Josh Wale (born 8 April 1988) 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 ...

. 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, ...

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. B ...

title from 2017 to 2018. He challenged for the Commonwealth bantamweight title in 2012; the Commonwealth super bantamweight title in 2016; 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 ...

bantamweight title in 2018; and the British super bantamweight title three times between 2014 and 2019.

Career

From Barnsley, Wale won a NABC schoolboy title and represented England as an amateur, and attended the National Boxing Academy at East Durham and Houghall Community College in Peterlee, where he also studied

hairdressing A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be ref ...

. He made his professional debut in October 2006 with a first-round stoppage if Neil Read. In his fifth fight, in December 2007, he stopped Mo Khaled in the fourth round to take the vacant BBBofC Central Area bantamweight title. He won his next two fights but suffered a first defeat in September 2008 when he was forced to retire in the corner due to severe damage to the right eye. In September 2009 he faced Matthew Marsh at the

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 ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

, in what should have been a fight for the vacant English super bantamweight title, but Marsh failed to make the weight and despite beating Wale on points, the title remained vacant. In 2010 Wale entered the

Prizefighter 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 ...

tournament, beating

Esham Pickering Esham Pickering (born 7 August 1976) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2014. He challenged once for the WBO bantamweight title in 2000. At regional level, he held the British super bantamweight title twice betwe ...

in the first round, yet losing to Willie Casey in the semi finals. A year later he challenged for

Craig Lyon Craig Lyon (born is 3 February 1982 in St Helens) is an English bantamweight boxer. Amateur career Lyon, the son of former top amateur John, won the 2001 and 2003 Amateur Boxing Association British light-flyweight title, when boxing out of th ...

's English bantamweight title; A clash of heads stopped the fight in the third round, with the fight declared a draw. In May 2012 he challenged

Kid Galahad ''Kid Galahad'' is a 1962 American musical film starring Elvis Presley as a boxer. It was released by United Artists in August 1962 and opened at #9 at the American box office. ''Variety'' ranked it #37 on its list of the top-grossing films of 19 ...

for the WBC International super bantamweight title, Wale again forced to retire in the 9th round due to severe eye damage. Six months later he faced Stuart Hall for the vacant Commonwealth bantamweight title, losing by a wide points margin. He again moved up to super bantamweight, and in September 2013 lost a British title eliminator to

Gavin McDonnell Gavin McDonnell (born 30 March 1986) is a British professional boxer who has challenged twice for a world super-bantamweight title: the WBC title in 2017, and the WBA title in 2018. He is the twin brother of fellow boxer Jamie McDonnell. Pr ...

. McDonnell went on to win the title, and in May 2014 defended against Wale, the fight ending a controversial draw. Many believed Wale had done enough to secure the title, whilst asking for a trilogy, McDonnell relinquished the belt. Wale got another shot in March 2015, facing Jazza Dickens for the vacant title at the Echo Arena, Liverpool. Dickens took a unanimous points decision, despite being deducted 2 points for deliberate use of the shoulder and holding. In July 2016, Wale challenged for

Gamal Yafai Gamal Yafai ( ar, جمال يافعي; born 4 August 1991) is a British professional boxer. He held the European super-bantamweight title between 2020 and May 2021 and previously held the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title in 2016. As an am ...

's Commonwealth title, again losing on points.Bevan, Matt (2017)
Josh Wale: ‘The dream drove me on when it got hard’
, ''Boxing News'', 26 June 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018 Wale dropped back down to bantamweight, and in March 2017 beat Ramesh Ahmadi via a split decision to take the English title. In July he faced Jamie Wilson at the

Doncaster Dome The Dome Leisure Centre is an arena and leisure centre in Doncaster, England, commonly referred to as ''The Dome'' or ''Doncaster Dome''. It has a swimming complex, bars, a sports arena that is also used as an event venue and the United Kingdo ...

for the vacant British title, this time taking a unanimous decision to win the Lonsdale Belt. In September 2017 he knocked out former Commonwealth and English Super Flyweight champion

Don Broadhurst Don Broadhurst is a retired English professional boxer who competed in the Flyweight division. He hails from Birmingham and boxed for Frank Warren's Sports Network. He held the Commonwealth super flyweight champion from 31 October ...

in his first defence of the British title, and impressively stopped Bobby Jenkinson in the ninth round in February 2018 in his second defence.Josh Wale Stops Bobby Jenkinson in Nine, Retains British 118-Pound Title
, ringtv.com, 2 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wale, Josh 1988 births Living people English male boxers Bantamweight boxers Super-bantamweight boxers