Fred Evans (boxer)
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Freddie William Evans (born 4 February 1991) is a British
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 ...
fighting in the 69 kg welterweight category. As an amateur, he won gold at the 2007 World Cadet Championships in Hungary and won gold for Wales at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships in
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
. He was the first Welsh boxer to achieve the feat in 86 years. Evans won Olympic silver for Great Britain in the
welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...
division, losing in the final to Kazakh boxer
Serik Sapiyev Serik Sapiyev ( kk, Серік Жұманғалиұлы Сәпиев, born November 16, 1983) is an Amateur boxing, amateur boxer from Kazakhstan who won the world title in the light welterweight (-64 kg) division in 2005 and 2007 and Olympi ...
. His achievement made him the most successful Welsh boxer in Olympic history, surpassing the record of Ralph Evans at the
1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
. He turned professional in 2015.


Early life

Evans was born in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Wales to Tracey and Fred Evans. From a young age, he showed a keen interest in boxing, first attending a gym at the age of four with his father. He took up the sport himself, initially joining Cwmavon Hornets' gym, and fought his first bout at the age of ten. In March 2006, Evans' mother and younger sister Scarlett were killed in an automobile accident on the A48 near Cardiff. Evans is a member of the travelling community and is the cousin of fellow boxer Gary Buckland.


Amateur career

Evans joined St Joseph's Amateur Boxing Club in Newport as a teenager. He developed a reputation as a talented fighter and won a gold medal at the Four Nations Championships, a tournament between fighters from the
Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...
, at the age of 15 weeks after the death of his mother. Evans went on to win gold at the 2007 World Cadet Championships in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
.GB Boxing , Fred Evans profile
He also entered the 2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Guadalajara but was defeated by eventual winner, Irish fighter Ray Moylette. In the same year, Evans was picked to travel with the British side to the 2008 Summer Olympics in
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 ...
at the age of 17 in order to experience the atmosphere at the games before being selected for the GB development squad. Evans was also one of eight fighters from St Josephs who were chosen to represent Wales in the Senior Novice Welsh Championships against a team from the United States in 2009. The following year, he was selected in a British side for an event against boxers representing the
Rest of the World Within sports and games played at the international competitive level, the Rest of the World refers to a team of players from many countries of origin that compete against a single individual or a team from a single group, such as a club or countr ...
organised by the
World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...
(WBC). Evans met American fighter Errol Spence Jr. where, despite a strong start to the fight, he eventually suffered a 15–9 points defeat. The same year Evans competed in the
2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...
in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
but suffered a first round points defeat to Mauritanian fighter Kennedy St-Pierre. In 2011, Evans competed in the
European Amateur Boxing Championships The European Amateur Boxing Championships is the highest competition for boxing amateurs in Europe, organised by the continent's governing body EUBC, which stands for the ''European Boxing Confederation''. The first edition of the tournament t ...
in
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
. He defeated Belarusian Magomed Nurutdinov 15–9 on points to win a gold medal. His victory, along with that of flyweight
Andrew Selby Andrew Selby (born 25 December 1988) is a Welsh professional boxer who held the British flyweight title from 2016 to 2019. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships, Bronze at the 2013 World Championships, and gold ...
, was the first time a Welsh fighter had won gold at the event for 86 years and only the third time a British fighter had won since 1961. Later the same year, Evans reached the quarter-finals of the
2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships The 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships was held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 22 to October 10, 2011. The competition ran under the supervision of the world's governing body for amate ...
in Baku, being stopped by Lithuanian Egidijus Kavaliauskas.


