Herbie Hide

Herbie Hide
Statistics
Real name	Herbert Okechukwu Maduagwu
Nickname(s)	The Dancing Destroyer
Rated at	Cruiserweight
Height	6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m)
Reach	75 in (191 cm)
Nationality	United Kingdom
Born	27 August 1971 (1971-08-27) Owerri, Nigeria
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	53
Wins	49
Wins by KO	43
Losses	4
Draws	0
No contests	0

Herbie Hide (born Herbert Okechukwu Maduagwu on 27 August 1971 in Owerri, Nigeria) is a British boxer of Nigerian heritage from Norwich currently fighting in the cruiserweight class. Hide is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBO title twice including a reign of nearly two years from 1997-1999.

Early life

Hide was born in Owerri, Nigeria but moved to England as a boy. He was educated at Glebe House School & Nursery prep school and Cawston College.

Pro career

Hide has fought for most of his career at heavyweight, but later in his career decided to take a step down to cruiserweight. He is known as The Dancing Destroyer and has had a successful career, rising to domestic success at a very young age for a heavyweight. Hide has twice won the lesser regarded (at the time) WBO heavyweight title.

His career began in 1989 with a second round win and he racked up a total of 25 successive wins, all but one inside the distance. His level of opposition was respectable and included fighters such as Craig Petersen, Mike Dixon, Jeff Lampkin, James Pritchard, Jean Chanet, Jerry Halstead and Everett Martin

At 25-0 (24 kos), Hide challenged Michael Bentt for the WBO heavyweight title in March 1994 at Millwall Football Stadium, Millwall, London. Bentt had won the title by knocking out the heavily favoured Tommy Morrison in one round. Hide outboxed and knocked out Bentt in 7 rounds.

A year later, Hide defended his title against former undisputed champion Riddick Bowe. Hide used his speed to outbox Bowe early on and managed to hurt Bowe several times during the contest, however Bowe's size and class eventually told, and Hide was floored six times. Hide impressed with his courage, repeatedly picking himself off the canvas, before he was knocked out in the sixth round.

After his loss to Bowe, Hide fought twice in 1996, winning both by KO against Michael Murray and Frankie Swindell before earning another shot at the now-vacant WBO title in June 1997 against 38 year old one-time IBF title holder Tony Tucker, despite Tucker losing three of his previous five fights. Hide knocked out the overweight Tucker in two rounds. Hide defended his WBO title twice in 1998 with quick stoppages of late replacement cruiserweight clubfighter Damon Reed, and German Willi Fischer.

In June 1999 Hide faced the 6ft 8in Ukrainian giant Vitali Klitschko, only the second world ranked fighter he had actually faced after Riddick Bowe. Hide, favoured to win at the time, was knocked out in two rounds.

Hide never featured as a main contender at heavyweight again, his only mildly notable wins coming against Joseph Chingangu (who also knocked Hide out in one of Hide's many comebacks) and Alexander Vasiliev.

In 2006, Hide stepped down a weight division to a more natural weight division at cruiserweight. Since then he has won fourteen successive fights, most of which took place in Germany. Hide defeated Mikhail Nasyrov in December 2007 to win the WBC International cruiserweight title.

In November 2008, when Johnathon Banks dropped out of a WBO cruiserweight title clash at London's ExCel Arena with just four days notice, Hide was announced as a potential opponent for former champion Enzo Maccarinelli, for the vacant title. This was despite Hide having fought just two weeks earlier, a victory against Lukasz Rusiewicz. Hide then fought in the Crusierweight Prizefighter tournament. In the tournament, he defeated Welshman Wayne Brooks by unanimous decision, but was badly cut on the right eye in the process. He pulled out of the tournament to avoid losing his high WBC ranking due to the cut.

Despite having only boxed three world ranked heavyweights in his long career (Bentt, Bowe and Klitschko) and being knocked out by two of them, as well as knocked out by journeyman Joe Chingangu, Hide claimed in his autobiography that he would have beaten all time greats Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson.

