Craig Docherty
Career Snapshot
Born	1979, Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... , United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Died
Total Fights	31
Won	24
Lost	6
Drew	1
Knockouts	10
Titles Won	Commonwealth Super Featherweight British Masters Light Middleweight

Craig Docherty (born March 27, 1979 in Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

) is a Scottish professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, best known for having held the Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 (British Empire) Super-Featherweight championship and being one-half of the biggest Scottish fight since Jim Watt-Ken Buchanan

Ken Buchanan

Ken Buchanan is a former boxing undisputed world lightweight champion. Many consider Buchanan to be the best boxer ever to come out of Scotland.- Early career :...

.

Docherty is known primarily as a body-puncher; his tactics typically centre around his methodical attacks, hurting opponents particularly with his left hook to the liver. His defense is assisted by excellent head movement and a solid chin.

Docherty turned pro in 1998, after failing in a bid to win a Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

 medal. Competing at Bantamweight he was beaten early on. His future opponent Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur, nicknamed "Amazing" Alex Arthur, is a professional boxer from Edinburgh in Scotland.Arthur is a former British, Commonwealth, European Boxing Union and WBO super featherweight champion...

 had better success in the featherweight division, winning Gold and returning a national hero. Docherty turned professional under the promotional banner of Tommy Gilmour and began to notch up victories.

After winning 12 fights, with 1 draw, and no losses, Docherty was rewarded for his progress by being granted a shot at the current British champion - Mancunian Michael Gomez

Michael Gomez

Michael Gomez , also known as "The Irish Mexican" or "The Predator", is a former professional boxer...

, a rough-and-tumble, aggressive fighter who had over double the number of fights that Craig had. The contest was pulsating while it lasted. Docherty attempted to go toe-to-toe with Gomez, something of a foolhardy decision, as Gomez was well known for his relentlessness and heavy hands.

The fight ended inside two rounds, with Gomez battering a bloody Docherty until the Referee stopped the proceedings.

Choosing to rebuild, the Glaswegian wasted no time in chalking up another three victories, before again being rewarded with a Commonwealth title shot. This came on April 12, 2003, when he squared off with Dean 'Pitbull' Pithie, in Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...

, London. Despite being booed by a predominantly English crowd, Docherty dominated the bout, hurting Pithie with consistently hurtful bodyshots, leading to an eighth round stoppage.

The victory brought Docherty much media coverage in Scotland, in the national tabloids, and talk circulated around a possible fight with counterpart Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur, nicknamed "Amazing" Alex Arthur, is a professional boxer from Edinburgh in Scotland.Arthur is a former British, Commonwealth, European Boxing Union and WBO super featherweight champion...

. Instead, Craig, now nicknamed 'Hot Property', decided to defend his belt against mandatory Ghanaian Abdul Malik Jabir, which he won by Unanimous Decision in an enthralling classic.

The gritty performance earned him much praise, and a quickfire defense was set up with another challenger, Kpakpo Allotey, which Docherty won by sixth round stoppage.

Before deciding to meet old friend and Commonwealth Games team-mate Arthur, Doc decided to challenge the experienced Boris Sinitsin, the Russian European champion. It was a step too far however, and Sinitsin managed to use his experience and stamina to slightly outwork Docherty. Despite this, one judge had it a draw.

The clamour for a unification with British champion Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur, nicknamed "Amazing" Alex Arthur, is a professional boxer from Edinburgh in Scotland.Arthur is a former British, Commonwealth, European Boxing Union and WBO super featherweight champion...

 still mounted however, and the fight was inevitable. Purse bids led to the fight originally being scheduled for Docherty's backyard of Glasgow, but Frank Warren later came up with the highest bid, and the fight was set for Meadowbank

Meadowbank Stadium

Meadowbank Stadium is a multi-purpose sports facility located at Meadowbank, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It hosted the Commonwealth Games of 1970 and 1986.-Layout:...

, Edinburgh.

Docherty was relatively quiet in the lead-up to the bout, whereas Arthur, as usual, was buoyant and brash. He even said that if he lost, he would run through Princes Street

Princes Street

Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, and its main shopping street. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1 mile from Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east. The street is mostly closed to private...

in Edinburgh, bare naked.

It did not come to that however, as Arthur managed to pound out an ninth round stoppage. Docherty dominated early on, but seemed hurt by a big Arthur uppercut mid-way through the contest. Body shots lead to his misery, and the 9th round knockdown ended Docherty's fight.

Since then, Docherty has had a string of comeback fights in the Light Middleweight division, where he won the British Masters Title via first round Knockout of durable capable fellow Scotsman Paddy Pollock.

External links

• Box Rec Profile