2012 Olympics

Following his performances at the European and World Championships, Evans was confirmed as the youngest member of Britain's boxing squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in late 2011 at the age of 21, entering the tournament as the number two ranked amateur welterweight in the world. Evans was one of two Welsh fighters included in the squad, along with Andrew Selby, the first time any Welsh fighter had made the GB Olympic boxing squad since 1984. His selection fulfilled a childhood dream of competing at an Olympic Games having idolised Amir Khan following his breakthrough at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In preparation for the games, Evans relocated to the Team GB gym run by
Robert McCracken Robert Chad McCracken is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2001, and has since worked as a boxing trainer. He once challenged for the WBC middleweight title in 2000. At regional level, he held the British super-wel ...
and also sparred with
Carl Froch Carl Martin Froch, (born 2 July 1977) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the W ...
ahead of his IBF super-middleweight title fight with
Lucian Bute Lucian Bute (born February 28, 1980) is a Romanian-Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2017. He held the IBF super-middleweight title from 2007 to 2012, successfully making nine consecutive defenses and reaching a peak r ...
. Evans made his Olympic debut on 29 July 2012 against Algerian Ilyas Abbadi in front of a partisan home crowd at the ExCeL London. His quarter-final exit in the previous years world championships resulted in Evans losing out on a first round bye. Boxing pundit
Steve Bunce Steve Bunce (born 3 December 1962 in Camden Town, London), nicknamed "Buncey", is a British freelance television and radio sport pundit and newspaper columnist. Career He has regularly appeared as a pundit on the BBC sports programme '' Insi ...
commented the Evans "picked his punches with ease" as he won the fight by a comfortable 18–10 points decision. His victory set-up a rematch with Egidijus Kavaliauskas who had defeated Evans at the world championships the previous year. Kavaliauskas proved a much sterner test in the second round, as the Lithuanian took the first round of the bout. Evans fought back to tie the fight at 5–5 at the end of the second round before producing a "masterclass" in the third to secure an 11–7 victory and advance to the quarter-finals. Evans met Canadian Custio Clayton in the quarter-final, ending the first round with a five-point advantage over his opponent. However, Clayton fought back, trailing by two points after the second round before tying the fight at 14 each at the end of the fight. As a result, the fight was decided by countback, handing Evans victory. The Canadian team unsuccessfully appealed the decision, claiming Evans should have been deducted points for receiving persistent warnings from the referee. Victory guaranteed Evans at least a bronze medal and Evans was one of the five boxers that had equalled Britain's best ever boxing medal tally at an Olympic Games since
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...
. In the semi-final, Evans met the world number one ranked fighter, Ukrainian Taras Shelestyuk. The first round of the fight was subdued as both fighters settled and but Evans took a 4–1 lead. He maintained his lead through the second round which finished 8–5 as Shelestyuk pushed forward. Although Shelestyuk won the third round, Evans held on to claim an 11–10 victory. In the final, Evans met
Serik Sapiyev Serik Sapiyev ( kk, Серік Жұманғалиұлы Сәпиев, born November 16, 1983) is an Amateur boxing, amateur boxer from Kazakhstan who won the world title in the light welterweight (-64 kg) division in 2005 and 2007 and Olympi ...
of Kazakhstan on 12 August. However, Evans struggled to establish himself in the fight and Sapiyev won a comfortable 17–9 victory. Despite his defeat, Evans' silver medal made him the most successful Welsh Olympic boxer ever, surpassing the bronze medal won by Ralph Evans at the
1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
.


Post Olympics

Evans returned to the ring in November 2012 to compete for the
British Lionhearts The British Lionhearts are a British amateur boxing team that competed in the World Series Boxing tournament. History The British Lionhearts are an amateur team that was established in 2012 to compete in the third season of the World Series Bo ...
team in the
World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
event. He defeated Michel Tavares of the Italia Thunder in his debut in the competition via split decision. Evans was named in the British squad to compete at the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan. He entered the tournament as the number one ranked welterweight but suffered a defeat to German Arajik Marutjan in the early rounds of the competition. He was selected in the Welsh team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and was regarded as one of his nation's biggest hopes of a medal. However, he was denied accreditation to compete at the tournament due to a conviction for assault earlier in the year.


Professional career

In December 2015, Evans announced he would be turning professional and signed with manager Chris Sanigar. He made his professional debut in May 2017, defeating Najim Fennane on points in Cardiff. Evans won four further fights in the following year to advance his record to 5–0. In October 2018, Evans suffered a surprise defeat to Ryan Toms in his sixth professional fight. Toms knocked Evans down for the first time in his career during the second round and won the fight with a second knockdown in the same round.


Personal life

In April 2014, Evans plead guilty to Common assault following a fight at a lap-dancing club in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
two months earlier. He was fined £435 as well as being ordered to pay £500 compensation to the victim. In October 2014, Evans was given a suspended jail term after punching a man in a pub in Gloucestershire – despite a judge saying he "deserved" prison. Evans admitted unlawfully wounding the victim, breaking his jaw.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Fred Welsh male boxers Welterweight boxers Sportspeople from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan 1991 births Living people Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic boxers for Great Britain Olympic medalists in boxing Welsh Olympic medallists Boxers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Wales Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics