Thomas Lee Stalker (born 30 June 1984) is an English professional boxer who challenged for the Commonwealth lightweight title in 2017. He won multiple international medals while competing for England as an amateur, including gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2011 World Championships.

Tom Stalker
Born
Thomas Lee Stalker

(1984-06-30) 30 June 1984 (age 40)
NationalityEnglish
Other namesEl Capitán
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights18
Wins12
Wins by KO2
Losses3
Draws3
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  England
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Baku Light-welterweight
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Delhi Lightweight
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2010 Moscow Lightweight
Silver medal – second place 2011 Ankara Light-welterweight
EU Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Cetniewo Lightweight
Silver medal – second place 2009 Odense Lightweight

Amateur career

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As an amateur, Stalker represented Salisbury ABC in Liverpool having previously boxed for St. Aloysius ABC in the Huyton area of Liverpool, he only started boxing at the age of 18, having his first fight when 19. Prior to starting boxing Stalker told Boxing News "I was a bit of a tearaway. I’m not proud of it. I used to rob cars. I was just a young lad, I didn’t know what direction to go in. I wanted to do something with my life, so I went to the local boxing gym that my two brothers were going to, St. Aloysius".[1] At the age of 26 Stalker was voted the amateur boxing of the year by the Boxing Writer's club of Great Britain but claimed that when he started he was anything but a natural saying "My first year I was hopeless but my trainer, Kenny Willis, spent loads of time with me and I soon got better".[2] Domestically Stalker won the 2009 British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) championships held in Liverpool beating Scotland's Ryan Smith 10:4 in the final. The win came after disappointment the same year as Stalker had previously lost in the final of the ABA Championships to rival Martin Stead by just one point.[3][4] On 13 November 2010 Stalker competed in the inaugural GB Championships held at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Initially due to fight Martin Ward in the final, an ankle injury to Ward meant that Josh Taylor, the man Stalker beat in the final of the Commonwealth games stepped in with Stalker narrowly winning in the final moments of the fight.[5] The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games 'warm-up' tournament, 2008 European Union Championships in Poland was the first international tournament which Stalker meddled at, he won the gold medal at the Lightweight division, by beating Hungarian opponent Miklos Varga in the final after losing out at the 2008 European Championships in his home city of Liverpool after he lost 6:4 to Belarusian Vazgen Safaryants in the quarter-final stage. Stalker competed at the 2009 European Union Championships in Denmark a year after winning gold at the same tournament, he once again reached the final of the competition, only to lose 10:4 to German, Eugen Burhard. Of the result Stalker claimed to be disappointed saying "I was a bit gutted as the German who beat me has beaten me before – it was just frustrating as the first round was 0–0, and then I went 2–0 up, but he ended up beating me 10–4." At the 2010 European Championships held in Moscow the Liverpool Lightweight won a silver medal, beating reigning world champion and pre-tournament favourite Domenico Valentino and beat Artjoms Ramlavs of Latvia on count back in the quarter-finals, going on to beat German Eugen Burhard in the semi's, only losing to Russian captain and former world champion Albert Selimov in the final. After the tournament Stalker paid tribute to GB coach Robert McCracken, "You can't hide, he's a great coach. Rob has brought me on a lot." Training with the squad in Sheffield Stalker also credits former WBC Champion Carl Froch, who is also trained at Sheffield with being a great influence saying "Having Carl Froch training and seeing him on the pads and blocking shots, it's great for me". In the same year as his impressive silver medal in Moscow, Stalker captained the Great Britain team to a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, beating Guyana's Clevon Rock 8:1 in the first round, Sri Lanka's Kamal Sameera 4:0 in the second round, Australia's Luke Jackson 7:2 in the quarter-finals, setting up a semi-final contest again local favourite Jai Bhagwan of India, winning by the score of 10:5. Stalker met Scotland's Josh Taylor in the final, with the English captain running out as a 10:3 winner.

2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships

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The 2011 European Championships was Stalker's first major tournament since moving up to the 64 kg light welterweight division was held in Ankara, Turkey in which he earned a silver medal, losing to Ireland's Ray Moylette in the final, having beaten previous gold medalist Hrachik Javakhyan of Armenia earlier in the competition.

2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships

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Stalker won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, losing to the Ukrainian Denys Berinchyk in the semi-final. Earlier in the competition Stalker had defeated Russia's Alexander Solyanikov in a match which sealed his qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games and the Indian Manoj Kumar to seal his semi-final berth and the guarantee of a bronze medal. The qualification to the Olympics came four years after Stalker lost out in the selection process for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Speaking of the qualification, Stalker said "I only started boxing when I was 19 and I couldn’t throw a punch for a year. Now I’m going to an Olympic Games. It’s crazy. I’ve proved if you dedicate your life to something and believe in yourself, your dreams can come true."

