Antwun Echols

Antwun Echols (born December 4 1971, in Davenport, Iowa ) is an American boxer. Although he has been a perennial contender in the Middleweight division, the hard-hitting Echols has never captured a major title.

Career

Echols turned professional in 1993 and in 1999 challenged IBF middleweight title holder Bernard Hopkins. Although Echols gave Hopkins a tough fight, he lost via decision. The following year he lost a rematch with Hopkins, this time losing via TKO in the 10th. In 2001 he fought a crowd pleasing bout with Charles Brewer. Echols went down three times in round two, but recovered in round three to score a TKO win to capture the vacant NABA super middleweight title. In 2003 Echols got another opportunity for a title shot after the WBA Super Middleweight Title was vacated when Sven Ottke was upgraded to "Super" champion status. He battled Anthony Mundine for the vacant title, but lost a close decision. In 2005 he lost an IBF Middleweight Eliminator to Kingsley Ikeke when he was TKO'd in the 10th. In his most recent bout in April of 2008, Echols was dominated by rising prospect Peter Quillin. This brought Echols' record to 0-3-3 in his last six fights, likely signaling the end of his run as a ranked fighter.

Outside the Ring

On July 30th in Davenport, Iowa, Echols was shot in the leg while trying to break up a fight [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/30/sports/s084448D76.DTL] . Echols also was charged with possession of crack cocaine after the incident [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2954219] .

External links

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* [http://www.saddoboxing.com/1060-long-odyssey-of-antwun-echols.html Detailed Bio]

References

* [http://www.saddoboxing.com/1060-long-odyssey-of-antwun-echols.html Saddo Boxing]