Luke Campbell

Luke Campbell was born on September 27, 1987, and is a renowned professional boxer from Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Known for his cool demeanor in the ring, hence the nickname “Cool Hand,” his journey in boxing started at St. Paul’s Amateur Boxing Club in Hull, where he won the English senior ABA bantamweight title in 2007 and successfully defended it in 2008. His amateur career was marked by significant achievements, including gold at the 2008 European Championships, silver at the 2011 World Championships, and gold at the 2012 Olympics, all in the bantamweight division. His Olympic gold medal win was historic, as he became the first bantamweight boxer to win Olympic gold for Great Britain since Henry Thomas in 1908.

Campbell turned professional in 2013 and since then he held the WBC Silver and Commonwealth lightweight titles from 2016 to 2017 and challenged twice for lightweight world titles; the WBA and The Ring titles in 2017; and the WBA, WBO, The Ring, and vacant WBC titles in 2019.

One of his most notable professional bouts was against the top pound-for-pound fighter and three-division world champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko, in 2019 for the WBA (Super), WBO, The Ring, and vacant WBC lightweight titles. Despite a valiant effort, Campbell lost the fight via unanimous decision. In 2021, Campbell faced undefeated Ryan García for the vacant WBC interim lightweight title. In a thrilling fight, Campbell managed to knock down García in the second round but was ultimately defeated in the seventh round by a body shot from García. Despite the ups and downs of his career, on July 30, 2021, he announced his retirement from boxing.

Luke Campbell utilizes a long guard from the southpaw stance where he is constantly using his lead hand to hand fight and seek lead hand dominance against his orthodox opponents. This is when he seeks to place his lead hand above his opponent’s lead hand so he can shoot a punch over it. He will mix this up by raising his lead hand to make it look like he is looking to attack high, only for him to change levels when he sees his opponent oblige and he will shoot a jab low to the body instead. Campbell doesn’t usually stay in the long guard when he is actually attacked by his opponent, but he will show the long guard in his default stance to shut down straight punching lanes and deter his opponent from throwing them. However when punches come his way, Campbell often switches to a high guard to defend himself. When attacking, Campbell is very good at sneaking in shifting 1,2,1 combinations on opponents who are resting or are trying to find a way around his long guard. He will also opt to pot shot his opponents with jabs and straight lefts early in fights, then once his opponent is conditioned to them, Campbell will feint another straight punch and switch it to looping hooks to remain unpredictable.