Jimmy Lange

Jimmy Lange (born August 25, 1975) is an American former professional boxer.

Early life He began boxing at the age of five in Arlington, Virginia when his father who became his manager first brought him to Olympia Boxing Gym in Falls Church. Boxing immediately ignited interest in Jimmy when he realized the level of discipline, respect, and skill that was needed to be a great boxer.

The Contender Lange was a contestant on the first season of the NBC reality TV show, The Contender, produced and hosted by Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard. Stallone's brother attended one of Jimmy's boxing matches in Washington DC and was so impressed, he recommended him for the show as one of the 16 boxers. The show's special adviser, "First Lady of Boxing" Jackie Kallen served as 'den mother' on the show.

On the show, Jimmy was placed on the East Coast team and fought Joey Gilbert in the final First Round fight, a fight Lange lost. Lange was originally scheduled to fight Anthony Bonsante however, an argument ensued over Bonsante choosing not to do so—possibly seeing Lange as a greater threat.

Lange was voted back to fight in the top "fan favorite" fight at the show's finale where he beat contestant Tarick Salmaci in a majority decision.

Professional career

Lange was trained by highly regarded Don Turner who has worked previously with former world champions Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes, among others. He became the WBE Junior Middleweight title holder after defeating local opponent Perry Ballard in a 4th-round TKO in his hometown of Fairfax, Virginia on September 17, 2005.

Lange fought a rematch with Joey Gilbert on February 18, 2006, at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia for the vacant NABO middleweight title. He lost the fight by TKO in the third round.

Lange returned to the Patriot Center on October 7, 2006, to fight Tommy Wilt. The former Contender star managed a TKO victory with 15 seconds remaining in the 10th and final round. Lange made his fourth consecutive appearance at the Patriot Center on December 9, 2006, fighting Fontaine Cabell for the WBC Continental Americas Jr. Middleweight title. The 12 round fight ended in a draw.

In early 2007, International Hall of Fame trainer, Angelo Dundee, who has worked with top notch boxers such as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman, returned to Northern Virginia to be Chief Second for Jimmy. Lange and Fontaine were scheduled for a rematch on May 12, 2007.

On May 12, 2007, Lange won the hard-fought battle with Fontaine Cabell and won the match with an eighth-round TKO and earned the WBC Continental Americas Super Welterweight title. A shoulder injury requiring surgery forced Lange to voluntarily relinquish the belt which is now held by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

On November 1, 2008, at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia, in his first fight since the surgery, Jimmy appeared back in top form by winning a unanimous decision over Grover Wiley. In May 2009, he followed that fight up winning the WBC's USNBC belt via fifth-round TKO of Frank Houghtaling.

Lange looked sharp in dismantling his former Contender teammate Jonathan Reid with a ninth-round TKO to retain his WBC belt on September 26, 2009, at the Patriot Center. Six months later he returned to the Fairfax venue and lost his belt in a 12-round decision to Chase Shields on March 6, 2010. After the tough defeat, Lange got back on the winning streak with a pair of convincing victories over Jimmy LeBlanc (July 10, 2010, Patriot Center) and Mike McFail (August 20, 2010, Greensboro, NC).

He kept the unbeaten streak going scoring a dramatic 10th-round knockout of Joe Wyatt to capture the North American Boxing Association's U.S. 154-pound title on November 6, 2010, at the Patriot Center. Lange returned to the Patriot Center on March 12, 2011, and defeated Jimmy "The Fighting School Teacher" Holmes for his fourth straight win. He earned his 36th win with a unanimous decision over Mike McFail on June 25, 2011, in Virginia Beach.

Headlining his 13th show in front of his hometown fans at the familiar confines of the Patriot Center on September 10, 2011, Jimmy beat Raul Munoz by 6th-round TKO to capture the World Boxing Union (WBU) championship. He successfully defended his WBU title and added the North American Boxing Union (NABU) with a 12-round unanimous shutout decision against Ruben Galvan on February 11, 2012 - his seventh consecutive win and 14th headlining event at the Patriot Center.

