Henry Akinwande

English boxer (born 1965)

Henry Adetokunboh Akinwande (born 12 October 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2008. He held the WBO heavyweight title from 1996 to 1997, as well as the Commonwealth heavyweight title in 1993, and the European heavyweight title from 1993 to 1994.

Akinwande was born in London, England but went to live in his parents' homeland of Nigeria as a 4 year old. He returned to England in 1986 aged 21, and he began boxing soon after.

As an amateur boxing out of the Lynn amateur boxing club in Camberwell, SE London, he was ABA heavyweight champion in both 1988 and 1989, beating another fellow Nigerian and future WBO heavyweight champion Herbie Hide and represented Great Britain in the heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

Akinwande made his professional debut in 1989 against Carlton Headley in London and won all of his first 18 bouts, including a second round KO victory over former World Light Heavyweight Champion J. B. Williamson, and relatively well known fringe fighters such as Marshall Tillman, Eddie Taylor, Kimmuel Odum and John Fury, the father of Tyson Fury. Akinwande then challenged Axel Schulz for the vacant European heavyweight title in Berlin, Germany in 1992. The fight, scored only by the referee was adjudged to be a draw after 12 rounds. This was felt by many to be a "home town" decision, as most observers had Akinwande winning comfortably. Following a victory over New Zealand's respectable James Thunder for the Commonwealth title in 1993, Akinwande again challenged Schulz for the vacant European belt. This time three judges were employed and Akinwande was awarded a unanimous decision after 12 rounds. He was to defend the title twice, against Biagio Chianese and Mario Scheisser. Akinwande also defeated fellow Briton and future WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson, former IBF heavyweight title holder Tony Tucker, Frankie Swindell, Brian Sargent, Calvin Jones and Gerard Jones, all from the USA, during this period.

In 1996 Akinwande faced American Jeremy Williams for the WBO World Heavyweight Title which had been vacated by Riddick Bowe, a fight which Akinwande was to win via a 3rd round stoppage. Akinwande went on to defend the belt twice, with victories over Russian Alexander Zolkin by TKO and a decision over fellow Briton Scott Welch, who had won the WBO Intercontinental Title with a stoppage over the 46 year old Joe Bugner.

The WBO belt was then vacated so that Akinwande could pursue a challenge to WBC champion Lennox Lewis in 1997. The fight took place at Caesars Tahoe in Nevada. Akinwande was strangely subdued and spent much of the fight attempting to clinch Lewis. After repeated warnings, referee Mills Lane finally ran out of patience and disqualified Akinwande for repeated holding in the 5th round. A proposed challenge to Evander Holyfield for the WBA belt in 1998 was later abandoned after Akinwande tested positive for hepatitis B. This meant a lengthy spell of recovery for Akinwande, but he was finally cleared to return to the ring in 1999. Akinwande won his next 8 fights, his victims included top contenders Orlin Norris and Maurice Harris, as well as Peter McNeeley, Kenny Craven, Russel Chasteen, Reynaldo Minus, Chris Sirengo and Najee Shaheed. A fight with Oliver McCall in 2001 resulted in Akinwande's second defeat. After Akinwande had outboxed McCall for most of the fight, Akinwande began to tire, and McCall caught him with a few seconds remaining in the 10th and final round. Akinwande was counted out. Akinwande recovered from this to win his next 9 bouts, including notable victories against Timo Hoffman, Ed Mahone, Cisse Salif and Anton Nel, all for the IBF Intercontinental Title, as well as Curt Paige, Sam Ubokane, Raman Sukhaterin, Alexander Vasiliev and Tipton Walker. In late 2006 he dropped a split decision to Oleg Platov, a bout in which Akinwande received a point deduction in 8th round for holding, and Platov received a point deduction in 9th for head butt. After that fight he won another fight against Andriy Oleinyk in 2007 before losing to top prospect Ondřej Pála from the Czech Republic by unanimous decision on 4 July 2008, which turned out to be his last fight.

