Wayne Rigby (born 19 July 1973) is a British former
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 ...
who was British
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
champion in 1998. He later moved up to
super lightweight
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, ...
and won the WBF world title.
Career
Born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Wayne Rigby began his professional career in 1992. After winning ten of his first thirteen fights he beat Jimmy Phelan in September 1996 to take the
BBBofC Central Area lightweight title. In January 1998 he faced
Tanveer Ahmed for the vacant British title, winning on points.
He made a successful defence of the British title in April 1998 against
Matt Brown, but lost it six months later when he was stopped in the tenth round by
Bobby Vanzie.
In May 2000 he beat
Dariusz Snarski to take the
IBO Inter-Continental lightweight title, setting him up to challenge for
Michael Ayers' world title in July; Ayers stopped him in the tenth round to retain the title. In March 2001 he again challenged for Ayers' title, this time losing on points.
[Bitter exit for Wayne]
, ''Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'', 27 November 2004. Retrieved 3 May 2015
Rigby moved up to
super lightweight
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, ...
to challenge for
Antonio Ramirez's World Boxing Federation World title in November 2001; Rigby took a unanimous decision to become world champion.
He made a successful defence against
Sedat Puskullu in March 2002, knocking the challenger out in the first round. Two months later he dropped back down to lightweight to challenge for
Colin Dunne
Colin Dunne (born 8 May 1968) is an English-Irish dancer and choreographer who is a leading figure in the world of traditional Irish dance, as well as a theatre actor and contemporary dancer. Best known internationally for his performances and c ...
's
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 ...
World title; Rigby retired after the tenth round. He made a second defence of his World super lightweight title in November 2002, losing on points to the undefeated
Gary Ryder.
Hard work is done for Ryder
, ''Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
'', 6 March 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2015
After 18 months out of the ring he returned in May 2004 to challenge for Tony Montana's BBBofC Central Area super lightweight title, losing on points. His lost his fourth consecutive fight in October 2004, to Roger Sampson, and retired from boxing the following month.
References
External links
Career record
at boxrec.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigby, Wayne
1973 births
Living people
Boxers from Manchester
English male boxers
Lightweight boxers
Light-welterweight boxers