Herbie Hide


Herbie Hide is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2010. He held the WBO heavyweight title twice between 1994 and 1999, as well as the British heavyweight title in 1993. Hide was known for his formidable punching power and killer instinct in the ring.

Early life

Hide was born in Amauzari, Nigeria, and moved to England as a youngster, basing himself near Norwich in Norfolk. He was educated at Glebe House School and Cawston College.

Amateur career

Hide had a brief amateur career of 10 fights, which he finished with a record of 8 wins, 2 losses.

Highlights

1989 ABA Championships, heavyweight:
Herbie Hide has fought for most of his professional boxing career at the heavyweight classification; but later in his career, decided to take a trim down to the lighter cruiserweight classification. He was known as The Dancing Destroyer, and had a successful career, rising to domestic success at a very young age for a heavyweight. Hide has twice won the lesser regarded World Boxing Organization heavyweight title.
Hide's professional career began in 1989 with a second round win, and he racked up a total of 25 successive wins, all but one inside the distance. His level of opposition was respectable, and included fighters such as Jeff Lampkin and James Pritchard.
At 25 wins to 0 losses, Hide challenged Michael Bentt for the WBO heavyweight title in March 1994 at Millwall Football Stadium, Millwall, London. The inexperienced Bentt had previously won the title by knocking out the heavily favoured Tommy Morrison in one round. The Hide vs Bentt fight made headlines after the two boxers scuffled and threw punches at a pre-fight meeting; whilst in the bout itself, Hide out-boxed and knocked out Bentt in 7 rounds. Bentt was subsequently hospitalised, and never fought again.
A year later, Hide defended his WBO heavyweight title against former undisputed champion Riddick Bowe. Hide used his speed to out-box Bowe early on, and managed to hurt Bowe several times during the contest. However Bowe's size and class eventually told, and Hide was floored six times during the bout. Hide impressed with his courage, repeatedly picking himself off the canvas, before he was knocked out in the sixth round.
After his loss to Bowe, Hide fought twice in 1996, winning both by knockout against Michael Murray and Frankie Swindell, before earning another shot at the now-vacant WBO title in June 1997 against 38-year-old one-time International Boxing Federation title holder Tony Tucker, despite Tucker losing three of his previous five fights. Hide knocked out the overweight Tucker in two rounds. Hide defended his WBO title twice in 1998; with quick stoppages of late replacement cruiserweight clubfighter Damon Reed, and in September 1998 against German Willi Fischer.
In June 1999, Hide faced the 6 ft 8in Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko at the London Arena, only the second world ranked fighter he had actually faced after Riddick Bowe. Hide, favoured to win at the time, was knocked out in two rounds.
Hide never featured as a main contender at heavyweight again, his only mildly notable wins coming against Joseph Chingangu, and Alexander Vasiliev.
In 2006, Hide moved down a weight division to a more natural weight division at cruiserweight. Since then, he has won fourteen successive fights, most of which took place in Germany. Hide defeated Mikhail Nasyrov in December 2007 to win the World Boxing Council International cruiserweight title.
In November 2008, when Johnathon Banks dropped out of a WBO cruiserweight title clash at London's ExCel Arena with just four days notice, Hide was announced as a potential opponent for former champion Enzo Maccarinelli, for the vacant title. This was despite Hide having fought just two weeks earlier, a victory against Lukasz Rusiewicz. Hide then fought in the Cruiserweight Prizefighter tournament. In the tournament, he defeated Welshman Wayne Brooks by unanimous decision, but was badly cut on the right eye in the process. He pulled out of the tournament to avoid losing his high WBC ranking due to the cut.