Professional boxing record 39 Wins (25 knockouts, 13 decisions), 6 Losses, 2 Draws ResultOpponentTypeRd., TimeDateLocationNotesWin Mike SawyerTKO 5 October 17, 2015 Fairfax, VALoss Tony JeterDecision 10 November 15, 2014 Fairfax, VALoss Tony JeterDecision 10 October 27, 2012 Fairfax, VAWin Ruben GalvanDecision 12 11 February 2012 Fairfax, VARetains WBU title, adds titleWin Raul MunozTKO 6 10 September 2011 Fairfax, VAWon WBU junior middleweight titleWin Mike McFailDecision 6 25 June 2011 Virginia Beach, VAWin Jimmy HolmesDecision 10 12 March 2011 Fairfax, VAWin Joe WyattKO 10 6 November 2010 Fairfax, VAWon NABA U.S. super welterweight titleWin Mike McFailDecision 6 20 August 2010 Greensboro, NCWin Jimmy LeBlancKO 2 10 July 2010 Fairfax, VARetained WBC USNBC super welterweight titleLoss Chase ShieldsDecision 10 March 6, 2010 Fairfax, VALost WBC USNBC super welterweight titleWin Jonathan ReidRTD 9 26 September 2009 Fairfax, VARetained WBC USNBC super welterweight titleWin Frank HoughtalingRTD 5 2 May 2009 Fairfax, VAWon WBC USNBC super welterweight titleWin Grover WileyDecision 10 1 November 2008 Fairfax, VAWin Fontaine CabellTKO 8 12 May 2007 Fairfax, VA.Won WBC Continental Americas light middleweight titleDraw Fontaine CabellDraw 12 9 December 2006 Fairfax, VAWin Thomas WiltTKO 10 , 2:45 7 October 2006 Fairfax, VALoss Joey GilbertTKO 3 18 February 2006 Fairfax, VAFor vacant WBO NABO middleweight title Win Perry BallardTKO 4 17 September 2005 Fairfax, VAWon WBE light middleweight titleWin Tarick SalmaciDecision 5 24 May 2005 Las Vegas, NVLoss Joey GilbertDecision 5 7 September 2004 Pasadena, CAWin Gabriel RodriguezDecision 10 1 May 2004 Washington, DCWin Gabriel RodriguezTKO 7 , 2:32 28 February 2004 Washington, DCWin Joshua SmithDecision 10 13 December 2003 Washington, DCWin Homer GibbinsTKO 3 16 September 2003 Lake Charles, LAWin Chad GreenleafDecision 8 10 May 2003 Washington, DCWin Charles ClarkDecision 8 15 March 2003 Washington, DCWin Gerald ReedDecision 8 17 January 2002 Washington, DCWin Vincent WhiteTKO 5 , 0:55 17 January 2002 Glen Burnie, MDWin Alex PerezTKO 1 , 2:59 15 November 2001 Glen Burnie, MDWin Samuel HarveyTKO 2 , 2:35 31 August 2001 Baltimore, MDWin James JohnsonTKO 5 , 2:40 10 May 2001 Glen Burnie, MDWin Ed GoinsTKO 2 , 1:40 16 November 2000 Glen Burnie, MDWin Kevin CarterTKO 3 , 1:22 21 September 2000 Glen Burnie, MDWin Donnie ParkerDecision 6 12 March 2000 Washington, DCWin Benji SingletonDecision 6 18 November 1999 Glen Burnie, MDWin Drew HayesKO 5 , 2:04 30 September 1999 Glen Burnie, MDWin Dewayne HollandKO 1 27 August 1999 Annandale, VAWin Jason FlossTKO 2 23 July 1999 Washington, DCDraw James JohnsonDraw 4 13 May 1999 Glen Burnie, MDWin Andre GaskinsTKO 4 , 2:58 25 March 1999 Glen Burnie, MDWin Travis ClybournKO 1 28 February 1999 Alexandria, VAWin Matt HillTKO 1 , 2:41 28 January 1999 Glen Burnie, MDWin Anthony BoykinTKO 1 24 November 1998 Washington, DCLoss Kevin CollinsDecision 4 27 March 1998 Westbury, NYWin Scott MitchellTKO 1 14 March 1998 Lima, OHWin Robert HuntTKO 1 22 February 1998 Washington, DC