Ovill McKenzie (born 26 November 1979) is a Jamaican-born 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 2003 to 2015. He challenged once for the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

cruiserweight title in 2015. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

title twice between 2006 and 2013, and 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, ...

and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles from 2014 to 2015.He has now had 1 fight in the Commonwealth cruiserweight Division and fought Jessiah Johnson and lost the bout via split decision.

Professional career

McKenzie's professional career begun on 6 March 2003, with a victory over fellow debutant Leigh Alliss at Ashton Gate the home of

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. He followed this victory up 10 April 2003, with a win over Welshman Nathan King in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. However, three straight defeats followed his initial winning start and he registered losses to Pinky Burton, Peter Haymer and Courtney Fry before finishing 2003 with a victory over Edwin Cleary to finish his inaugural year as a pro, with a record of 3-3. His second year of professional boxing saw another set of mixed results, fighting five times in 2004, he lost on three occasions, albeit to some significant opposition which included the likes of future WBO super middleweight champion Denis Inkin, future WBA light heavyweight champion Stipe Drews and future double English title challenger Tommy Eastwood. One significant result during the year however saw him score a shock upset win over the then undefeated English champion Steven Spartacus in a fight which was only over six rounds and did not have the title on the line.Boxrec , Ovill McKenzie professional record
/ref>

Commonwealth champion

Over the course of 2005 and 2006, McKenzie was able to maintain an eight fight winning run culminating in a successful challenge against Peter Haymer for the vacant Commonwealth light heavyweight title on 24 November 2006. The run also saw McKenzie register a win over undefeated Courtney Fry on 13 May 2005, and take the unbeaten record from Hungarian, Gyorgy Hidvegi in the fight before. McKenzie's reign as champion would not last long as he lost the belt on 9 February 2007, in his first defence to

Dean Francis Dean Temius Francis (23 January 1974 – 25 May 2018) was a British professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2014. He held the British super middleweight title from 1997 to 1998; the EBU European super middleweight title in 1997; the Comm ...

after being knocked out in the first round. McKenzie regrouped from the defeat with a win against undefeated Mark Nilsen in his next fight but then lost once more to Tony Salem 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 ...

on 19 October 2007.

Prizefighter win

McKenzie returned to action a year and a half later following the loss to Salem only to once again drop a close points decision this time to

Bob Ajisafe Abubaker "Bob" Ajisafe (born 13 April 1985) is a British professional boxer. He challenged for the IBO light-heavyweight title in 2016. At regional level, he held the British light-heavyweight title in 2014 and the Commonwealth light-heavywei ...

at the

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

Indoor Sports Center on 17 April 2009. On 19 May 2009, he moved up a weight to cruiserweight and scored a victory in the seventh installment of 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. With only two weeks notice, McKenzie entered the competition after one of the original boxers, Mark Krence was forced to withdraw through injury. He defeated former European champion

Terry Dunstan Terry Dunstan (born 28 October 1968) is a British former boxer who was British and European cruiserweight champion and fought for the IBF world title. Career Born in Vauxhall, London in 1968, Dunstan initially excelled at basketball and repre ...

in the first round, former Commonwealth and Irish champion

Darren Corbett Darren Corbett (born 9 July 1972 in Belfast, Northern Ireland), nicknamed ''Raging Bull'', is a Northern Irish professional boxer. Corbett's weight fluctuated significantly throughout his career and although he had some fights at both heavyweig ...

in the semi-final, and former British champion

John Keeton John Keeton (born 19 May 1972) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2009. He held the British cruiserweight title and challenged twice for the Commonwealth cruiserweight title between 2006 and 2007. Boxing career Ea ...

in the final to take the main prize of £25,000.

Title fights

McKenzie followed up his success on the Prizefighter with a win over Billy Boyle on 5 February 2010 before, on 9 December 2010, earning a challenge for his old Commonwealth light heavyweight title at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. The champion,

Tony Bellew Anthony Lewis Bellew (born 30 November 1982) is an English former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2018, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017, and challeng ...

had already made one successful defence against common opponent Bob Ajisafe, winning a hard fought fight over 12 rounds. McKenzie managed to put the champion down in both the first and second rounds, before Bellew began to take over in the later rounds with the fight eventually being stopped in the eighth resulting in a 10th career defeat for McKenzie. The two met once again on 16 July 2011 at the same venue with the fight this time lasting the full 12 rounds and with the vacant British title also being on the line with Bellew winning once again although this time via 12 round decision.Sporting Life , Bellew battles to McKenzie win
/ref> McKenzie fought for the Commonwealth title once again on 11 November 2011 after

vacated the belt beating Welsh champion Jeff Evans in just 15 seconds. The win, in Halifax, meant that McKenzie lifted the title for the second time in his career to become a two-time champion having won the title for the first time in 2006.On 4 February 2012 he defended the Commonwealth Title against former British Champion Tony Dodson with a 3rd round TKO. He again defended the belt against former world champion

Enzo Maccarinelli Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008. At regional level, he held the European and British cruiserweight titles betwe ...

with a 2nd round TKO. The stoppage has caused some controversy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Ovill 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Light-heavyweight boxers Prizefighter contestants Jamaican male boxers