O'Neil Bell (29 December 1974 – 25 November 2015) was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2011. He held the undisputed cruiserweight title in 2006 and the lineal cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2007.
Professional career Bell lost his second fight against Algerian amateur star (M. Benguesima) but kept winning for years after that. He defeated former IBF champion Arthur Williams twice by KO and climbed the rankings.
He defeated Canadian Dale Brown in a controversial but unanimous decision on May 20, 2005, on Friday Night Fights to capture the vacant IBF title.
He unified the title by beating Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck on January 7, 2006, for his WBA and WBC belts, making Bell the second undisputed champion of the division, with Evander Holyfield being the first.
The IBF later stripped Bell in April 2006 for pulling out of a mandatory bout against Steve Cunningham because of a tooth problem. After nearly 11 months of inactivity, Bell was due to take part in the postponed Superfighter Tournament at heavyweight on December 1 of that year.
Bell lost the WBA, WBC and lineal cruiserweight titles to Jean-Marc Mormeck on March 17, 2007 in the Frenchman's backyard in Levallois, France via a close but unanimous decision.
On April 19, 2008, in Poland, Bell fought former WBC light heavyweight champion Tomasz Adamek. Bell was dropped in the first round and quit after the end of round seven, complaining of feeling dizzy and sick.
After the Adamek fight, Bell announced his move to the heavyweight division, saying that making the cruiserweight limit sapped his strength for his last two fights. Bell's first heavyweight bout was scheduled to be against Willie Palms on January 14, 2009, but that fight never occurred.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes32Win27–4–1 Rico CasonTKO1, 17 Dec 2011 31Loss26–4–1 Richard HallTKO2 (10), 4 Jun 2011 30Loss26–3–1 Tomasz AdamekTKO8 (12)19 Apr 2008 29Loss26–2–1 Jean-Marc MormeckUD1217 Mar 2007 28Win26–1–1 Jean-Marc MormeckKO10 (12), 7 Jan 2006 27Win25–1–1 Sebastiaan RothmannKO11 (12), 26 Aug 2005 26Win24–1–1 Dale BrownUD1220 May 2005 25Win23–1–1 Ezra SellersKO2 (12), 4 Sep 2004 24Win22–1–1 Derrick HarmonTKO8 (12), 19 Dec 2003 23Win21–1–1 Kelvin DavisTKO11 (12), 23 May 2003 22Win20–1–1 Arthur WilliamsTKO9 (12), 8 Nov 2002 21Win19–1–1 Eric DavisTKO3 (6)28 Jun 2002 20Draw18–1–1 Ernest Mateen3 (10)26 Apr 2002 19Win18–1 Ka-Dy KingTKO3 (10)9 Apr 2002 18Win17–1 Arthur WilliamsTKO11 (12), 7 Sep 2001 17Win16–1 Jason Robinson103 Jul 2001 16Win15–1 Jose Luis RiveraTKO11 (12)10 May 2001 15Win14–1 James WaltonTKO10 (12), 18 Jan 2001 14Win13–1 Michael RushKO5 (12)19 Oct 2000 13Win12–1 Eric DavisTKO2 (10)13 Oct 2000 12Win11–1 Jose Hiram TorresTKO32 Jun 2000 11Win10–1 John MooreTKO322 Apr 2000 10Win9–1 Wes TaylorTKO327 Jan 2000 9Win8–1 George HolderTKO2 (6), 3 Sep 1999 8Win7–1 Carl HandyTKO411 Aug 1999 7Win6–1 John BattleKO23 Mar 1999 6Win5–1 Cliff NellonTKO4 (6), 22 Jan 1999 5Win4–1 John CarterTKO1 (4), 13 Nov 1998 4Win3–1 Larry DonnellTKO230 Jul 1998 3Win2–1 James SealeyKO126 Jun 1998 2Loss1–1 Mahamed Benguesmia4 (6)11 Apr 1998 1Win1–0 William Holyfield1 (4)19 Feb 1998
2007 disappearance According to ESPN's Wednesday Night Fights on August 8, 2007, Bell, who was originally scheduled to appear, was unavailable to fight and could not be contacted in any way. He was scheduled to appear against Louis Azille on the fight card, but his promoter pulled him from the fight three weeks prior because he could not be located.
Death Bell was shot and killed while being robbed in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 25, 2015.Chaykovsky, Edward (November 25, 2015). "O'Neil Bell Shot and Killed By Robbers in Atlanta". BoxingScene. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
Titles in boxing Major world titles WBA (Unified) cruiserweight champion (200 lbs) WBC cruiserweight champion (200 lbs) IBF cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
The Ring magazine titles The Ring cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
Minor world titles NBA cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
Regional/International titles NABF cruiserweight champion (200 lbs) USBA cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
Undisputed titles Undisputed cruiserweight champion
See also List of cruiserweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of WBC world champions List of IBF world champions List of The Ring world champions List of undisputed boxing champions
References
External links
Bell wins the IBF cruiserweight title at ESPN O'Neil Bell profile at Cyber Boxing Zone