O'Neil Bell (29 December 1974 – 25 November 2015) was a Jamaican

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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1998 to 2011. He held the undisputed cruiserweight title in 2006 and the lineal cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2007.

Professional career

Bell lost his second fight against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n amateur star (M. Benguesima) but kept winning for years after that. He defeated former IBF champion Arthur Williams twice by KO and climbed the rankings. He defeated Canadian

Dale Brown Dale Brown (born November 2, 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been ''New York Times'' Best Sellers. Early life Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and wa ...

in a controversial but unanimous decision on May 20, 2005, on

Friday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Bo ...

to capture the vacant IBF title. He unified the title by beating Frenchman

Jean-Marc Mormeck Jean-Marc Gilbert Mormeck (born 3 June 1972) is a French former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He is a two-time unified world cruiserweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC and ''The Ring'' world titles twice between 20 ...

on January 7, 2006, for his WBA and WBC belts, making Bell the second undisputed champion of the division, with

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion in the cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight division ...

being the first. The IBF later stripped Bell in April 2006 for pulling out of a mandatory bout against

Steve Cunningham Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and betwee ...

because of a tooth problem. After nearly 11 months of inactivity, Bell was due to take part in the postponed Superfighter Tournament at

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

on December 1 of that year. Bell lost the WBA, WBC and lineal cruiserweight titles to

on March 17, 2007 in the Frenchman's backyard in Levallois,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

via a close but unanimous decision. On April 19, 2008, in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, Bell fought former WBC light heavyweight champion

Tomasz Adamek Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek (; born 1 December 1976) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF a ...

. Bell was dropped in the first round and quit after the end of round seven, complaining of feeling dizzy and sick. After the Adamek fight, Bell announced his move to the heavyweight division, saying that making the cruiserweight limit sapped his strength for his last two fights. Bell's first heavyweight bout was scheduled to be against

Willie Palms William L. Palms (born October 6, 1972) is an American former professional boxer. Amateur career Palms had a stellar amateur career, and won the U.S. National Championships as Super Heavyweight champion in 1997. Professional career Palms turne ...

on January 14, 2009, but that fight never occurred.

Professional boxing record

2007 disappearance

According to ESPN's

Wednesday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Bo ...

on August 8, 2007, Bell, who was originally scheduled to appear, was unavailable to fight and could not be contacted in any way. He was scheduled to appear against Louis Azille on the fight card, but his promoter pulled him from the fight three weeks prior because he could not be located.

Death

Bell was shot and killed while being robbed in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, on November 25, 2015.Chaykovsky, Edward (November 25, 2015)
"O'Neil Bell Shot and Killed By Robbers in Atlanta"
BoxingScene. Retrieved November 25, 2015.

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* WBA (Unified) cruiserweight champion (200 lbs) * WBC cruiserweight champion (200 lbs) * IBF cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)

Minor world titles

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)

Regional/International titles

* NABF cruiserweight champion (200 lbs) * USBA cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)

Undisputed titles

* Undisputed cruiserweight champion

References

External links

*
Bell wins the IBF cruiserweight title
at

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

O'Neil Bell profile
at Cyber Boxing Zone {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Oneil 1974 births 2015 deaths World cruiserweight boxing champions International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions Place of birth missing Jamaican male boxers Jamaican murder victims People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) The Ring (magazine) champions 2015 murders in the United States