Derry Mathews
Encyclopedia
Derry Mathews is an English
lightweight
boxer
and former holder of the English and WBU Featherweight titles. As an amateur he won the 2002 ABA Bantamweight championship.
to win the WBU Featherweight title which announced Mathews onto the domestic scene. Successful defences of the title followed against John Simpson
and Matthew Marsh
before running into the Mongolian Choi Tseveenpurev
in Bolton
on April 5, 2008. Mathews hit the deck three times before finally being hit with a body shot that ended the fight on the bell to end the fifth round. After the defeat to Tseveenpurev, Mathews came back to beat the Kenyan, John Gircharu over eight rounds in his home city of Liverpool showing that the defeat had not destroyed his confidence.
boxing stable and took the decision to join the newly formed Hayemaker Promotions
. On speaking about the deal Mathews said; "The deal is unbelievable and Hayemaker Promotions are going to bring big things for me" He was knocked out in the 9th round of his first fight with the fledgling promotional outfit. The fight against Martin Lindsay
was on the undercard to Ryan Rhodes
defence of his British light-middleweight title. Mathews had put Lindsay down in the 2nd round and was ahead on points, until a knockout brought any aspirations that Mathews may have had of fighting for the British title down. Mathews second fight with Hayemaker
in March 2009 took place in his home town of Liverpool
. It also ended in disappointment as he suffered a stoppage defeat to Harry Ramogoadi. Following the collapse of Setanta Sports and the loss of Hayemakers television deal, Mathews split from the promoter saying "It’s a shame but after the TV went the shows dried up. I have left on good terms though and have no issues with anybody at Hayemaker, but I have to look after my own career."
following the collapse of his deal with Hayemaker, making his debut on 13 November 2009. Fighting in Stoke on the Matthew Hatton
versus Lovemore N'dou
undercard, Mathews challenged local man Scott Lawton
only to lose in the sixth round after the referee deemed Mathews unfit to continue. The defeat to Lawton represented Mathew's fourth defeat in five matches. On 17 July 2010 he returned to winning ways defeating journeyman Kristian Laight at the Fit City in Salford
and followed the victory up with another win over Daniel Thorpe at the same venue on 25 September 2010.
saying that he wanted to make the most of the opportunity. Amongst the other contestants in the tournament were two fighters he had previously lost to in Scott Lawton
and Choi Tseveenpurev
with Mathews saying "I want Choi up first to prove to myself and to other people that I can beat him. When I lost my world title to him I was only 22, I was only a boy, but I’m now a man and have learnt the hard way coming off a few defeats." In the draw for the tournament Mathews took on Gary McArthur in the quarter finals, stopping him in the third round before meeting Choi in the semi-final with Mathews gaining a revenge victory in a close fought fight. Reaching the final Mathews met Gary Buckland
only to lose with a second round stoppage. Speaking following the tournament Mathews described his performance against Choi as a "real war" and said of his opponent in the final, "Gary is a deserved winner but after how I performed tonight, I know I have more to offer the game.”
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
lightweight
Lightweight
Light-weight is a class of athletes in a particular sport, based on their weight.-Professional boxing:The lightweight division is over 130 pounds and up to 135 pounds weight class in the sport of boxing....
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...
and former holder of the English and WBU Featherweight titles. As an amateur he won the 2002 ABA Bantamweight championship.
Professional career
Mathews shot to notice in October 2006 when he defeated Stephen FosterStephen Foster (boxer)
Stephen Foster is an English professional boxer fighting in the super featherweight division. He is the former European super featherweight champion and is a former holder of the English and WBU titles at featherweight....
to win the WBU Featherweight title which announced Mathews onto the domestic scene. Successful defences of the title followed against John Simpson
John Simpson (boxer)
John Simpson , is a professional boxer. He is a featherweight, and current British Featherweight Champion. He is also the Former Commonwealth champion.-Professional career:...
and Matthew Marsh
Matthew Marsh (boxer)
Matthew Marsh is a British professional boxer who competes in the Super bantamweight division. He is a former two time ABA champion at Flyweight and Bantamweight and a former British super bantamweight champion.-Early career:...
before running into the Mongolian Choi Tseveenpurev
Choi Tseveenpurev
Choijiljavyn "Choi" Tseveenpürev is a Mongolian featherweight boxer based in the United Kingdom. Tseveenpurev won the Prizefighter series Featherweights tournament on 29 October 2011, the same month that he passed 40...
in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
on April 5, 2008. Mathews hit the deck three times before finally being hit with a body shot that ended the fight on the bell to end the fifth round. After the defeat to Tseveenpurev, Mathews came back to beat the Kenyan, John Gircharu over eight rounds in his home city of Liverpool showing that the defeat had not destroyed his confidence.
Signing for Hayemaker
In August 2008, Mathews decided to split from the Frank WarrenFrank Warren (promoter)
Frank Darren Warren is an English boxing manager and promoter.-Early life and early career:The son of a bookmaker, Warren trained as a solicitor's clerk with J Tickle & Co on Southampton Row in London....
boxing stable and took the decision to join the newly formed Hayemaker Promotions
Hayemaker Promotions
Hayemaker Promotions is a promotional company operated by former WBA heavyweight and undisputed cruiserweight champion David Haye and boxing manager Adam Booth...
