Darren John Sutherland (18 April 1982 – 14 September 2009) was an Irish

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 ...

from

Mulhuddart Mulhuddart () is an outer suburb situated 12 km (7.456 miles) north-west of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The River Tolka passes near the village. Mulhuddart is also a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the Barony (Irelan ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. His amateur career was crowned by a

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

bronze medal.

Early life

Sutherland was born in Dublin to Linda from

Finglas Finglas (; ) is a northwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It lies close to Junction 5 of the M50 motorway, and the N2 road. Nearby suburbs include Glasnevin and Ballymun; Dublin Airport is to the north. Finglas lies mainly in the posta ...

and Anthony Sutherland from Saint Vincent in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. The family lived in London until Darren was seven and then in Saint Vincent for four years, before returning to Dublin and latterly

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the tenth largest settlement in Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Blackwater, around 50&nb ...

, County Meath.

Amateur career

Sutherland represented the St Saviour's ABC in Dublin and won the

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

senior title in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He faced Edward Healy in the 2006 and 2007 Final and Darren O'Neill in 2008 winning all three. Sutherland's international career featured a great rivalry with Britain's

James DeGale James Frederick DeGale (born 3 February 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2019. He held the IBF super-middleweight title twice between 2015 and 2018, and regionally the European and British super-middlew ...

, who later paid tribute to Sutherland upon winning his first professional world title in 2015.

2007 , EU Amateur Championships

At the 2007 EU Amateur Championships in

, Sutherland won gold at middleweight. Results were: * Mario Duro: Won - RSC (Round 3) * Ivano Del Monte: Won - PTS (32:19) *

: Won - PTS (23:19)

2008 , EU Amateur Championships

At the

EU Amateur Championships in Cetniewo, Sutherland won gold at middleweight. Results were: * Samy Anouche: Won - PTS (28:12) * Stefan Härtel: Won - PTS (20:9) *

: Won - PTS (22:16)

2008 , Olympic Games

At the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Sutherland won bronze at middleweight. Results were: *First round bye: Advanced *

Nabil Kassel Nabil Kassel (born March 10, 1984) is an Algerian boxer best known to win the middleweight gold at the 2007 All-Africa Games. The family name is Kassel, Algerians generally write this first ( Kassel Nabil). Career Kassel participated at the Olym ...

: Won - RSC (Round 4) * Alfonso Blanco: Won - PTS (11-1) *

: Lost - PTS (3-10)

Professional career

Following the exposure gained at the Olympics, Sutherland was offered a number of contracts as a professional boxer. In October 2008 he signed terms with London-based promoter

Frank Maloney Kellie Maloney (born Francis Maloney, 23 January 1953) is an English boxing manager and promoter, and television personality. She managed Lennox Lewis between 1989 and 2001, who earned the title of undisputed heavyweight championship of the wo ...

. On 18 December 2008, Sutherland made a winning start to his professional career with a first-round knockout of Georgi Iliev in Dublin. After the bout, Sutherland's promoter Frank Maloney said "I think we've found a real superstar here tonight and this is just the start of a long journey". His next fight, against Siarhei Navarka on 6 March at Robin Park Arena in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

, ended with Sutherland winning by a third round stoppage. Sutherland won his third fight at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on-Trent on 29 May against Vepkhia Tchilaia. Sutherland won his next fight against Gennadiy Rasalev in

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 ...

, London.

Professional boxing record

Death

On 14 September 2009, Sutherland was found dead with his wrists bound at his apartment in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

by his promoter,

. It was alleged he died by hanging himself. He had depression. Olympic gold medalist,

commented on the death stating: "It is very, very sad news - I just can't believe it, It is a tragedy. First and foremost, my heart goes out to his family. I just could not believe it; my heart went to the floor when I heard. He was a big part of my Olympic medal journey and it is just terrible. I just do not know what to say except that he was a brilliant fighter, in fact an excellent fighter, and he was a gentleman outside the ring as well. He had an Olympic bronze medal and his whole life to look forward to. He had a great future, and my heart goes out to everyone who knew him." His corpse was exhumed in September 2010 for a further private postmortem at the request of his family. An

open verdict The open verdict is an option open to a coroner's jury at an inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict means the jury confirms the death is suspicious, but is unable to reach any other verdicts open to them. Mortality studies c ...

was delivered at the inquest in March 2012. Following Sutherland's death, James DeGale kept the initials 'DS' on his shorts in professional bouts. When he won the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

super middleweight world title against

Andre Dirrell Andre Dirrell (born September 7, 1983) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF interim super middleweight title from 2017 to 2018. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2004 Olympics. His young ...

in 2015, he spoke post-fight of his relationship with Sutherland and dedicated the victory to him. "It's for Darren Sutherland as well, of course. My late rival" he said. "When he took his life back in 2009 it was horrendous. From when he passed, I've always had 'DS' on my shorts. And this world title is for him as well. A great guy. A great fighter. Unbelievable fighter. We've had some great, great scraps. It's for him."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Darren 1982 births 2009 suicides Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Ireland Olympic bronze medalists for Ireland Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Irish male boxers Middleweight boxers Suicides by hanging in England Sportspeople from Dublin (city) People with mood disorders Irish people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent Irish people of Afro-Caribbean descent