Professional boxing record

49 Wins (43 knockouts, 6 decisions), 4 Losses (4 knockouts, 0 decisions) [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	5-2-2	Wayne Brooks	UD	3	30/04/2010	Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom	Prizefighter Tournament Cruiserweight Quarter-Final. 30-25, 30-25, 30-26.
Win	26-12	Gabor "Big Daddy Fisherman" Halasz	TKO	3	26/06/2009	Voelklingen, Saarland, Germany	Referee stopped the bout at 2:23 of the third round.
Win	15-4	Sandro Siproshvili	UD	8	06/03/2009	Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany	80-72, 79-73, 80-72.
Win	7-5	Lukasz Rusiewicz	UD	6	18/11/2008	Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany	60-56, 59-56, 60-55.
Win	9-9	Aleksejs Kosobokovs	RTD	3	04/10/2008	Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom	Alek could not answer the bell for round four.
Win	21-5	Nuri "Albanian Tyson" Seferi	UD	12	04/07/2008	Ankara, Turkey	WBC International Cruiserweight Title. 117-111, 119-110, 117-110.
Win	12-2	Ehinomen Ehikhamenor	UD	12	30/05/2008	Baracaldo, Pais Vasco, Spain	WBC International Cruiserweight Title. 118-109, 118-109, 117-110.
Win	43-5-3	Ruediger May	TKO	2	11/03/2008	Halle an der Saale, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany	WBC International Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:47 of the second round.
Win	19-0	Mikhail Nasyrov	TKO	6	23/12/2007	Halle an der Saale, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany	WBC International Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:30 of the sixth round.
Win	5-16-2	Mircea Telecan	TKO	1	21/09/2007	Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany	Referee stopped the bout at 1:16 of the third round.
Win	7-18	Aleh Dubiaha	KO	1	16/06/2007	Ankara, Turkey	Aleh knocked out at 1:23 of the first round.
Win	11-3	Pavol Polakovic	KO	6	27/04/2007	Hamburg, Germany	Pavol knocked out at 1:30 of the sixth round.
Win	16-17-1	Valeri Semiskur	KO	1	24/03/2007	Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany	Semiskur knocked out at 2:35 of the first round.
Win	3-5	Mitch "Hold My Beer" Hicks	TKO	1	23/09/2006	Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 1:24 of the first round.
Loss	3-6-2	Mindaugas Kulikauskas	TKO	3	12/03/2004	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 3:00 of the third round.
Win	15-11-1	Alexander Vasiliev	TKO	5	04/10/2003	Wood Green, London, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 1:15 of the fifth round.
Win	20-8	Joseph "No Pressure" Chingangu	KO	1	27/05/2003	Dagenham, Essex, United Kingdom	Joseph knocked out at 2:33 of the first round.
Win	2-13-1	Derek McCafferty	TKO	7	16/04/2003	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 1:27 of the seventh round.
Loss	19-5	Joseph "No Pressure" Chingangu	TKO	2	22/09/2001	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Win	9-10-1	Alexey Osokin	TKO	3	14/07/2001	Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 1:27 of the seventh round.
Loss	24-0	Vitali "Dr. Iron Fist" Klitschko	KO	2	26/06/1999	Millwall, London, United Kingdom	WBO World Heavyweight Title. Hide knocked out at 1:14 of the second round.
Win	21-1-1	Willi "De Ox" Fischer	TKO	2	26/09/1998	Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom	WBO World Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:04 of the second round.
Win	23-1	"Dangerous" Damon Reed	TKO	1	18/04/1998	Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom	WBO World Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 0:52 of the first round.
Win	54-5	Tony "TNT" Tucker	TKO	2	28/06/1997	Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom	WBO World Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:45 of the second round.
Win	30-12-1	Frankie "The Tennessee Stud" Swindell	KO	1	09/11/1996	Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Win	15-10	Michael Murray	TKO	6	06/07/1996	Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Loss	35-1	Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe	KO	6	11/03/1995	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WBO World Heavyweight Title. Hide knocked out at 2:25 of the sixth round.
Win	11-1	Michael Bentt	KO	7	19/03/1994	Millwall, London, United Kingdom	WBO World Heavyweight Title. Bentt knocked out at 2:50 of the seventh round.
Win	37-15-1	Jeff Lampkin	TKO	2	04/12/1993	Sun City, North West, South Africa	WBC International Heavyweight Title.
Win	13-10	Mike "The Duke" Dixon	TKO	9	06/11/1993	Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom	WBC International Heavyweight Title.
Win	18-16-1	Everett "Bigfoot" Martin	PTS	10	18/09/1993	Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom	100-94.
Win	78-11-1	Jerry "Wimpy" Halstead	TKO	4	11/05/1993	Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom	WBB World Heavyweight Title.
Win	11-4	Michael Murray	TKO	5	27/02/1993	Dagenham, Essex, United Kingdom	BBBofC British Heavyweight Title.
Win	10-1	Juan Antonio Diaz	TKO	3	30/01/1993	Brentwood, Essex, United Kingdom	WBA Pentacontinental Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:32 of the third round.
Win	28-8-2	James Pritchard	TKO	2	12/12/1992	Muswell Hill, London, United Kingdom
Win	18-4-1	Craig Petersen	TKO	6	06/10/1992	Antwerpen, Belgium	WBC International Heavyweight Title.
Win	26-12	Jean Chanet	TKO	8	08/09/1992	Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Win	14-11	Percell "Magic" Davis	KO	1	03/03/1992	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Win	20-16-2	Conroy Nelson	TKO	2	21/01/1992	Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom	WBC International Heavyweight Title.
Win	8-9-1	Chris Jacobs	KO	1	29/10/1991	Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
Win	26-14-1	Eddie Gonzales	KO	2	15/10/1991	Hamburg, Germany
Win	5-1	Tucker Richards	TKO	3	03/07/1991	Brentwood, Essex, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 2:50 of the third round.
Win	11-14-2	John Westgarth	TKO	4	14/05/1991	Dudley, West Midlands, United Kingdom
Win	5-9-1	David Jules	TKO	1	09/04/1991	Mayfair, London, United Kingdom
Win	14-14	Lennie Howard	TKO	1	29/01/1991	Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Win	9-2-2	Steve Lewsam	TKO	1	18/11/1990	Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 2:28 of the first round.
Win	2-9	Gus Mendes	KO	2	17/10/1990	Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom
Win	14-28-1	Jonjo Greene	TKO	1	26/09/1990	Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Win	9-1-2	Steve Lewsam	TKO	4	05/09/1990	Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 1:40 of the fourth round.
Win	15-29-1	Alex Penarski	TKO	3	27/06/1990	Kensington, London, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 2:18 of the third round.
Win	6-8	Steve "The Green Goblin" Osborne	TKO	6	19/12/1989	Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom
Win	3-2	Gary McCrory	TKO	1	05/11/1989	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	0-1-1	Lee "L.A." Williams	KO	2	24/10/1989	Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom

