Darren Sutherland

Darren John Sutherland (18 April 1982 – 14 September 2009) was an Irish professional boxer from Mulhuddart, Dublin. His amateur career was crowned by a 2008 Olympic bronze medal.

Darren Sutherland
Statistics
Real nameDarren John Sutherland
Nickname(s)The Dazzler
Weight(s)Super-middleweight
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
NationalityIrish
Born(1982-04-18)18 April 1982
Dublin, Ireland
Died14 September 2009(2009-09-14) (aged 27)
Bromley, London, England
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights4
Wins4
Wins by KO4
Losses0
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Ireland
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Middleweight
European Union Championships
2007 Dublin Middleweight
2008 Cetniewo Middleweight
Irish National Championships
2002 Dublin Light-middleweight
2006 Dublin Middleweight
2007 Dublin Middleweight
2008 Dublin Middleweight

Early life

Sutherland was born in Dublin to Linda from Finglas and Anthony Sutherland from Saint Vincent in the West Indies.[1] The family lived in London till Darren was 7 and then in Saint Vincent for four years, before returning to Dublin and latterly Navan, County Meath.[1]

Amateur career

Sutherland represented the St Saviour's ABC in Dublin and won the Leinster senior title in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He faced Edward Healy in the 2006 and 2007 Final and Darren O'Neill in 2008 winning all three.[2] Sutherland's international career featured a great rivalry with Britain's James Degale, who later paid tribute to Sutherland upon winning his first professional world title in 2015.[3]

2007 | EU Amateur Championships

At the 2007 EU Amateur Championships in Dublin, Sutherland won gold at middleweight.[4] Results were:

  • Mario Duro: Won - RSC (Round 3)
  • Ivano Del Monte: Won - PTS (32:19)
  • James DeGale: Won - PTS (23:19)

2008 | EU Amateur Championships

At the 2008 EU Amateur Championships in Cetniewo, Sutherland won gold at middleweight.[5] Results were:

2008 | Olympic Games

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Sutherland won bronze at middleweight.[6] Results were:

Professional career

Following the exposure gained at the Olympics, Sutherland was offered a number of contracts as a professional boxer. In October 2008 he signed terms with London-based promoter Frank Maloney.[7] On 18 December 2008, Sutherland made a winning start to his professional career with a first-round knockout of Georgi Iliev in Dublin. After the bout, Sutherland's promoter Frank Maloney said "I think we've found a real superstar here tonight and this is just the start of a long journey". His next fight, against Siarhei Navarka on 6 March at Robin Park Arena in Wigan, ended with Sutherland winning by a third round stoppage.[8]

Sutherland won his third fight at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on-Trent on 29 May against Vepkhia Tchilaia. Sutherland won his next fight against Gennadiy Rasalev in York Hall, London.

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
4 fights 4 wins 0 losses
By knockout 4 0
By decision 0 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
4 Win 4–0 Gennadiy Rasalev TKO 4 (6), 1:16 30 Jun 2009 York Hall, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Vepkhia Tchilaia TKO 4 (6), 1:24 29 May 2009 Fenton Manor Sports Complex, Stoke-on-Trent, England
2 Win 2–0 Siarhei Navarka TKO 3 (6), 0:26 6 Mar 2009 Robin Park Centre, Wigan, England
1 Win 1–0 Georgi Iliev TKO 1 (6), 2:42 18 Dec 2008 Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

Death

On 14 September 2009, Sutherland was found dead with his wrists bound[9] at his apartment in Bromley by his promoter, Frank Maloney.[10][11] It was alleged he died by hanging himself. He suffered from depression. Olympic gold medalist, James DeGale commented on the death stating: "It is very, very sad news - I just can't believe it, It is a tragedy. First and foremost, my heart goes out to his family. I just could not believe it; my heart went to the floor when I heard. He was a big part of my Olympic medal journey and it is just terrible. I just do not know what to say except that he was a brilliant fighter, in fact an excellent fighter, and he was a gentleman outside the ring as well. He had an Olympic bronze medal and his whole life to look forward to. He had a great future, and my heart goes out to everyone who knew him."[2]

His corpse was exhumed in September 2010 for a further private postmortem at the request of his family.[12] An open verdict was delivered at the inquest in March 2012.[13] Following Sutherland's death, James DeGale kept the initials 'DS' on his shorts in professional bouts. When he won the IBF super middleweight world title against Andre Dirrell in 2015, he spoke post-fight of his relationship with Sutherland and dedicated the victory to him. "It's for Darren Sutherland as well, of course. My late rival" he said. "When he took his life back in 2009 it was horrendous. From when he passed, I've always had 'DS' on my shorts. And this world title is for him as well. A great guy. A great fighter. Unbelievable fighter. We've had some great, great scraps. It's for him."[3]

References
  1. Hogan, Vincent (16 September 2009). "Boxing: Day the light went out - Independent.ie". Irish Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  2. "Olympic bronze medallist Darren Sutherland found hanged". The Guardian. 15 September 2009.
  3. "James DeGale dedicates world title to the late Darren Sutherland". The Independent. 24 May 2015.
  4. "European Union Championships - Dublin, Ireland - June 18-23 2007". Amateur Boxing Results.
  5. "Boxing: 4 EU Gold and 2 Silver for the Irish in Cetniewo Poland". European Irish. 23 June 2008. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016.
  6. "Sutherland secures Olympic medal". RTÉ Sport. 20 August 2008.
  7. "Sutherland finally taking on the world". The Independent. 14 December 2008.
  8. "Dream debut for Daz". Sky Sports. 19 December 2008.
  9. "Darren Sutherland 'in a panic' before death". RTÉ News. 13 March 2012.
  10. "Frank Maloney ill after finding Olympic boxing hero Darren Sutherland hanged". The Times. 15 September 2009.
  11. "Sutherland was in 'quite a happy mood'". BBC News. 24 September 2009.
  12. "Body of Sutherland exhumed". The Irish Times. 9 September 2010.
  13. "Open verdict in Darren Sutherland inquest". RTÉ News. 15 March 2012.
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