Jeff Lampkin is a former American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional boxer. During his 11-year professional career, Lampkin won the USBA

USBA

USBA may refer to:* United States Basketball Academy* United States Boxing Association, the predecessor of the International Boxing Federation* United States Boomerang Association* United States Bicycle Motocross Association...

 cruiserweight title and IBF

IBF

IBF may refer to:*International Boxing Federation is one of several boxing organisations* International Bandy Federation former name of Federation of International Bandy , an international governing body for bandy...

 cruiserweight belt.

Amateur career

Lampkin had a stellar amateur career, winning the National AAU Light Heavyweight Championship in 1980. He became a professional later that year. On June 11, 1982, Lampkin, along with another Youngstown-area boxer, Earnie Shavers

Earnie Shavers

Earnie Dee Shaver , better known as Earnie Shavers, is an American former professional boxer and is widely considered along with George Foreman as the hardest punchers of all time...

, had an undercard spot on the Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin....

-Gerry Cooney

Gerry Cooney

Gerry Cooney is a retired Irish-American professional boxer from Huntington, New York best known for his loss to Larry Holmes and defeat of aging ex-champion/contender Ken Norton.-Life before boxing:...

 fight.

Professional career

Lampkin's professional boxing career peaked on March 22, 1990, when he won the IBF Cruiserweight Title with a technical knockout of British

United Kingdom

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 boxer Glenn McCrory

Glenn McCrory

Glenn McCrory was a British professional boxer who held the IBF version of the cruiserweight world championship...

, in London. He defended the belt once against Siza Makathini before vacating the title in 1991. This decision came in the wake of a controversy surrounding Lampkin's participation in an IBF bout in South Africa

South Africa

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, which prompted the WBA and WBC to withhold recognition of his title. (Both bodies had sanctions against fighters who competed in that country.)

The IBF's subsequent failure to offer Lampkin a fight led him to request a purse offer in the summer of 1991. When IBF President Bobby Lee offered Lampkin a fight just three weeks before the bout was scheduled, a move that denied him adequate training time, the boxer concluded that the IBF had no intention of allowing him to defend his title. After vacating his title, Lampkins never challenged for a major belt again.

Later years

Despite Lampkins' accomplishments, his economic rewards were relatively modest. Contracts he signed left the fighter with little more than $50,000, even though he won and defended a cruiserweight world champion title. The former champion indicated that frustration over the apparent mishandling of his career contributed to his decision to vacate the title. Today, Lampkin lives and works in Youngstown.

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