Personal life

In 1999, Hide was declared bankrupt by a British court after failing to pay various bills. However, around that same time, Hide informed a reporter that he had left £8,000 next to a lamp in his training camp and that, when he returned, the money was on fire. Court officers were understandably puzzled and demanded to know where the money had come from.^{[citation needed]}

Hide has also been arrested a number of times. In December 2003, Hide was involved in a violent incident in a Norwich night club.^{[citation needed]} Hide was approached by police officers in a nearby parking lot. However, he ran off, discarding a knife with a ten-inch blade. This resulted in his subsequent arrest and conviction for "possession of a bladed article." He was fined £750 for this offence.

In September 2004, Hide was again arrested for repeated failures to attend court hearings concerning assorted driving-related offenses.^{[citation needed]} He had been charged with driving a Fiat Punto with no insurance on 15 May 2003 and driving a Bentley with no insurance and no MoT on 18 June of the same year. Hide had denied all the charges. He was scheduled to attend the ensuing court hearing in January 2004, but failed to do so. The hearing was then rescheduled at least three times in the following two months, but Hide failed to surface on those dates as well. In March 2004, he was convicted of all the charges. Hide's solicitor Ian Fisher told the court that he had no idea why his client had not appeared.^{[citation needed]}. In September 2008, Hide was warned by Norwich magistrates that he faced 75 days in jail if the outstanding £3,767 of motoring fines were not paid by 30 November 2008. During a television interview in July 2008, Hide claimed that promoter Frank Warren had dishonestly and corruptly bribed Johnny Nelson to retire and give up his WBO cruiserweight title. Because of these claims, Hide had to pay £35,000 libel damages after Warren took the matter to court.

Hide appeared at Norwich crown court on 1 April 2011, charged with rape. Hide, who entered no plea, was remanded in custody to appear at Norwich Crown Court on Friday, 15 April 2011. The alleged rape took place between November 1, 2010 and November 7, 2010. He was later found innocent.

Hide is a supporter of Norwich City F.C. and has been officially greeted at Carrow Road.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of current WBC international champions
• List of heavyweight boxing champions

Further reading

• Hide, Herbie (2009). Nothing But Trouble: My Story. ISBN 9781844547067. 

External links

• Professional boxing record for Herbie Hide from BoxRec

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Michael Bentt	WBO World Heavyweight Championship 19 Mar 1994–11 Mar 1995	Succeeded by Riddick Bowe
Preceded by Henry Akinwande Vacated	WBO World Heavyweight Championship 28 Jun 1997–26 Jun 1999	Succeeded by Vitali Klitschko