Mark Hobson (boxer)


Mark Hobson is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2007. He challenged once for the WBO cruiserweight title in 2006. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth cruiserweight title from 2003 to 2006 and the British cruiserweight title twice between 2003 and 2007.

Early professional career

Hobson had his first professional contest on 9 June 1997, scoring a points win over Michael Pinnock in Bradford. For the first three and a half years of his career Hobson built up a respectable record of 14–1–1 with the only loss coming against Mark Levy in 1999. On 24 April 2001 Hobson challenged South African fighter Sebastiaan Rothmann at the Olympia in Liverpool for the WBU Cruiserweight title. The fight ended in a first stoppage defeat for Hobson after the fight was ended in the 9th round.

British and Commonwealth champion

Following the Rothmann defeat, Hobson took on Germany's future WBA world champion Firat Arslan at the Barnsley Metrodome Arena and was again stopped, this time on cuts in the seventh round. Four wins, including one over Lee Swaby, followed however as Hobson positioned himself for a shot at the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight belt on 25 January 2003 pitching himself against Ugandan Abdul Kadou and winning the contest with a fourth round stoppage. One further win followed before Hobson made the first defence of his title against Robert Norton in a fight which also had the vacant British belt on the line. The fight which took place at the Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield on 5 September 2003 saw Hobson become a double champion with a 12-round points win.
Further defences of both titles followed with wins over Tony Moran on 13 March 2004, Lee Swaby on 27 May 2004 and former champion and world title challenger Bruce Scott on 17 December 2004. Hobson took a break from the ring in 2005 but went on to make one further defence of both his belts on 1 June 2006 against John Keeton back at the Metrodome in Barnsley.

Further title wins and challenges

Following the win over Scott and his subsequent break from the ring, Hobson returned to action on 4 March 2006 to challenge Enzo Maccarinelli for the WBU cruiserweight title in a fight that was the chief support to Joe Calzaghe's destruction of Jeff Lacy at the MEN Arena in Manchester. The fight ended in a 12-round defeat for Hobson in what proved to be a tough defence for Maccarinelli. The Keeton defence followed before, on 8 September 2006, Hobson challenged for the WBU title at the third time of asking, defeating Pavol Polakovic at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, London.
On 14 October 2006 Hobson returned to the MEN Arena in Manchester to once again take on Enzo Maccarinelli, this time for the WBO title in what was Maccarinelli's first defence of newly won world title. The fight ended in disappointment as Hobson was unable to match the performance of his first fight with the Welshman and suffered a first round stoppage.
Hobson's final fight before retiring from the ring was to challenge former victim John Keeton for the British title that Hobson himself had vacated. The fight on 29 September 2007 at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield ended in victory for Hobson once more, allowing him to retire from the sport as a British champion.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
33Win27–5–1 John KeetonTKO4, 1:0029 Sep 2007Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England.png" />Won British cruiserweight title
32Loss26–5–1 Enzo MaccarinelliTKO1, 1:1114 Oct 2006For WBO cruiserweight title
31Win26–4–1 Pavol PolakovicUD128 Sep 2006Grosvenor House, London, England.png" />Won WBU cruiserweight title
30Win25–4–1 John KeetonTKO4, 2:501 Jun 2006Retained British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles
29Loss24–4–1 Enzo MaccarinelliUD124 Mar 2006For WBU cruiserweight title
28Win24–3–1 Bruce ScottPTS1217 Dec 2004Huddersfield Sports Centre, Huddersfield, England.png" />Retained British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles
27Win23–3–1 Lee SwabyTKO6, 1:0227 May 2004Retained British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles
26Win22–3–1 Tony MoranTKO3, 2:1013 Mar 2004Retained British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles
25Win21–3–1 Rob NortonPTS125 Sep 2003Ponds Forge Arena, Sheffield, England.png" />Retained Commonwealth cruiserweight title;
Won vacant British cruiserweight title
24Win20–3–1 Muslim BiarslanovTKO2, 1:2010 May 2003
23Win19–3–1 Abdul KadouTKO4 25 Jan 2003Recreation Centre, Bridgend, Wales.png" />Won vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight title
22Win18–3–1 Varuzhan DavtyanTKO3 5 Oct 2002
21Win17–3–1 Lee SwabyPTS1027 Apr 2002
20Win16–3–1 Valeri SemiskurPTS623 Feb 2002Nottingham, England.png" />
19Win15–3–1 Luke SimpkinRTD3, 3:0010 Dec 2001
18Loss14–3–1 Firat ArslanTKO7 8 Oct 2001
17Loss14–2–1 Sebastiaan RothmannRTD9, 3:0024 Apr 2001For WBU cruiserweight title
16Win14–1–1 Billy BesseyPTS426 Feb 2001Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, England.png" />
15Win13–1–1 Mark Lee DawsonTKO1 25 Sep 2000
14Win12–1–1 Paul BonsonPTS413 May 2000
13Win11–1–1 Luke SimpkinPTS627 Mar 2000
12Win10–1–1 Nikolai ErmenkovTKO3 11 Mar 2000
11Win9–1–1 Brian GascoigneTKO3 6 Dec 1999
10Win8–1–1 Paul BonsonPTS411 Sept 1999Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England.png" />
9Loss7–1–1 Mark LevyPTS819 Apr 1999
8Win7–0–1 Danny SoutheramTKO5 26 Nov 1998
7Win6–0–1 Mark SnipeTKO3 25 Oct 1998Shaw and Crompton, England.png" />
6Win5–0–1 Martin JolleyTKO3 15 Jun 1998
5Win4–0–1 Paul BonsonPTS621 May 1998Ball Park Centre, Bradford, England.png" />
4Draw3–0–1 Colin BrownPTS627 Feb 1998Irvine, Scotland.png" />
3Win3–0 P.R. MasonPTS613 Nov 1997
2Win2–0 P.R. MasonPTS66 Oct 1997
1Win1–0 Michael PinnockPTS69 Jun 1997