# Gary Cornish

Gary Cornish (born 10 April 1987) is a Scottish former professional boxer who competed from 2011 to 2018. He challenged once for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title in 2015.

## Amateur career

As a youngster, he played football for Brora Rangers. He decided to go to the local boxing gym only to improve his fitness for football. He fell in love with boxing, quickly discovering his talent for the sport. Trainers and seasoned fighters were not used to 6 ft 7in boxers who possessed such speed and athleticism, and as such it proved difficult to find suitable opponents. After a pursuit of football, he eventually returned to boxing, the sport where he had shown most ability, at age of 19. His amateur career was short, due to the difficulty in finding suitable opponents, and he turned professional with an amateur record of 9–0.

## Professional career

His break out fight came in 2015, when he challenged Hungarian Zoltan Csala for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight title. Cornish dominated Csala and won the fight via a technical knockout in the fourth round.

### Cornish vs. Joshua

On 12 September 2015, Cornish fought Anthony Joshua for the Vacant Commonwealth Belt. Cornish was stopped by the referee just 90 seconds into the fight. He was the first Scottish heavyweight to fight for the commonwealth heavyweight title.
Cornish remained largely absent from the public eye following the Joshua fight, but since regrouped in 2016 with two points victories in bouts fought in Scotland.
In 2017, he became the first Scottish boxer to fight for the British heavyweight title against Sam Sexton. His bid for the title proved unsuccessful, as he lost by unanimous decision to Sexton.
In March 2019, Cornish announced that he would be retiring from boxing on medical grounds after a brain scan. He described his decision to retire as "devastating".

## Personal life

Cornish is proud of his Scottish heritage. He has a tattoo on his chest, saying "Alba gu bràth," which is a Scottish Gaelic phrase used to express allegiance to Scotland as it means 'Scotland forever'. He’s happily married to Briony, who’s also from Scotland, Inverness, where they currently reside.

## Professional boxing record

| 27 fights | 25 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 13 | 1 |
| By decision | 12 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
| 27 | Win | 25–2 | David Howe | TKO | 1 (6), 1:29 | 26 Jan 2018 | Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 26 | Loss | 24–2 | Sam Sexton | UD | 12 | 6 Oct 2017 | Meadowbank Arena, Edinburgh, Scotland | For vacant British heavyweight title |
| 25 | Win | 24–1 | Kamil Sokolowski | PTS | 6 | 18 Feb 2017 | Lagoon Leisure Centre, Paisley, Scotland | |
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Tomas Mrazek | PTS | 6 | 24 Jun 2016 | Radisson Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | Kamil Sokolowski | PTS | 8 | 25 Mar 2016 | Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, Scotland | |
| 22 | Loss | 21–1 | Anthony Joshua | TKO | 1 (12), 1:37 | 12 Sep 2015 | The O2 Arena, London, England | For WBC International, and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Zoltan Csala | TKO | 4 (12), 0:47 | 23 May 2015 | Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow, Scotland | Won vacant IBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Marino Goles | TKO | 1 (10), 0:59 | 28 Feb 2015 | Lagoon Leisure Centre, Paisley, Scotland | |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Larry Olubamiwo | PTS | 8 | 9 Jun 2014 | Lagoon Leisure Centre, Paisley, Scotland | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Hrvoje Kisicek | TKO | 2 (6) | 28 Apr 2014 | Radisson Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Ivica Perkovic | TKO | 3 (6), 2:50 | 30 Nov 2013 | Copper Box Arena, London, England | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Tomas Mrazek | TKO | 7 (8), 2:47 | 20 Sep 2013 | Hilton Hotel, London, England | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Paul Butlin | KO | 5 (10), 3:08 | 7 Jun 2013 | The Ironworks, Inverness, Scotland | Won vacant International Masters heavyweight title |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Humberto Evora | RTD | 4 (8), 3:00 | 15 Mar 2013 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Jakov Gospic | TKO | 4 (8), 2:03 | 15 Feb 2013 | Rainton Meadows Arena, Houghton-le-Spring, England | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Tamas Bajzath | PTS | 6 | 21 Jan 2013 | Radisson Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Yavor Marinchev | TKO | 5 (6), 0:52 | 7 Dec 2012 | Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, Scotland | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Moses Matovu | PTS | 6 | 22 Oct 2012 | Radisson Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Peter Erdos | PTS | 6 | 28 Sep 2012 | The Ironworks, Inverness, Scotland | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Tayar Mehmed | PTS | 4 | 2 Jun 2012 | Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, England | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Laszlo Peczeli | TKO | 2 (6), 0:15 | 11 May 2012 | Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, Scotland | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Igoris Borucha | PTS | 4 | 25 Feb 2012 | Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, Scotland | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Remigijus Ziausys | PTS | 4 | 21 Jan 2012 | Olympia, Liverpool, England | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Hastings Rasani | PTS | 8 | 2 Dec 2011 | Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, Scotland | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Rolandas Cesna | PTS | 4 | 23 Sep 2011 | Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, Scotland | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Hastings Rasani | RTD | 4 (6), 2:00 | 11 Jun 2011 | Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, Scotland | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Howard Daley | TKO | 2 (6), 0:43 | 4 Aug 2011 | Radisson Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland | |