Willie Limond (2 February 1979 – 15 April 2024) was a Scottish professional boxer. He held the European super-featherweight title in 2004, the Commonwealth lightweight title from 2006 to 2007, the Commonwealth super-lightweight title from 2013 to 2014 and the British super-lightweight title in 2014.
Professional career Debut and British super-featherweight title fight Limond started out as a footballer, making five league appearances for Albion Rovers in the 1998–99 season.
His professional boxing career began in 1999 with a win over Lenny Hodgkins. He won his first 18 fights, including a notable success over future World Boxing Union (WBU) featherweight champion Choi Tseveenpurev.
This led to a showdown with fellow undefeated Scotsman Alex Arthur for the British super-featherweight title on 12 December 2003 at Braehead Arena in Glasgow. Limond was defeated by technical knockout in the eighth round.
European super-featherweight title Limond went on to pick up a few more wins before earning himself a shot at the vacant European super-featherweight title. He fought the French champion Youssouf Djibaba on 19 June 2004, at the Braehead Arena and won via unanimous decision.
After a successful defense against Alberto López, Limond went on to win the Celtic super-featherweight title against Kevin O'Hara on 17 June 2005.
Commonwealth lightweight title Limond stepped up in weight divisions to lightweight and took on Ghana's Joshua Allotey for the vacant Commonwealth title on 4 November 2006 at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, winning via unanimous decision.
He lost the title in his first defence, to future world champion, Amir Khan, on 14 July 2007. He knocked Khan down in the sixth round but ultimately failed to defeat the 2004 Olympic silver medallist and was retired by his own corner at the end of the eighth round. The loss was not without controversy, as some spectators thought that Khan had been given a long count after Limond had sent him to the canvas.
IBO Inter-Continental and WBU lightweight titles With the loss of his Commonwealth title, he defeated Martin Watson for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental title on 29 March 2008, at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow on a unanimous points decision. In Paisley on 27 February 2009, Limond defeated Harry Ramogoadi on points victory in a non-title bout.
Limond and fought Ryan Barrett for the WBU lightweight title on 29 May 2009 at the Thistle Hotel, Glasgow, winning by unanimous decision.
Bout with Erik Morales On 11 September 2010, Limond took on former champion Erik Morales for the WBC Silver light-welterweight title. In the sixth round Limond was knocked down three times causing the referee to call the fight off, awarding Morales a stoppage victory.
New promoter and Anthony Crolla fight After signing with promoter Tommy Gilmour, Limond fought Anthony Crolla for the British lightweight title in Motherwell on 25 November 2011, but lost by unanimous decision.
Commonwealth and British super-lightweight champion Limond returned from the Crolla setback with a routine six round win over William Warburton in Dundee on 1 September 2012, after moving up to super-lightweight. He fought unbeaten Eddie Doyle, for the vacant Commonwealth super-lightweight title in Glasgow on 21 January 2013. Limond drooped his opponent twice, winning by technical knockout in the first round.
He successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision win over Mitch Prince in Glasgow on 7 June 2013, before adding the British super-lightweight belt to his collection by defeating Curtis Woodhouse via majority decision, again in Glasgow, on 27 June 2014. Having vacated both titles, he challenged British super-lightweight champion Tyrone Nurse in Glasgow on 28 May 2016, losing by stoppage in the ninth round.
Final fights Limond fought only three more times after 2016. He defeated William Warburton on points over six rounds in Glasgow on 6 June 2019. Almost three years later, on 13 May 2022, Limond best CJ Wood in Renfrew with his son, Jake, fighting on the undercard.
His last fight was against Ricky Burns at Braehead Arena in Glasgow on 1 September 2023. Limond lost by stoppage in the eighth round.
Death In April 2024, Limond suffered a seizure. After 10 days at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Limond died on 15 April 2024, at the age of 45.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, TimeDateLocationNotes48Loss42–6Ricky BurnsTKO8 (12), 1 Sep 202347Win42–5CJ WoodTKO3 (6), 13 May 202246Win41–5William WarburtonPTS66 Jun 201945Win40–5Michal VosykaTKO2 (4), 18 Dec 201644Loss39–5Tyrone NurseTKO9 (12), 28 May 201643Win39–4Zaurs SadihovsTKO1 (6), 30 Jan 201642Win38–4Curtis WoodhouseMD1227 Jun 201441Win37–4Mitch PrinceUD127 Jun 201340Win36–4Eddie DoyleTKO1 (12), 21 Jan 201339Win35–4William WarburtonPTS61 Sep 201238Loss34–4Anthony CrollaUD1225 Nov 201137Win34–3Arek MalekPTS63 Jun 201136Loss33–3Erik MoralesKO6 (12), 11 Sep 201035Win33–2Duncan CottierPTS815 Nov 200934Win32–2Ryan BarrettUD1229 May 200933Win31–2Harry RamogoadiPTS827 Feb 200932Win30–2Matt ScrivenPTS818 Oct 200831Win29–2Martin WatsonUD1229 Mar 200830Loss28–2Amir KhanRTD8 (12), 14 Jul 200729Win28–1Joshua AlloteyUD124 Nov 200628Win27–1Jus WalliePTS65 Nov 200527Win26–1Kevin O'HaraPTS1017 Jun 200526Win25–1John MackayTKO5 (8), 20 May 200525Win24–1Alberto LópezUD103 Dec 200424Win23–1Frederic BonifaiPTS829 Oct 200423Win22–1Youssouf DjibabaUD1019 Jun 200422Win21–1Dafydd CarlinTKO1 (4), 6 Mar 200421Win20–1Anthony HannaPTS429 Nov 200320Win19–1Dariusz SnarskiTKO1 (6), 1 Nov 200319Loss18–1Alex ArthurTKO8 (12), 12 Mar 200318Win18–0Jimmy BeechKO4 (8), 22 Mar 200317Win17–0Asen VasilevTKO3 (8), 6 Sep 200216Win16–0Dave HindsPTS611 Mar 200215Win15–0Keith JonesPTS417 Nov 200114Win14–0Rakhim MingaleyevPTS63 Nov 200113Win13–0Gary ReidPTS87 Sep 200112Win12–0Choi TseveenpurevPTS627 Apr 200111Win11–0Trevor SmithPTS43 Apr 200110Win10–0Marcus PortmanPTS615 Feb 20019Win9–0Billy SmithPTS617 Dec 20008Win8–0Danny ConnellyPTS610 Nov 20007Win7–0Haroon DinPTS424 Jun 20006Win6–0Billy SmithPTS426 May 20005Win5–0Jimmy BeechTKO2 (6), 7 Apr 20004Win4–0Phil LashleyTKO1 (4)18 Mar 20003Win3–0Nigel SeniorTKO6 (6)24 Feb 20002Win2–0Steve HanleyPTS613 Dec 19991Win1–0Lenny HodgkinzRTD1 (6), 12 Nov 1999
References
External links