Duke McKenzie (born 5 May 1963) 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 1982 to 1998.. Retrieved 13 December 2016. He is a three-weight world champion, having held the IBF

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

title from 1988 to 1989; the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Bra ...

title from 1991 to 1992; and the WBO junior-featherweight title from 1992 to 1993. At regional level he held 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, ...

flyweight title from 1985 to 1988; the European flyweight title from 1986 to 1988; and the British

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, th ...

title from 1993 to 1994. After retiring from the sport, McKenzie has worked as a boxing commentator for broadcaster ITV.

Professional career

Previously a highly successful professional boxer, McKenzie has been British champion at two weights, a European champion once and world champion at three different weights. His professional record is 39-7 (20 by KO).

Flyweight

He won the

title (5 June 1985) with a fourth round stoppage over Danny Flynn. He later defended this against Charlie Magri (20 May 1986) and added Magri's European flyweight title. Both titles were relinquished when McKenzie won the IBF flyweight Title on 5 October 1988 with an 11th-round knockout over

Rolando Bohol Rolando Bohol (born December 25, 1965) is a Filipino former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1994. He held the IBF flyweight title in 1988, and challenged once for the IBF bantamweight title in 1994. Professional career Bohol turne ...

. After two title defences and one non-title, McKenzie lost the IBF flyweight title to Dave McAuley on 7 June 1989 in his first defeat.

Bantamweight

An unsuccessful challenge for the European ( EBU) Bantamweight title on 30 September 1990 saw McKenzie lose to

Thierry Jacob Thierry Jacob (born 8 March 1965), is a French former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 1994. Professional career Jacob turned professional in 1984 & amassed a record of 26-2 before he unsuccessfully fought Venezuelan boxer Jos ...

of France. On 30 June 1991 McKenzie became a world champion for a second time, winning the

title with a 12-round decision over

Gaby Canizales Jose 'Gaby' Canizales (born May 1, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who won the Lineal championship in the bantamweight division. Early life Canizales was born in Laredo in Webb County, Texas. Pro career Canizales turned pro in ...

. This was lost to Rafael Del Valle on 13 May 1992 when McKenzie suffered his first knockout loss, in the first round.

Super bantamweight

On 15 October 1992 McKenzie became a three-weight world champion, beating

Jesse Benavides Jesse Benavides (born November 8, 1963 in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American former professional boxer. His professional boxing record was 40–5–1. Amateur career Jesse Benavides was the 1981 National AAU (106lbs) Light Flyweight Champio ...

after twelve rounds for the WBO Super Bantamweight title. On 9 June 1993, Daniel Jimenez beat McKenzie on points, in his first defence of this title.

Featherweight

On 18 December 1993 McKenzie became a four-weight regional champion, beating John Davison for the British

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, th ...

title. An attempt to become world champion at this division ended in a knockout loss to Steve Robinson on 1 October 1994. McKenzie's next fight was an unsuccessful challenge for

Mehdi Labdouni Mehdi () is a common Arabic masculine given name, meaning "rightly guided". People having the name Mehdi are in general originating from Iran mostly and sometimes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, France, Morocco, Algeria, ...

's European featherweight title. McKenzie's last fight, in March 1998, saw him lose in farcical circumstances in the first round to 4-4 Santiago Rojas.

Life after boxing

He previously commentated on boxing for

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

and BBC television with

John Rawling John Rawling is a British boxing, track and field, darts and yachting commentator, currently working for BT Sport, ITV and Talksport. He has become known as one of the best known voices of boxing commentary. With BT, John commentates alongside ...

. He joined ITV with Rawling when boxing returned to the network in September 2005. He has also broadcast for BoxNation, Primetime and Al Jazeera. He also runs a flourishing gymnasium in Purley.

Personal life

He is the brother of former British and European champion Clinton McKenzie, and former

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

and politician Winston McKenzie. On 4 March 1989, Duke witnessed the

Purley station rail crash The Purley station rail crash was a train collision that occurred just to the north of Purley railway station in the London Borough of Croydon on Saturday 4 March 1989, leaving five dead and 88 injured. The collision was caused by the driver of o ...

, and was amongst those who helped in the aftermath.Whalley, Kirsty (1 March 2009)
"Death in the afternoon: 20 years on, Croydon remembers the Purley Rail Crash"
''Your Local Guardian''.

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Ltd. is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in print ...

. Retrieved 14 December 2016.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Duke 1963 births Living people English male boxers People from Croydon Sportspeople from Surrey Boxers from Greater London Members of the Order of the British Empire British Boxing Board of Control champions European Boxing Union champions International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Organization champions World flyweight boxing champions World bantamweight boxing champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions