| Lee Purdy | |
| Nickname: | Lights Out |
| Weight: | |
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in |
| Nationality: | British |
| Birth Place: | Colchester, Essex, England |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 26 |
| Wins: | 20 |
| Losses: | 5 |
| Draws: | 1 |
| Ko: | 13 |
Lee Purdy (born 29 May 1987) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2013. He held the British welterweight title in 2011, challenged once for the vacant Commonwealth welterweight title in 2010 and once for the EBU European welterweight title in 2013.
Purdy claimed the British title with a win over Craig Watson via 5th round stoppage to become Colchesters first British boxing champion at the MEN Arena in Manchester on 16 April 2011.[1] This victory was followed up in his first defence on 16 July 2011 with another victory over Watson, this time in Oldham and with another stoppage in the 5th round. Despite starting brightly, Watson began to be worn down in the third round as two heavy shots from Purdy landed. Eventually after Watson was knocked down twice in the 5th, the referee called a halt to the contest.[2] Purdy lost the title in his second defence against former British light welterweight champion Colin Lynes. Purdy lost a majority points decision to Lynes after getting up off the canvas in the 10th to produce a strong finish.[3]
On 18 May 2013, Lee Purdy fought Devon Alexander at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ. The bout was originally scheduled for the IBF welterweight title but Purdy failed to make the weight. Purdy took the fight at 4 weeks notice after Kell Brook pulled out with a hand injury. The fight was controversially stopped by Purdys trainer (Darren Barker) in the 7th round, although Purdy was not hurt at any stage throughout the fight and was looking to come on strong in the later rounds.
In August 2013 Purdy was charged with money laundering along with five other people in what was believed to be a £1 million scam against elderly people. He was due to appear at Colchester Magistrates Court in September 2013. Purdy, as well as the other accused, denied the charges. Lee Purdy was found not guilty by unanimous verdict (jury) of money laundering. He thanked everyone who had supported him via Twitter.
After several operations on a detached retina suffered during the Leonard Bundu fight in December 2013, Purdy is expected to return to the ring in 2015 and would possibly meet the winner of the Frankie Gavin and Bradley Skeete bout for the British title.
After sustaining a severed and detached retina in a fight with European welterweight champion Leonard Bundu in late 2013, Purdy was forced to retire from the sport of boxing.[4] His promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed the retirement in an interview with iFLTV on 16 February 2015.
| No | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Loss | 20–5–1 |  Leonard Bundu | TKO | 12 (12), | 14 Dec 2013 | |||
| 25 | Loss | 20–4–1 |  Devon Alexander | 7 (12), | 18 May 2013 | | |||
| 24 | Win | 20–3–1 |  Cosme Rivera | TKO | 9 (12), | 9 Mar 2013 | |||
| 23 | Win | 19–3–1 |  Gumersindo Lucas Carrasco | TKO | 4 (12), | 8 Sep 2012 | |||
| 22 | Win | 18–3–1 | Chris Johnson | TKO | 1 (10), | 7 Jul 2012 | |||
| 21 | Win | 17–3–1 | Adnan Amar | TKO | 5 (10), | 17 Mar 2012 | |||
| 20 | Loss | 16–3–1 | Colin Lynes | 12 | 9 Nov 2011 | ||||
| 19 | Win | 15–3–1 | Craig Watson | TKO | 5 | 16 Jul 2011 | |||
| 18 | Win | 14–3–1 | Craig Watson | TKO | 5 | 16 Apr 2011 | |||
| 17 | Win | 14–2–1 |  Theophilus Tetteh | PTS | 8 | 10 Sep 2010 | |||
| 16 | Loss | 13–2–1 | Denton Vassell | 12 | 16 Apr 2010 | ||||
| 15 | Win | 13–1–1 | Mark Douglas | TKO | 4 (10), | 28 Nov 2009 | |||
| 14 | Win | 12–1–1 | Peter McDonagh | PTS | 10 | 5 Sep 2009 | |||
| 13 | Win | 11–1–1 | Kevin McCauley | TKO | 2 (4), | 18 Jul 2009 | |||
| 12 | Win | 10–1–1 | Leonard Lothian | PTS | 4 | 28 Feb 2009 | |||
| 11 | Loss | 9–1–1 | Peter McDonagh | PTS | 10 | 13 Dec 2008 | |||
| 10 | Win | 9–0–1 | Adam Kelly | TKO | 5 (6), | 8 Nov 2008 | |||
| 9 | Win | 8–0–1 | Johnny Greaves | TKO | 3 (6), | 4 Oct 2008 | |||
| 8 | Draw | 7–0–1 |  Geoffrey Munika | PTS | 6 | 27 Jun 2008 | |||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Jamie Spence | TKO | 1 (6), | 4 Apr 2008 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Craig Dyer | TKO | 1 (4), | 25 Jan 2008 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Johnny Greaves | PTS | 6 | 25 Nov 2007 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Ben Hudson | PTS | 6 | 1 Jul 2007 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Duncan Cottier | PTS | 4 | 16 Jun 2007 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Kristian Laight | 4 | 16 Mar 2007 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Deniss Sirjatovs | 3 (4), | 8 Dec 2006 |