Henry Wharton (born 23 November 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1998. He challenged three times for

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

world championships; the WBC twice, firstly in 1994 and again in 1997, and the WBO title in 1994. 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, ...

super middleweight title in 1992; the Commonwealth super middleweight title from 1991 to 1996; and the EBU European super middleweight title from 1995 to 1996. Wharton is best remembered for his world title fights with

Nigel Benn Nigel Gregory Benn (born 22 January 1964) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 1996. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and the WBC super-middleweight ti ...

and

Chris Eubank Christopher Livingstone Eubank (born 8 August 1966) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995, and is ranked by BoxRec as the thir ...

in 1994.

Personal life

In 2012, Wharton was involved in a fight where he was cut with a machete as he fought three men. North Yorkshire Police said when speaking to York Press "He's lucky to be alive". A few days earlier he was hit by a car after he reportedly tried to intervene in a pre-arranged bare-knuckle fight between members of the travelling community. He currently resides in York. In 2013, Henry's Gym opened up on York Road. He is currently training professional George Davey who is signed under Frank Warren.

Professional career

Early career

Wharton made his professional debut on 21 September 1989, scoring a first-round

technical 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 ...

(TKO) victory over Dean Murray at the Great Yorkshire Showground in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

, England. After winning his next 9 fights, 7 by knockout, Wharton won the vacant Commonwealth super middleweight title on 27 June 1991, beating

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

Rod Carr via points decision. On 30 October, Wharton fought Lou Gent to a draw, retaining his Commonwealth title. He won his next three fights, two by stoppage, before challenging Fidel Castro Smith for the British super middleweight title on 23 September 1992, winning the title by points decision. Wharton won his next three fights, all by stoppage, bringing his record to 18-0-1 (13 KOs).

World championship attempts

On 26 February 1994, Wharton challenged

(37-2-1 32 KOs) for the WBC super middleweight title at Earls Court Exhibition Hall,

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. It would be Benn's fifth defence of the WBC title. Wharton went the distance with Benn, but ultimately lost by

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 ...

, with the three judges scoring the bout 117-112, 116-114 and 116-113. His second attempt at a world title came just 10 months later on 10 December 1994, against undefeated WBO super middleweight champion

(40-0-2 19 KOs) at

G-Mex Centre Manchester Central Convention Complex (commonly known as Manchester Central or GMEX (Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre)) is an exhibition and conference centre converted from the former Manchester Central railway station in Manchester, Engl ...

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 ...

, England. It would be Eubank's fifteenth defence of his world title. Wharton again lost by unanimous decision, with the judges’ scorecards reading 118-112, 116-112 and 115-113. Wharton's third and final chance at world honours came on 3 May 1997 at Nynex Arena, Manchester, England, against undefeated WBC super middleweight champion Robin Reid in what was Reid's second defence of the belt. Wharton lost by

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

with scores of 118-111, 117-113 and 114-114.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Henry's Gym
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Henry 1967 births Cruiserweight boxers English male boxers Light-heavyweight boxers Living people Martial artists from Leeds Middleweight boxers Super-middleweight boxers