David Barnes (boxer)

David Barnes
Statistics
Real name	David Barnes
Rated at	Light welterweight
Nationality	United Kingdom
Born	16 January 1981 Manchester, England
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	27
Wins	24
Wins by KO	11
Losses	2
Draws	1

David Barnes is a British professional boxer from Manchester in England who competes in the light welterweight division. He is the former holder of both the British light welterweight and welterweight titles. ^[1]

Early career

Barnes made his professional debut in July 2001 when at the Velodrome in Manchester he stopped Trevor Smith in the 2nd round of their 4 round match. After compiling an undefeated ledger of 12-0 he was just two years later in July 2003 given the opportunity to fight for the vacant British Welterweight title against the experienced Jimmy Vincent. Barnes claimed victory with a narrow score of 115-114 from the referee John Keane in what was described by commentators as "an excellent match from start to finish".^[2] Barnes early career suffered a hiccup when the boxer was forced to spend six weeks at an army detention centre in Colchester. Unknown to his promoters and after seven straight victories on Sky the boxer had been absent without leave from the army for a total of 18 months until a passport check by promoter Frank Warren revealed he had deserted from the army. Speaking of the experience to the Daily Telegraph in January 2003 Barnes said "I hated nearly every minute" having joined up as a restless 15 year old.^[3]

British Welterweight Champion

Now the full British champion and still relatively inexperienced with a record of 13-0 Barnes set about defending his title and trying to claim the Lonsdale belt outright. He re-entered the ring in December 2003 to defend for the first time against Scotsman Kevin McIntyre at the MEN Arena in Manchester winning when the fight was stopped after the 8th round. He followed up the win with further defences against Northern Ireland's Glenn McClarnon and England's James Hare which gave him the Lonsdale belt for keeps.^[4]

Losing Ground

Barnes kept busy after the win over Hare with a victory over future European title challenger Juho Tolppola from Finland before meeting the Glossop based Namibian Ali Nuumbembe for the WBO Inter-continental welterweight title. The fight was very close and ended up with the match being declared a draw.

In June 2005 Barnes fought Ghana's Commonwealth champion Joshua Okine, where he was put down in the 5th round and stopped in the 12th. It was his first career defeat. ^[5] In choosing to fight Okine, Barnes had not allowed himself enough time to defend his British title and so had to give it up.

British Light Welterweight champion

Barnes fought five times over the next two years competing against a host of journeymen. In March 2008 he was given the opportunity to fight for a championship again—the British light welterweight version. The opponent at the George Carnall Center in Davyhulme was former European champion Ted Bami and Barnes ran out a comfortable points winner becoming the first man to have held the British title at welter and light welterweight. ^[6] In July 2008 he defended the title for the first time against former champion Barry Morrison from Scotland again winning on points over 12. Barnes was stripped of the title after he pulled out of a mandatory defence against former champion Colin Lynes. Barnes did not fight again until 4 December 2009 when he competed in the light welterweight version of the Prizefighter series and ironically was drawn to face the an he should have defended his British title against, Colin Lynes in the quarter finals. The fight over 3 rounds resulted in a split decision win for Lynes and handed Barnes only his second defeat.^[7]

References

1. ^ Boxrec | David Barnes professional record
2. ^ Eastside boxing | Barnes wins barnburner over Vincent
3. ^ Daily Telegraph | Barnes battle cry
4. ^ BBC Sport | Barnes stops Hare to keep title
5. ^ BBC Sport | Barnes loses title shot to Okine
6. ^ Livefight.com | Barnes wins British title
7. ^ BBC Sport | Gavin Rees beats Colin Lynes in Prizefighter final

Preceded by Colin Lynes vacated	British Light welterweight Champion 14 March 2008 – 5 December 2008 stripped	Succeeded by Paul McCloskey
Preceded by Neil Sinclair vacated	British Welterweight Champion 17 July 2003 – 16 July 2005 vacated	Succeeded by Michael Jennings

Persondata
Name	Barnes, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 January 1981
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Date of death
Place of death