SamNoakes

"Midge"

EBU European, British, Commonwealth & WBO International Lightweight Champion

SAM NOAKES IS now the British, Commonwealth, European, WBO International and WBC International Silver lightweight champion.

Four of these prestigious titles have come in the space of his last six fights, marking him down as a major threat in the lightweight division.

The formidable Noakes publicly declared his ambition to have his first 10 fights culminate in stoppages and his goal was reached in spectacular fashion at The O2 in November 2022 when he overwhelmed the previously unbeaten Calvin McCord to add the Commonwealth title to the WBC International Silver championship belt he already owned.

Noakes admitted that his perfect 10 became a regular talking point he could have done without. He made himself a hostage to fortune and probably put some unnecessary pressure on himself to deliver an emphatic finish time after time.

However, he needn't have concerned himself too much because, In April 2023, he extended his KO-streak to 11 with a spectacular demolition of Karthik Sathish Kumar, who was 10-0 himself coming into the fight.

The Indian simply couldn't cope with the relentless assaults of Noakes and, after twice being floored, he was spared further punishment early in the second round.

The charismatic Noakes had 53 fights in the amateur code of the sport, winning 47 with 26 of the victories coming via stoppage. During this period Noakes won the Senior ABAs, Tri-Nations gold, two NABC titles and gold in the Haringey Box Cup.

Trained by Alan Smith at the iBox Gym in Bromley, Noakes always insisted he will look to maintain his reputation from the amateurs of rarely taking a backward step.

The WBC International belt was secured via a fourth round stoppage of Carlos Perez in December 2023, before he became British and WBO International champion with victory over Lewis Sylvester in February of this year, again in the fourth round.

His first distance fight and his European status came with a unanimous verdict over Yvan Mendy in April, with a successful first defence against Gianluca Ceglia in September lasting until the eighth round.