Josh Wale

Josh Wale, known throughout British boxing as "The Outlaw," was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, on 8 April 1988, and competed as a professional at bantamweight and super bantamweight over a career that stretched from October 2006 to February 2022. He finished with a record of 32 wins, 11 losses and 2 draws from 45 professional contests, with 15 victories inside the distance.

Wale came through the amateur ranks in Yorkshire, winning a NABC schoolboy title and representing England in the vest. He attended the National Boxing Academy at East Durham and Houghall Community College in Peterlee, where, alongside boxing, he also studied hairdressing. It was a period that shaped both his discipline and his versatility, qualities that would serve him well across a professional career marked by persistence and repeated attempts at major honours.

He turned professional in October 2006 with a first-round stoppage of Neil Read, and by December 2007, in only his fifth contest, had stopped Mo Khaled in four rounds to claim the vacant BBBofC Central Area bantamweight title. The early trajectory was encouraging. Two further wins followed before his first setback arrived in September 2008 against Harry Ramogoadi, when he was forced to retire in his corner due to severe damage to his right eye, a problem that would recur and complicate his career at several key moments.

In September 2009, Wale appeared at York Hall, Bethnal Green, in what was advertised as a fight for the vacant English super bantamweight title against Matthew Marsh. Marsh failed to make the weight, beat Wale on points, but the title was never at stake. It was the kind of frustration that would become familiar. In 2010, he entered the Prizefighter super bantamweight tournament, knocking out former British and Commonwealth champion Esham Pickering in the opening round before losing to Willie Casey in the semi-finals. A year later, a clash of heads ended his challenge for Craig Lyon's English bantamweight title in the third round, with the contest ruled a draw.

In May 2012, Wale faced Kid Galahad for the WBC International super bantamweight title, but the eye problem reappeared, forcing his retirement in the ninth round. That November, he challenged Stuart Hall for the vacant Commonwealth bantamweight title and was beaten by a wide points margin. These were setbacks against opponents of genuine quality, but Wale continued to seek the big occasions rather than retreat from them. In September 2013, he lost a British super bantamweight title eliminator to Gavin McDonnell, who went on to win the belt. When McDonnell defended against Wale in May 2014, the fight was scored a controversial draw, with many at ringside believing Wale had done enough to take the title. McDonnell subsequently relinquished the belt without offering the rematch Wale wanted, leaving the Barnsley man without the reward many felt he had earned.

In March 2015, Wale travelled to the Echo Arena in Liverpool for the vacant British super bantamweight title against Jazza Dickens. Dickens won by unanimous points decision, though the fight was notable for the referee deducting two points from Dickens for deliberate use of the shoulder and persistent holding. It was another hard-luck chapter. In July 2016, Wale stepped up to challenge Gamal Yafai for the Commonwealth super bantamweight title and again lost on points.

The Lonsdale Belt, the ambition of every British professional, finally came to Wale in July 2017. He had dropped back to bantamweight, beaten Ramesh Ahmadi by split decision to take the English title in March of that year, and then outpointed Jamie Wilson at the Doncaster Dome for the vacant British bantamweight title in one of his most accomplished performances. He became the first Barnsley-born fighter to win two British title fights when he stopped Don Broadhurst in his first defence that September, and followed it with a ninth-round stoppage of Bobby Jenkinson in February 2018 for his second successful defence. The British title run represented the peak of his career and vindicated the perseverance of a fighter who had repeatedly been denied at the highest domestic level.

Wale subsequently challenged for the European bantamweight title in 2018 and made a further attempt at the British super bantamweight title in 2019, but could not add to his championship collection in those final years of his career. He brought the curtain down on his professional life at the Metrodome in Barnsley on 25 February 2022, topping a bill he had promoted himself and, by his own account, one on which he was simultaneously training fighters on the undercard. He was 33 years old. He described it as a retirement on his own terms, citing the desire not to diminish what he had built and the responsibilities that came with having three young sons.

In the years since, Wale has moved fully into boxing promotion, management and training under the Outlaw Promotions banner, managing a stable that has included fighters brought over from Mexico as well as domestic prospects from across South Yorkshire. His younger brother Dempsey has also competed professionally. Wale runs Micky's Athletic Boxing Club, and he has remained a visible figure in the regional boxing scene around Barnsley and the wider Yorkshire area. By any measure, Josh Wale made the most of what he had, and in winning the Lonsdale Belt outright and becoming the most decorated professional boxer Barnsley has produced, he left the sport with his reputation intact.