Personal life

In December 2003, Hide was 'attacked by a group of men' in a Norwich night club. This resulted in his subsequent arrest and conviction for 'possession of an offensive weapon, a 10-inch kitchen knife', for which he was fined £750.
In September 2008, Hide was warned by Norwich Magistrates that he faced 75 days in jail if £3,767 of outstanding motoring fines were not paid by 30 November 2008. During a television interview in July 2008, Hide claimed that promoter Frank Warren "had dishonestly and corruptly bribed Johnny Nelson to retire and give up his WBO cruiserweight title". When Warren sued for libel, Hide failed to respond and a default judgment of £35,000 was entered against him.
Hide appeared at Norwich Crown Court, charged with rape, but was found not guilty on 20 July 2011 after 'the prosecution offered no evidence'.
On 18 March 2012, a man in his 20s was fatally stabbed at Hide's home in Bawburgh. A suspect was arrested for murder in connection with the incident. Police said they believed Hide was not home at the time of the killing.
On 29 November 2013, Hide was sentenced to 22 months in prison for conspiracy to supply cocaine. He was targeted by the so-called 'fake sheikh' also known as Mazher Mahmood, an undercover News of the World reporter. After an initial refusal, Hide relented, and agreed to contact a drug dealer of his acquaintance to procure the drug. When he delivered the drug to the undercover reporter he was arrested and charged.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
53Win49–4 Wayne BrooksUD330 Apr 2010 York Hall, London, England
52Win48–4 Gabor HalaszTKO3, 2:2326 Jun 2009 Hermann-Neuberger-Halle, Völklingen, Germany
51Win47–4 Sandro SiproshviliUD86 Mar 2009 Kugelbake-Halle, Cuxhaven, Germany
50Win46–4 Lukasz RusiewiczUD618 Nov 2008 Kugelbake-Halle, Cuxhaven, Germany
49Win45–4 Aleksejs KosobokovsRTD3, 3:004 Oct 2008 Norfolk Showground, Norwich, England
48Win44–4 Nuri SeferiUD124 Jul 2008 Büyük Anadolu Termal Hotel, Ankara, TurkeyRetained WBC International cruiserweight title
47Win43–4 Ehinomen Ehikhamenor1230 May 2008 Pabellón Lasesarre, Baracaldo, SpainRetained WBC International cruiserweight title
46Win42–4 Rüdiger MayTKO2, 1:4711 Mar 2008 Maritim Hotel, Halle, GermanyRetained WBC International cruiserweight title
45Win41–4 Mikhail NasyrovTKO6, 1:3023 Dec 2007 Maritim Hotel, Halle, GermanyWon vacant WBC International cruiserweight title
44Win40–4 Mircea TelecanTKO1, 1:1621 Sep 2007 Hansehalle, Lübeck, Germany
43Win39–4 Aleh DubiahaKO1, 1:2316 Jun 2007 Atatürk Sport Hall, Ankara, Turkey
42Win38–4 Pavol PolakovicKO6, 1:3027 Apr 2007 Arena Gym, Hamburg, Germany
41Win37–4 Valeri SemiskurKO1, 2:3524 Mar 2007 Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany
40Win36–4 Mitch HicksTKO1, 1:2423 Sep 2006 Convention Center, Fort Smith, Arkansas, US
39Loss35–4 Mindaugas Kulikauskas3, 3:0012 Mar 2004 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England
38Win35–3 Alexander VasilievTKO5, 1:154 Oct 2003 Alexandra Palace, London, England
37Win34–3 Joseph ChinganguKO1, 2:3327 May 2003 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England
36Win33–3 Derek McCaffertyTKO7, 1:2716 Apr 2003 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England
35Loss32–3 Joseph ChinganguTKO2 22 Sep 2001 Telewest Arena, Newcastle, England
34Win32–2 Alexey OsokinTKO3, 1:3114 Jul 2001 Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England
33Loss31–2 Vitali KlitschkoKO2, 1:1426 Jun 1999 London Arena, London, EnglandLost WBO heavyweight title
32Win31–1 Wilhelm FischerTKO2, 1:0426 Sep 1998 Sports Village, Norwich, EnglandRetained WBO heavyweight title
31Win30–1 Damon ReedTKO1, 0:5218 Apr 1998 NYNEX Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained WBO heavyweight title
30Win29–1 Tony TuckerTKO2, 2:4528 Jun 1997 Sports Village, Norwich, EnglandWon vacant WBO heavyweight title
29Win28–1 Frankie SwindellKO1 9 Nov 1996 NYNEX Arena, Manchester, England
28Win27–1 Michael MurrayTKO6 6 Jul 1996 NYNEX Arena, Manchester, England
27Loss26–1 Riddick BoweKO6, 2:2511 Mar 1995 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, USLost WBO heavyweight title
26Win26–0 Michael BenttKO7, 2:5019 Mar 1994 The Den, London, EnglandWon WBO heavyweight title
25Win25–0 Jeff LampkinTKO2 4 Dec 1993 Superbowl, Sun City, South AfricaWBC International heavyweight title
24Win24–0 Mike DixonTKO9 6 Nov 1993 York Hall, London, EnglandWon vacant WBC International heavyweight title
23Win23–0 Everett Martin1018 Sep 1993 Granby Halls, Leicester, England
22Win22–0 Jerry HalsteadTKO4 11 May 1993 Sports Village, Norwich, EnglandWon vacant World Boxing Board heavyweight title
21Win21–0 Michael MurrayTKO5 27 Feb 1993 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, EnglandWon vacant British heavyweight title
20Win20–0 Juan Antonio DiazTKO3, 1:3230 Jan 1993 International Centre, Brentwood, EnglandWon vacant WBA Pentacontinental heavyweight title
19Win19–0 James PritchardTKO2 12 Dec 1992 Alexandra Palace, London, England
18Win18–0 Craig PetersenTKO6 6 Oct 1992 Sportpaleis, Antwerp, BelgiumRetained WBC International heavyweight title
17Win17–0 Jean ChanetTKO8 8 Sep 1992 Sports Village, Norwich, England
16Win16–0 Percell DavisKO1 3 Mar 1992 Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
15Win15–0 Conroy NelsonTKO2, 0:3521 Jan 1992 Sports Village, Norwich, EnglandWon vacant WBC International heavyweight title
14Win14–0 Chris JacobsKO1, 2:2829 Oct 1991 STAR Centre, Cardiff, Wales
13Win13–0 Eddie GonzalesKO2 15 Oct 1991 Hamburg, Germany
12Win12–0 Tucker RichardsTKO3, 2:503 Jul 1991 International Centre, Brentwood, England
11Win11–0 John WestgarthTKO4 14 May 1991 Town Hall, Dudley, England
10Win10–0 David JulesTKO1 9 Apr 1991 Grosvenor House Hotel, London, England
9Win9–0 Lennie HowardTKO1 29 Jan 1991 Hudsons Sports Centre, Wisbech, England
8Win8–0 Steve LewsamTKO1, 2:2818 Nov 1990 National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England
7Win7–0 Gus MendesKO2 17 Oct 1990 York Hall, London, England
6Win6–0 Jonjo GreeneTKO1 26 Sep 1990 Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, England
5Win5–0 Steve LewsamTKO4, 1:405 Sep 1990 Brighton Centre, Brighton, England
4Win4–0 Alex PenarskiTKO3, 2:1827 Jun 1990 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
3Win3–0 Steve OsborneTKO6 19 Dec 1989 York Hall, London, England
2Win2–0 Gary McCrory1 5 Nov 1989 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
1Win1–0 Lee Williams2 24 Oct 1989 York Hall, London, EnglandProfessional debut