Vince Feeney

Vincent Feeney (born 12 May 1973, Sligo), is a retired Irish professional boxer, nicknamed "the Sligo Kid", hailing from the Maugheraboy area of Sligo Town. For the majority of his professional career, Feeney fought in the bantamweight division but also competed at divisions either side.

Background Amateur career Feeney began boxing as an amateur at the age of 14 under the tutelage of Christy Houze, at the Innisfree Boxing Club in Sligo. During his time under Houze he won three Connacht titles and an All-Ireland title.

Feeney, who was mentored by his father, John, then moved to London to further his career. On his first day in London the pair visited the Thomas A Beckett Gym on the Old Kent Road in south east London and Feeney was invited by trainer Howard Rainey to return the following day to try out as a professional.

Feeney then won three fights in quick succession and earned a rematch with Perdomo in November 1996. Feeney featured on top of the bill again at the York Hall with a card that also featured Nikolai Valuev, John Ruiz and David Starie.

Maloney stated, "I have never seen such a diabolical decision in all my life. It was a disgrace. Letters of protest will be filed with the Irish boxing authority, the British Boxing Board of Control and the European Boxing Union. I will ask that they overturn the decision, declare the result void, a no contest".

Denied world title fight after brain scan In May 1998, Feeney was due to defend his British southern area bantamweight title against Aldershot based super bantamweight John Matthews, however, he suffered a cut during training and had to postpone a fight. The bout was rescheduled to August 1998 and took place at the Town Hall, Acton, London on the bill dubbed "Double trouble". Feeney defeated Matthews on points over ten rounds to retain his southern area title and this led to Feeney getting a shot at a world title belt.

Post-retirement In 1997, Feeney was voted Sligo Sports Person of the Year in the Boxing category. Since Feeney's retirement he has trained local youths at various Sligo boxing gyms and is employed as a Corner Inspector for the Boxing Union of Ireland during professional bouts.