Jean-Baptiste Mendy (16 March 1963 – 31 August 2020) was a Senegal-born French
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 1983 to 2000. He was a two-time
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 ...
world champion, having held the
WBC title from 1996 to 1997 and the
WBA title from 1998 to 1999. At regional level he held the
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
lightweight title twice between 1992 and 1995.
Professional career
Mendy turned pro in 1983 and captured the vacant
WBC lightweight title with a win over
Lamar Murphy in 1996. He lost the title in his first defense to
Stevie Johnston the following year. In 1998, he captured the
WBA lightweight title with a decision win over
Orzubek Nazarov
Orzubek Nazarov (born August 30, 1966 in Kant, Kyrgyz SSR) is a boxer of Uzbek ethnicity, who won the bronze medal at the 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Reno. He is a former WBA Lightweight Champion.
Career
As an amateur Nazarov ...
. He defended the belt once before losing it to Julien Lorcy in 1999. He retired the following year.
Personal life
He died at the age of 57 from cancer on 31 August 2020 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, France
See also
*
List of lightweight boxing champions
This is a list of world lightweight boxing champions by organization, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA),
* The Worl ...
*
List of WBC world champions
*
List of WBA world champions
References
External links
*
1963 births
2020 deaths
Senegalese emigrants to France
Sportspeople from Dakar
Lightweight boxers
Southpaw boxers
World Boxing Association champions
World Boxing Council champions
World lightweight boxing champions
World boxing champions
French male boxers
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