No. (Number)ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes55Loss50–4–1Ondřej PálaUD64 Jul 200854Win50–3–1Andriy OliynykUD1030 Jun 200753Loss49–3–1Oleg PlatovSD124 Nov 200652Win49–2–1Cisse SalifUD124 Mar 200651Win48–2–1Ed MahoneUD1210 Dec 200550Win47–2–1Tipton WalkerTKO2 (6), 24 Sep 200549Win46–2–1Alexander VasilievUD814 May 200548Win45–2–1Anton NelTKO10 (12), 10 Apr 200447Win44–2–1Timo HoffmannSD (Split decision)1231 May 200346Win43–2–1Raman SukhaterinUD1210 Dec 200245Win42–2–1Sam UbokaneTKO7 (10)29 Oct 200244Win41–2–1Curt PaigeTKO1 (8), 8 Mar 200243Loss40–2–1Oliver McCallKO10 (10), 17 Nov 200142Win40–1–1Maurice HarrisKO1 (10)16 Jun 200141Win39–1–1Peter McNeeleyKO2 (12), 17 Mar 200140Win38–1–1Kenny CravenTKO1 (12), 8 Dec 200039Win37–1–1Russell ChasteenTKO5 (10), 25 May 200038Win36–1–1Chris SirengoTKO1 (10)22 Feb 200037Win35–1–1Najee ShaheedTKO9 (10), 15 May 199936Win34–1–1Reynaldo MinusTKO2 (10), 6 Mar 199935Win33–1–1Orlin NorrisUD1213 Dec 199734Loss32–1–1Lennox LewisDQ5 (12), 12 Jul 199733Win32–0–1Scott WelchUD1211 Jan 199732Win31–0–1Alexander ZolkinTKO10 (12), 9 Nov 199631Win30–0–1Jeremy WilliamsKO3 (12), 29 Jun 199630Win29–0–1Gerard JonesDQ7 (10), 23 Mar 199629Win28–0–1Brian SargentTKO4 (10), 27 Jan 199628Win27–0–1Tony TuckerUD1016 Dec 199527Win26–0–1Stanley WrightTKO2 (10)22 Jul 199526Win25–0–1Calvin JonesKO2 (8), 8 Apr 199525Win24–0–1Mario SchiesserKO7 (12)23 Jul 199424Win23–0–1Johnny NelsonPTS105 Apr 199423Win22–0–1Biagio ChianeseTKO4 (12), 1 Dec 199322Win21–0–1Frankie SwindellUD106 Nov 199321Win20–0–1Axel SchulzUD (Unanimous decision)121 May 199320Win19–0–1Jimmy ThunderPTS1218 Mar 199319Draw18–0–1Axel SchulzMD (Majority draw)1219 Dec 199218Win18–0Steve GarberTKO2 (8)18 Jul 199217Win17–0Kimmuel OdumDQ (Disqualification)6 (8)5 Jun 199216Win16–0Lumbala TshibambaPTS810 Apr 199215Win15–0Tucker RichardsTKO2 (8), 26 Mar 199214Win14–0Eddie TaylorTKO3 (8)28 Feb 199213Win13–0Tim BullockTKO3 (8)6 Dec 199112Win12–0John FuryKO3 (8)9 Oct 199111Win11–0Marshall TillmanPTS828 Jun 199110Win10–0Ramon VoornPTS86 Jun 19919Win9–0J. B. WilliamsonTKO2 (8), 6 Mar 19918Win8–0François YriusTKO1 (6), 12 Dec 19907Win7–0Tracy ThomasPTS610 Oct 19906Win6–0Mike RobinsonKO1 (6)9 May 19905Win5–0Warren ThompsonPTS (Points decision)614 Mar 19904Win4–0John FairbairnTKO1 (6)10 Jan 19903Win3–0Paul NeilsonTKO1 (6), 6 Dec 19892Win2–0Dennis BaileyTKO (Technical knockout)2 (6), 8 Nov 19891Win1–0Carlton HeadleyKO (Knockout)1 (6), 4 Oct 1989