. On speaking about the deal Mathews said; "The deal is unbelievable and Hayemaker Promotions are going to bring big things for me" He was knocked out in the 9th round of his first fight with the fledgling promotional outfit. The fight against Martin Lindsay
Martin Lindsay (boxer)
Martin Lindsay is an Irish professional boxer from Belfast. Lindsay fights at featherweight and is a former IBF Youth featherweight title champion...
was on the undercard to Ryan Rhodes
Ryan Rhodes
Ryan Rhodes is an English light middleweight boxer. Rhodes took up boxing at a young age, training at Brendan Ingle's gym in the Wincobank district of Sheffield.-Professional career:...
defence of his British light-middleweight title. Mathews had put Lindsay down in the 2nd round and was ahead on points, until a knockout brought any aspirations that Mathews may have had of fighting for the British title down. Mathews second fight with Hayemaker
Hayemaker Promotions
Hayemaker Promotions is a promotional company operated by former WBA heavyweight and undisputed cruiserweight champion David Haye and boxing manager Adam Booth...
in March 2009 took place in his home town of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. It also ended in disappointment as he suffered a stoppage defeat to Harry Ramogoadi. Following the collapse of Setanta Sports and the loss of Hayemakers television deal, Mathews split from the promoter saying "It’s a shame but after the TV went the shows dried up. I have left on good terms though and have no issues with anybody at Hayemaker, but I have to look after my own career."
Hatton Promotions
Mathews signed for Hatton PromotionsHatton Promotions
Hatton Promotions is a promotional company headed by former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton with Richard Poxon as Director of Boxing and Gareth Williams as CEO -Starting up:...
following the collapse of his deal with Hayemaker, making his debut on 13 November 2009. Fighting in Stoke on the Matthew Hatton
Matthew Hatton
Matthew James Hatton , is a professional boxer, using the nickname "Magic". He is a welterweight, and is a former Commonwealth and World title challenger and the current European Champion....
versus Lovemore N'dou
Lovemore N'dou
Lovemore N'dou is an Australian based South African boxer.He was the IBF world light welterweight champion, until he lost the title to Paul Malignaggi.-Fight career:...
undercard, Mathews challenged local man Scott Lawton
Scott Lawton (boxer)
Scott Lawton is an English professional boxer who has competed in the lightweight and super featherweight divisions. He comes from Stoke-on-Trent, is a two time English lightweight champion and has challenged for the full British and Commonwealth lightweight titles as well as the full European...
only to lose in the sixth round after the referee deemed Mathews unfit to continue. The defeat to Lawton represented Mathew's fourth defeat in five matches. On 17 July 2010 he returned to winning ways defeating journeyman Kristian Laight at the Fit City in Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
and followed the victory up with another win over Daniel Thorpe at the same venue on 25 September 2010.
Prizefighter tournament
On 20 November 2010 Mathews entered the super featherweight installment of the Prizefighter seriesPrizefighter series
The Prizefighter series is a knock out boxing tournament created by boxing promoter Barry Hearn and aired on Sky Sports. The format has an initial eight fighters, who compete in four quarter-finals of 3 x 3 minute rounds followed by two semi-finals and one final all on the same night...
saying that he wanted to make the most of the opportunity. Amongst the other contestants in the tournament were two fighters he had previously lost to in Scott Lawton
Scott Lawton (boxer)
Scott Lawton is an English professional boxer who has competed in the lightweight and super featherweight divisions. He comes from Stoke-on-Trent, is a two time English lightweight champion and has challenged for the full British and Commonwealth lightweight titles as well as the full European...
and Choi Tseveenpurev
Choi Tseveenpurev
Choijiljavyn "Choi" Tseveenpürev is a Mongolian featherweight boxer based in the United Kingdom. Tseveenpurev won the Prizefighter series Featherweights tournament on 29 October 2011, the same month that he passed 40...
with Mathews saying "I want Choi up first to prove to myself and to other people that I can beat him. When I lost my world title to him I was only 22, I was only a boy, but I’m now a man and have learnt the hard way coming off a few defeats." In the draw for the tournament Mathews took on Gary McArthur in the quarter finals, stopping him in the third round before meeting Choi in the semi-final with Mathews gaining a revenge victory in a close fought fight. Reaching the final Mathews met Gary Buckland
Gary Buckland
Gary Buckland is a Welsh professional boxer fighting in the super featherweight and lightweight divisions. He is the reigning British super featherweight champion and has previously challenged for the full British and European lightweight boxing titles.-Professional career:Buckland's professional...
only to lose with a second round stoppage. Speaking following the tournament Mathews described his performance against Choi as a "real war" and said of his opponent in the final, "Gary is a deserved winner but after how I performed tonight, I know I have more to offer the game.”
Comeback
On 22 January 2011 Mathews challenged Scott Lawton once more, this time at the Olympia in Liverpool gaining a revenge win over the man from Stoke to lift the IBO International title at lightweight. Winning on all three of the judges scorecards, the fight went the full 12 rounds with Mathews dominating the first 8 rounds only for Lawton to come back into the fight towards the end culminating in a final round tear up. Mathews followed the win up with a challenge for the English lightweight title beating Amir Unsworth with a 1st round stoppage again at the Olympia on 2 April 2011. Two more stoppage victories following against George Watson and Stephen Jennings.External links
- Profile at BritishBoxing.net