Gary Cornish Explained

Gary Cornish
Nickname:Highlander
Nationality:Scottish
Birth Date:10 April 1987
Birth Place:Inverness, Scotland
Weight:Heavyweight
Height:6 ft 7 in
Reach:84 in
Style:Orthodox
Total:27
Wins:25
Ko:13
Losses:2

Gary Cornish (born 10 April 1987) is a Scottish former professional boxer who competed from 2011 to 2018. He challenged once for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title in 2015.

Amateur career

As a youngster, he played football for Brora Rangers.[1] He decided to go to the local boxing gym only to improve his fitness for football. He fell in love with boxing, quickly discovering his talent for the sport. Trainers and seasoned fighters were not used to 6 ft 7in boxers who possessed such speed and athleticism, and as such it proved difficult to find suitable opponents. After a pursuit of football, he eventually returned to boxing, the sport where he had shown most ability, at age of 19. His amateur career was short, due to the difficulty in finding suitable opponents, and he turned professional with an amateur record of 9–0.

Professional career

His break out fight came in 2015, when he challenged Hungarian Zoltan Csala for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight title. Cornish dominated Csala and won the fight via a technical knockout in the fourth round.

Cornish vs. Joshua

See main article: Anthony Joshua vs. Gary Cornish. On 12 September 2015, Cornish fought Anthony Joshua for the Vacant Commonwealth Belt. Cornish was stopped by the referee just 90 seconds into the fight.[2] He was the first Scottish heavyweight to fight for the commonwealth heavyweight title.

Cornish remained largely absent from the public eye following the Joshua fight, but since regrouped in 2016 with two points victories in bouts fought in Scotland.

In 2017, he became the first Scottish boxer to fight for the British heavyweight title against Sam Sexton. His bid for the title proved unsuccessful, as he lost by unanimous decision to Sexton.[3] In March 2019, Cornish announced that he would be retiring from boxing on medical grounds after a brain scan. He described his decision to retire as "devastating".[4]

Personal life

Cornish is proud of his Scottish heritage. He has a tattoo on his chest, saying "Alba gu bràth,"[5] which is a Scottish Gaelic phrase used to express allegiance to Scotland as it means 'Scotland forever'.He’s happily married to Briony, who’s also from Scotland, Inverness, where they currently reside.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes
27Win25–2 David HoweTKO1 (6), 26 Jan 2018
26Loss24–2 Sam SextonUD126 Oct 2017
25Win24–1 Kamil SokolowskiPTS618 Feb 2017
24Win23–1 Tomas MrazekPTS624 Jun 2016
23Win22–1 Kamil SokolowskiPTS825 Mar 2016
22Loss21–1 Anthony JoshuaTKO1 (12), 12 Sep 2015
21Win21–0 Zoltan CsalaTKO4 (12), 23 May 2015
20Win20–0 Marino GolesTKO1 (10), 28 Feb 2015
19Win19–0 Larry OlubamiwoPTS89 Jun 2014
18Win18–0 Hrvoje KisicekTKO2 (6)28 Apr 2014
17Win17–0 Ivica PerkovicTKO3 (6), 30 Nov 2013
16Win16–0 Tomas MrazekTKO7 (8), 20 Sep 2013
15Win15–0 Paul ButlinKO5 (10), 7 Jun 2013
14Win14–0 Humberto EvoraRTD4 (8), 15 Mar 2013
13Win13–0 Jakov GospicTKO4 (8), 15 Feb 2013
12Win12–0 Tamas BajzathPTS621 Jan 2013
11Win11–0 Yavor MarinchevTKO5 (6), 7 Dec 2012
10Win10–0 Moses MatovuPTS622 Oct 2012
9Win9–0 Peter ErdosPTS628 Sep 2012
8Win8–0 Tayar MehmedPTS42 Jun 2012
7Win7–0 Laszlo PeczeliTKO2 (6), 11 May 2012
6Win6–0 Igoris BoruchaPTS425 Feb 2012
5Win5–0 Remigijus ZiausysPTS421 Jan 2012
4Win4–0 Hastings RasaniPTS82 Dec 2011
3Win3–0 Rolandas CesnaPTS423 Sep 2011
2Win2–0 Hastings RasaniRTD4 (6), 11 Jun 2011
1Win1–0 Howard DaleyTKO2 (6), 4 Aug 2011

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.scotzine.com/2013/02/gary-cornish-scotlands-great-white-hope/ Gary Cornish: Scotland's Great White Hope?
  2. Web site: Anthony Joshua stops Gary Cornish in 90 seconds to win Commonwealth heavyweight title. Sky Sports. en. 2020-03-17.
  3. News: Gary Cornish v Sam Sexton: Scottish heavyweight's historic title bid ended. 2017-10-06. BBC Sport. 2020-03-17. en-gb.
  4. News: Gary Cornish: Scottish boxer who fought Anthony Joshua retires after brain scan. 2019-03-06. BBC Sport. 2020-03-17. en-gb.
  5. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/boxing/gary-cornish-says-hes-set-5751215 Gary Cornish says he's set to be Scotland’s first British heavyweight champion after winning the IBO Intercontinental title