Terry Flanagan

On 26 July 2014, Flanagan claimed the vacant BBBofC British lightweight title by defeating British boxer Martin Gethin (24-5-1, 11 KOs).

Gethin did not come out for round 8 after his right ear was badly swollen.

In the semi-finals, Flanagan knocked down Derry Mathews (30-7-1, 16 KOs) in round 2, winning the fight via decision 29-27 on all scorecards.

Flanagan went on to win the prizefighter tournament in the final defeating Gary Sykes (20-2, 5 KOs) via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

In April 2013, on the undercard of Khan-Diaz at Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, Flanagan fought and defeated former unified World Lightweight champion Nate Campbell (36-10-1, 26 KOs).

Campbell retired on his stool at the end of round 4 with an injured right hand.

Flanagan met Liverpudlian Derry Mathews (38-9-2, 20 KOs) in a rematch, the first being the Prizefighter semi final, which Flanagan won, at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on 12 March 2016.

The fight was originally scheduled to take place on 13 February, but was postponed after Flanagan suffered a severe tendonitis on his left foot.

Although Flanagan was penalized one point in round eight for throwing and landing an illegal forearm to the chin of Mathews, Flanagan won the fight convincingly via unanimous decision (115-112, 117-110, 117-110).

Flanagan overcame a slow start before taking control of the fight in the second half.

Both boxers were knocked down once in round 2.

Terry Flanagan (born 11 June 1989) is a British former professional boxer.

From Ancoats, Manchester, Flanagan had his first professional fight in 2009, beating Danny McDermid on points.

After winning his first 12 fights between 2009 and 2012, he beat Dougie Curran in May 2012 to take the vacant English super featherweight title.

This was the second time the two had fought, previously meeting in 2010.

Curran entered with a record of 0-6-1 in his previous seven bouts.

Flanagan had one point deducted for holding in the 5th round.

The judges, after 10 rounds scored the bout (99-90, 99-91 twice).

He successfully defended the title four months later against Troy James on points (99-92, 99-93, 98-94).

He won the Prizefighter lightweight tournament in 2012, held the British lightweight title in 2014, and has challenged once for the WBO light-welterweight title in 2018.

Flanagan took part in the Prizefighter Series: The Lightweights II at the Olympia in Liverpool on 6 October 2012.

In the quarter-finals, Flanagan defeated Patrick Walsh (10-1, 3 KOs) via unanimous decision 29-28 on all three judges cards.

He held the WBO lightweight title from 2015 to 2017, becoming the first Englishman to win a world title in that weight class.

Flanagan challenged WBO European lightweight champion Stephen Ormond (17-1, 8 KOs) on 14 February 2015 at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.

In round 9, Ormond was deducted a point for use of the head, and ultimately disqualified in round 10 for persistent use of the head, thus losing his belt in the process.

At the time of disqualification, Flanagan was heading towards a unanimous decision win (88-82, 88-82, 88-82).

The win ensured Flanagan would next fight for the WBO world title next.

Possible opponents were Juan Diaz or Takahiro Ao.

After claiming the WBO European title, Flanagan stepped up to challenge unbeaten American Jose Zepeda (23-0, 20 KOs) for the vacant WBO lightweight title.

The title was left vacant by Terrence Crawford, after he moved up weight class.

The fight took place at the Velodrome in Manchester on 11 July 2015.

Flanagan registered an early win on a technical decision.

Zepeda sustained what looked like a bad dislocation to his shoulder due to clash of arms and was unable to continue, retiring on his stool after round 2.

Despite the fight ending early, Flanagan admitted he was upset with the fight finishing after just six minutes of action and talked about a rematch to prove he is the better boxer.

He told Boxnation, "I want to prove that I'm the better boxer. Now I'm world champion I can start believing in myself. Lifting a world title is unreal."

Flanagan successfully retained his world title on 10 October at the Manchester Arena in Manchester against number 1 ranked WBO 28-year-old Diego Magdaleno (28-1, 12 KOs).

The fight was halted after Flanagan unloaded a flurry of shots against Magdaleno when he was trapped against the ropes.

The official time of the stoppage was 2:38 of round 2.

Flanagan dropped Magdaleno down three times in total.

Referee Terry O’Connor decided to halt it rather than let Magdaleno continue to fight.