Lenny Daws (born 29 December 1978) is a British professional boxer. He held the British super lightweight title twice between 2006 and 2011, and the EBU European Union super lightweight title between 2012 and 2014.
Boxing career Early professional career Daws made his professional debut on 16 April 2003, defeating Danny Gwilym at the Ice Arena in Nottingham. Over next few years he compiled a record of twelve consecutive victories with wins over the likes of Ernie Smith, Karl Taylor and Oscar Hall. On 12 May 2006, he defeated Colin Lynes at the York Hall in Bethnal Green to win the Southern Area light welterweight title. The fight also served as an eliminator for the full British title.
British champion Daws fought for the British belt on 12 May 2006, in his very next fight. The contest, once again held at the York Hall, saw Daws defeat Northumbrian boxer Nigel Wright via a 12 round points decision. The new champions reign was however to be short lived with the first defence of the title also resulting in a first defeat. Daws lost the belt to Scotsman, Barry Morrison at the Alexandra Palace in Wood Green, this time by split decision with one judge scoring widely in Daws favour with the other two scoring narrowly to Morrison.
Road back to contention Following the Morrison defeat, Daws returned to action in May 2007 with a win over Billy Smith and then challenged former opponent Nigel Wright for Wright's English title on 14 November 2007. The contest with Wright again took place at the York Hall and resulted in a draw meaning that Wright retained the belt. He went on to win three more fights before getting another chance to fight for the English title. His chance came on 11 April 2009, and claimed the belt with a win over Peter McDonagh the Southern Area champion.South London Today | McDonagh loses on points to Daws The win gave Daws the opportunity to challenge Ajose Olusegun for his old British title, before Olusegun vacated the belt choosing to fight in an eliminator for the WBC light welterweight instead. This meant that Daws opponent in the other corner for the vacant belt would now be old foe Barry Morrison in a contest to take place on 18 September 2009. The fight itself, at the York Hall once more, saw Daws regain the belt he lost to Morrison and gain revenge over the only man to have beaten him with a 10th round stoppage.
Two time British Champion The win over Morrison propelled Daws back to the top of the domestic scene as holder of the British light welterweight title. His first defence was against Welshman Jason Cook on 2 February 2010. Cook, a former European lightweight champion, had taken some time away from the sport only to bounce back and reach the semi-final of the Prizefighter light welterweight tournament. Despite being rocked in the first round Daws did enough to retain the title via a draw with all three judges scoring closely.BBC Sport | Daws draws with Jason Cook but keeps title Daws next defence was held on 9 July 2010 against English champion Steve Williams, Daws retained for the second time after Williams sustained two cuts on his eye which forced his corner to pull him out.BBC Sport | Daws beats Williams to retain title On 19 February 2011, in his third defence of the title, Daws lost the belt to Ashley Theophane at the Wembley Arena. Despite taking control in the first half of the fight, Theophane came on strong in the second half and knocked Daws down twice in the 9th round to run out an eventual winner over 12 rounds.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes37LossAnthony YigitUD1211 Dec 201136Loss30–4–2Ruben NietoDQ10 (12), 5 Dec 201535Win30–3–2Mikhail AvakianPTS825 Jul 201534Win29–3–2Chaquib FadliTKO10 (12), 8 Nov 201433Win28–3–2Sylwester WalczakPTS810 May 201432Win27–3–2Arek MalekPTS815 Mar 201431Win26–3–2Tony PacePTS616 Nov 201330Loss25–3–2Michele di RoccoUD128 Jun 201329Win25–2–2Ville PiispanenUD1213 Oct 201228Win24–2–2Dean MillsTKO7 (8), 7 Jul 201227Win23–2–2Chris TrumanPTS818 Feb 201226Win22–2–2Stuart GreenPTS612 Nov 201125Loss21–2–2Ashley TheophaneUD1219 Feb 201124Win21–1–2Stevie WilliamsRTD10 (12), 9 Jul 201023Draw20–1–2Jason CookSD1212 Feb 201022Win20–1–1Barry MorrisonKO10 (12), 18 Sep 200921Win19–1–1Peter McDonaghPTS1011 Apr 200920Win18–1–1Sergejs SavrinovicsTKO6 (10), 17 Jan 200919Win17–1–1Jay MorrisPTS68 Nov 200818Win16–1–1Mihăiță MutuPTS1027 Jun 200817Draw15–1–1Nigel WrightPTS1014 Nov 200716Win15–1Billy SmithPTS618 May 200715Loss14–1Barry MorrisonSD1220 Jan 200714Win14–0Nigel WrightUD1212 May 200613Win13–0Colin LynesTKO9 (12)20 Jan 200612Win12–0Oscar HallRTD7 (10), 28 Oct 200511Win11–0Ivor BonavicPTS69 Jul 200510Win10–0Silence SaheedPTS610 Apr 20059Win9–0Keith JonesPTS812 Nov 20048Win8–0Ernie SmithPTS624 Sep 20047Win7–0Deniss AleksejevsKO3 (6), 20 Jan 20046Win6–0Keith JonesPTS811 Dec 20035Win5–0Tony MontanaPTS628 Nov 20034Win4–0Ernie SmithPTS44 Oct 20033Win3–0Karl TaylorRTD2 (6), 25 Jul 20032Win2–0Ben HudsonTKO2 (4), 27 May 20031Win1–0Danny GwilymTKO2 (6)16 Apr 2003
References