Lewis Benson

Lewis Benson (born 2 December 1991) is a Scottish former professional boxer who competed from 2015 to 2019.

As an amateur, Benson won four consecutive Scottish national titles from 2012 to 2015. He competed at the 2013 World Championships and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, both at welterweight, and won gold at the 2012 Great Britain Championships as a light welterweight. Benson subsequently made his professional debut in September 2015, winning ten straight fights before dropping two in a row via points decision in 2018. Increasingly disillusioned with boxing, he retired from the sport the following year after the British Boxing Board of Control pulled him from The Golden Contract tournament.

Early life Benson was born on 2 December 1991 in Edinburgh to a Nigerian father and a Scottish mother. Due to the colour of his skin, he was socially outcast and often found himself as the victim of racial profiling. In one incident at age eleven, he glanced at someone's car in a driveway and was accused of looking like he wanted to break into it. He took a liking to boxing, but his mother asked that he improve his behaviour in school before he began practicing the sport. "Ever since then, I got my head down," he said. He also won a gold medal at the 2012 Great Britain Championships in London. At the 2014 National Championships, Benson defeated Connor Law in the finals, Even though Benson was the national champion, the fight was necessary because Law had accumulated more points during the qualification period. He won one last national title in 2015 after moving back down to light welterweight, defeating longtime friend Jason Easton in the final. He made his professional debut that September, defeating Kristian Laight on points at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh. Shortly after his eighth fight, a victory over Marek Laskowski in March 2017, he suffered a back injury in sparring that hospitalized him and left him sidelined for seven months. After ten straight wins to begin his pro career, Benson suffered his first defeat on 30 June 2018, falling to former Prizefighter: The Welterweights winner Johnny Coyle via a 96–95 points decision in Belfast. He lost again in his next bout five months later, dropping a controversial points decision against Tyrone McKenna in Glasgow by the same 96–95 score. Immediately following the loss, he announced he was quitting the sport during the live television interview on BoxNation. then improved to a 12–2 record with a close win over Renald Garrido. That October, he was announced as a participant in The Golden Contract super-lightweight tournament that secures the winner a two-year, five-fight contract with MTK Global. Initially listed as a reserve, Benson was awarded his spot in the tournament following the withdrawal of Akeem Ennis-Brown. After describing it as "the worst day of his life," he effectively retired, saying "I won’t get an opportunity like this again so I’m going to call it a day in this boxing game. I’m devastated I can’t box as I am on weight and ready to fight. There are no words to describe how heartbroken I am."

Professional boxing record Data retrieved from BoxRec.