Gary Thornhill, is a former English

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...

 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...

 who fought at featherweight

Featherweight

Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...

 and super featherweight

Super Featherweight

Super featherweight is a weight division in professional boxing. The maximum weight for this division is 130 pounds or 59 kilograms....

.

He is a former British Lonsdale belt

Lonsdale belt

The Lonsdale Belt was a boxing prize introduced by Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, to be awarded to British boxing champions. It is still awarded to British champions today.-National Sporting Club:...

 holder at featherweight, WBO

World Boxing Foundation

The World Boxing Foundation was formed in 2004 to sanction championship boxing contests but has a history dating back to 1988 via its predecessor the World Boxing Federation...

 Intercontinental super featherweight champion.

Professional career

Thornhill turned professional in February 1993 at the Epic Leisure Centre, Ellesmere Port

Ellesmere Port

Ellesmere Port is a large industrial town and port in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated on the south border of the Wirral Peninsula on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, which in turn gives access to the River...

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England

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...

. In his debut Thornhill defeated Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

's Brian Hickey with a fourth round knockout

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

.
Thornhill fought 5 world champions during his career such as: Justin Juuko-WBO World title holder, Michael Gomez

Michael Gomez

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

-WBU World title holder, Scott Harrison-WBO & WBC

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

 World title holder, Nicky Cook

Nicky Cook

Nicky Cook is an English professional boxer who fights at featherweight he is the former British, Commonwealth, European featherweight and WBO super featherweight champion.-Early professional career:...

-WBA

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

 World title holder Stephen Foster

Stephen Foster

Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...

-WBU World title holder.

Thornhill held titles in 2 weight divisions, super-featherweight central area champion, WBO Intercontinental champion he also went on to win the British featherweight title in A 9th round stoppage against fellow Liverpudian Richie Wenton

Thornhill was known in the trade as a very aggressive boxer with his "bobbing and weaving" style and devastating body punches. He was also known for having a great chin, heart and brains.

Amateur career

Thornhill started boxing at the age of 12, he went on to be an England international at the age of 18. Thornhill had 80 bouts as an amateur winning 71 of them. He boxed for Higherside A.B.C, St Helens Star A.B.C, then the famous Transport A.B.C where he met his trainer the famous George Vaughan who carried his career through to the paid ranks when Thornhill turned 24.

External links