2012 Olympic Games

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Tom Stalker captained GB Boxing's most successful ever Olympic team at the 2012 London Olympics. Ranked #1 by AIBA's world rankings, he was seeded at the draw and therefore received a bye through to the round of 16. He was due to box the winner of Serdar Hudayberdiyev (Turkmenistan) and Manoj Kumar (India). He met the latter on Saturday 4 August 2012, an opponent who Stalker had already beaten at the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships. The pair contested a furious battle and exchanged some damaging blows, but once again, Stalker proveiled by a score of 20:16, thus booking his place in the last 8, within one win of a medal. In the quarter-finals he would meet rank #2, Munkh-Erdene Uranchimeg of Mongolia, they battled in a closely contested bout, however the Mongolian got the better of the bout from the views of the five ringside judges by a score of 23:22, much to the dismay of the 10,000 in attendance at the ExCel Arena. It wasn't the first dubious decision at the Games, as team GB had won several home town decisions already. A heart-broken Stalker revealed on his Twitter account, "Absolutely heartbroken..them judges have Wrecked my life! From the bottom of my heart i won that fight and there's nothin I can do about it." Throughout the Games, Stalker was assisted in his bouts by GB Boxing coach, Paul Walmsley.

Professional career

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On 9 January 2012, Stalker signed his first professional contract under Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Sport promotional banner.[citation needed]

Stalker made his professional debut on 23 February 2013 against journeyman Kristian Laight, winning all four rounds to claim a 40–36 victory. His next outing was the next month, his first professional contest in his home city of Liverpool, on Matchroom Boxing's No Retreat No Surrender bill, in which he saw off Andrew Harris via a unanimous points decision. Stalker's latest bout came in similar fashion to those which proceed it, a victory on all judges' scorecards, on this occasion against Hungarian Gyorgy Mizsei Jr in Blackpool's Winter Gardens in April 2013.[citation needed]

Professional boxing record

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18 fights 12 wins 3 losses
By knockout 2 1
By decision 10 2
Draws 3
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
18 Loss 12–3–3   Sean Dodd UD 12 30 Sep 2017   Echo Arena, Liverpool, England For Commonwealth lightweight title
17 Win 12–2–3   Chris Adaway PTS 6 22 Apr 2017   Leicester Arena, Leicester, England
16 Loss 11–2–3   Craig Evans MD 10 26 Nov 2016   Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales Lost WBO European lightweight title
15 Win 11–1–3   Antonio Joao Bento PTS 10 4 Jun 2016   Echo Arena, Liverpool, England Won vacant WBO European lightweight title
14 Draw 10–1–3   Craig Evans MD 10 19 Dec 2015   Manchester Arena, Manchester, England For vacant WBO European lightweight title
13 Draw 10–1–2   Craig Evans SD 10 10 Oct 2015   Manchester Arena, Manchester, England For vacant WBO European lightweight title
12 Draw 10–1–1   Tommy Carus PTS 8 11 Jul 2015   Manchester Velodrome, Manchester, England
11 Win 10–1   Michael Mooney PTS 6 6 Mar 2015   Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
10 Loss 9–1   Jack Catterall TKO 8 (12), 2:48 25 Oct 2014   Echo Arena, Liverpool, England For vacant WBO European junior-welterweight title
9 Win 9–0   Ben Wager PTS 6 26 Jul 2014   Phones 4u Arena, Manchester, England
8 Win 8–0   Ryan Hardy PTS 8 10 May 2014   Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England
7 Win 7–0   Calum Cooper PTS 8 8 Mar 2014   Aintree Equestrian Centre, Liverpool, England
6 Win 6–0   Dan Carr PTS 6 15 Feb 2014   Copper Box Arena, Olympic Park, London, England
5 Win 5–0   Gyula Vajda KO 1 (6), 1:53 29 Jun 2013   USN Bolton Arena, Bolton, England
4 Win 4–0   Oszkar Fiko TKO 1 (6), 1:24 7 Jun 2013   Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England
3 Win 3–0   Gyorgy Mizsei Jr PTS 6 20 Apr 2013   Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England
2 Win 2–0   Andrew Harris PTS 4 30 Mar 2013   Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
1 Win 1–0   Kristian Laight PTS 4 23 Feb 2013   York Hall, London, England

In the media

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Stalker appeared in the Channel 4 documentary Knockout Scousers in July 2012 alongside Natasha Jonas and James Dickens, which followed him in his bid for Olympic qualification.

References

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  1. ^ "Boxing News | Interview with Tom Stalker". Boxingnewsonline.net. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  2. ^ Hassan, Nabil (11 November 2010). "BBC Sport | Boxer Tom Stalker escapes life of crime". BBC News. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Stalker back to his best to claim British title". Morethanthegames. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Stead edges Stalker and eyes rematch". Morethanthe games. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Stalker leaves it late to sink Taylor". Morethanthegames. 13 November 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
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Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Terry Flanagan
WBO European lightweight champion
4 June 2016 – 26 November 2016
Succeeded by
Craig Evans