 May 1968) 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 1992 to 2000. He held the

WBU The World Boxing Union (WBU) was a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative, boxing journalist, actor and former holder of the title of Britain's heaviest man Jon W. Robinson. It sa ...

light-welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title from 1996 to 2000, and challenged once for the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

light-welterweight title in the latter year.

Amateur career

Neary fought as an

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 ...

from the age of 15, compiling a record of 21 fights and 3 losses."Interview with Shea Neary former WBU Light-Welterweight Champion"
. British Boxing News. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2016.

Professional career

Neary made his professional debut on 3 September 1992, defeating fellow debutant Simon Ford by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the first round. On 8 September 1995, Neary won his first regional championship—the vacant

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, ...

Central Area title—by knocking out Nigel Bradley in two rounds. Three fights later, on 26 October 1996, Neary scored a twelve-round

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 fighter ...

over

Darryl Tyson Darryl Tyson (born October 17, 1960) is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC Continental Americas lightweight champion and former USBA and NABF champion in the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions. Professional ...

to win the vacant

title. He made five successful defences of the title, all televised nationally on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's ''

The Big Fight Live ''The Big Fight Live'' is a British boxing television programme, broadcast by ITV Sport regularly from 1984 to 1995 and again from 2005 to 2010. In 2017, over 30 years after it was first launched, ITV announced that 'The Big Fight Live' would retu ...

''. One of these defences included a sixth-round stoppage over former British light-welterweight champion

Andy Holligan Andy Holligan (born 6 June 1967 in Liverpool) is an English amateur light welterweight and professional light welter/ welter/ light middleweight boxer of the 1980s and 1990s, who as an amateur won the 1987 Amateur Boxing Association of Engla ...

on 12 March 1998. On 11 March 2000, Neary fought

Micky Ward George Michael Ward Jr. (born October 4, 1965), often known by his nickname, "Irish" Micky Ward, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2003. He challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title in 1997, and held t ...

as part of the undercard to

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.. Retrieved 25 February 2016. He held multiple featherweight world championships, including the WBO ti ...

vs.

Vuyani Bungu Vuyani Bungu (born 26 February 1967) is a South African former professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 2005. He held the International Boxing Federation, IBF junior-featherweight title from 1994 to 1999, and the International Boxing Organ ...

. This brought Neary international exposure for the first time, as the event was televised in the United States by

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

on their '' World Championship Boxing'' series. In a high-paced, action-packed slugfest, Ward handed Neary his first loss by stopping him in the eighth round. The fight was dramatised in the 2010 film ''

The Fighter ''The Fighter'' is a 2010 American biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and stars Mark Wahlberg (who also produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The film centers on the lives of professional boxer Micky ...

'', with Anthony Molinari playing the part of Neary. Neary won one more fight on 25 July 2000, scoring a ten-round

points decision A points decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. Unlike normal decisions where there are three judges that agree on whic ...

over

Alan Bosworth Alan Bosworth (born 31 December 1967 in Northampton, England), is a professional boxer, using the nickname "Bozzy". He is a light welterweight, and a former British and European title challenger at the weight. A Former Champion Of England & IBF ...

. However, Neary had struggled to make weight before the fight, and was quoted as having lacked motivation coming in. On 11 November 2000, in what would be Neary's final fight, he lost via points decision to then-reigning

light-welterweight champion

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 ...

. The result, judged by referee Roy Francis, was viewed as controversial.

Personal life

Neary's father moved from Ireland to Liverpool in the 1940s, and during his career Neary was embraced as both an

Irishman The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been co ...

and a

Scouse Scouse (; formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English) is an Accent (dialect), accent and dialect of English language, English associated with Liverpool and the surrounding county of Merseyside. The Scouse accent is highly dis ...

r. On 2 May 2011, Neary was arrested following a brawl at the Revolution bar in

Albert Dock Albert Dock may refer to: *Albert Dock, Hull, in Kingston upon Hull, England *Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, a dock and warehouse system in Liverpool, England *Royal Albert Dock, London The Royal Albert Dock is one of three docks in the Royal ...

, Liverpool, but was later cleared of assault charges in December. Neary's son James Metcalf, nicknamed "Kid Shamrock", became a professional boxer in 2011 and competes as a

light-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the International Boxing Federation, IBF or ...

. He has called his father "a huge inspiration growing up", and the reason he wanted to be a boxer. Warren, Frank (3 February 2017)
"Frank Warren adds Shea Neary's son James Metcalfe, Aston Brown to stable"
World Boxing News. Retrieved 21 September 2017.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neary, Shea 1968 births Living people Boxers from Liverpool English male boxers English people of Irish descent Irish male boxers Light-welterweight boxers