Paul Ingle


Paul Andrew Ingle is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2000. He held multiple championships at featherweight, most notably the IBF title from 1999 to 2000, and the IBO title in 2000. At regional level he held the European, British, and Commonwealth titles between 1997 and 1999. As an amateur, Ingle represented Great Britain at the 1992 Summer Olympics, reaching the second round of the flyweight bracket.

Amateur career

Ingle was a member of the 1992 British Olympic team and competed in the flyweight division. In the first round he defeated Alexander Baba of Ghana by 9–7, but lost 12–13 in the second round to eventual gold medallist Choe Chol-su of North Korea.

Professional career

Ingle made his professional debut on 23 March 1994, scoring a third-round knockout over Darren Noble. On 11 January 1997, he stopped Colin McMillan in eight rounds to win his first regional championship, the British featherweight title. Later that year, on 11 October, Ingle defeated Jon Jo Irwin by eighth-round corner retirement to win the Commonwealth featherweight title. Ingle completed the regional trifecta when he won the European featherweight title on 26 September 1998, stopping Billy Hardy in eight rounds.

First world title challenge

By the time Ingle challenged for his first world title against WBO featherweight champion Naseem Hamed, he had won 21 consecutive fights without a loss. During the entrances for their fight, Ingle was kept waiting in the ring for six minutes. Angered by this, he and his trainer Steve Pollard went back to the dressing room and only returned after Hamed had finally made his own entrance. In the opening round of the fight, Ingle was knocked down and barely made it out of the round following an onslaught of punches by Hamed. A body shot floored Ingle again in the sixth, but with twenty seconds remaining he emerged unscathed. In rounds nine and ten, Ingle had some success by bloodying Hamed's nose. A third knockdown in the eleventh ended Ingle's challenge, as referee Joe Cortez deemed him unable to continue as he stood up on shaky legs.

IBF featherweight champion

Despite this first career loss, Ingle received another world title opportunity in his next fight, on 13 November 1999. He went on to defeat IBF featherweight champion Manuel Medina by unanimous decision, albeit suffering a knockdown in the twelfth and final round. In his first defence of the title, Ingle travelled to the United States for the first time and fought on the undercard of Lennox Lewis vs. Michael Grant. Facing him was former two-weight world champion Junior Jones, who held the IBO featherweight title. In an action-packed fight which was close on the judges' scorecards, Ingle was knocked down in round nine, but rallied back in dramatic fashion to stop Jones in the eleventh.

Retirement and life after boxing

Ingle's boxing career ended on 16 December 2000, losing both the IBF and IBO titles to Mbulelo Botile. The fight had undergone several postponements due to Ingle sustaining injuries in training and being unable to make the 126 lbs featherweight limit. After suffering a knockdown in round eleven, Ingle went down again in the twelfth and did not rise for several minutes. He was stretchered out of the ring and hospitalised for a blood clot on the brain, spending four weeks in intensive care before recovering. A boxing gym, the Paul Ingle Boxing Academy, has since opened in his honour, in Hull.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
25Loss23–2Mbulelo BotileTKO12, 0:2016 Dec 2000Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, EnglandLost IBF and IBO featherweight titles
24Win23–1Junior JonesTKO11, 1:1629 Apr 2000Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USRetained IBF featherweight title;
Won IBO featherweight title
23Win22–1Manuel Medina1213 Nov 1999Sports Arena, Hull, EnglandWon IBF featherweight title
22Loss21–1Naseem HamedTKO11, 0:4510 Apr 1999MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandFor WBO and lineal featherweight titles
21Win21–0Billy HardyTKO8, 2:5326 Sep 1998Barbican Centre, York, EnglandRetained Commonwealth featherweight title;
Won European featherweight title
20Win20–0Rakhim MingaleyevKO4, 2:538 Aug 1998The Spa, Scarborough, EnglandWon vacant IBF Inter-Continental featherweight title
19Win19–0Moussa SangareRTD10, 3:009 Jun 1998Hull Arena, Hull, England
18Win18–0Trust NdlovuPTS1228 Mar 1998Hull Arena, Hull, EnglandRetained Commonwealth featherweight title
17Win17–0Jon Jo IrwinRTD8, 3:0011 Oct 1997Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, EnglandRetained British featherweight title;
Won Commonwealth featherweight title
16Win16–0Michael Alldis11, 3:0028 Apr 1997Hull Arena, Hull, EnglandRetained British featherweight title
15Win15–0Colin McMillanTKO8, 1:4211 Jan 1997York Hall, London, EnglandWon British featherweight title
14Win14–0Chris JickellsKO4 6 Nov 1996Hull Arena, Hull, England
13Win13–0Brian RobbKO2 3 Sep 1996York Hall, London, England
12Win12–0Ervine BlakeKO2 29 Jun 1996Erith Leisure Centre, London, England
11Win11–0Greg UptonKO10, 1:545 Feb 1996Crook Log Leisure Centre, London, England
10Win10–0Demir NanevKO5 15 Dec 1995York Hall, London, England
9Win9–0Miguel MatthewsKO4 29 Sep 1995York Hall, London, England
8Win8–0Des Gargano2, 0:2316 Jun 1995Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, England
7Win7–0Peter BuckleyPTS827 Apr 1995York Hall, London, England
6Win6–0Peter BuckleyPTS823 Feb 1995Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, England
5Win5–0Graham McGrathPTS624 Nov 1994Cottingham, England
4Win4–0Anthony HannaPTS63 Aug 1994Whitchurch Sports Centre, Bristol, England
3Win3–0Neil SwainKO4 25 May 1994Colston Hall, Bristol, England
2Win2–0Graham McGrath427 Apr 1994York Hall, London, England
1Win1–0Darren Noble3, 2:5923 Mar 1994STAR Centre, Cardiff, Wales