# Tiger Smalls

Tiger Smalls (born Priest George Youngs Smalls on March 2, 1969) is a professional American boxing trainer who formerly held the World Boxing Organization Inter-Continental Featherweight title and North American Boxing Organization Featherweight title, as well as the Universal Boxing Association world featherweight title.

## Early life

Smalls spent his early years in the training camp of Muhammad Ali in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania and was featured in Jet magazine in 1973 at age three. He gained some minor celebrity for a photograph where Ali grimaces from one of young Smalls' punches.

## Career

Smalls was a standout amateur with a reported record of 92-11. With fast hands and feet and better than average power, Smalls is reported to have won several amateur titles in the Junior Olympics, Silver Gloves, the New York Golden Gloves, the Diamond Gloves, and the Amateur Athletic Union. He and also several military titles while serving in the U.S. Navy, including the 1988 All-Armed Forces bantamweight championship.
Smalls began his pro career on March 30, 1993. He became the Universal Boxing Association World Featherweight Champion in 1997 by knocking out Tony Green in the first round, and claimed the California State Featherweight title in 2002 by defeating Roger Medal with a technical knockout in the second round. Smalls earned the World Boxing Organization Inter-Contintental Featherweight title in 2003 by defeating Christian Favela. The following year, he defeated Alvin Brown for the North American Boxing Organization Featherweight Championship.
Smalls was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame in October 2013.

## Controversy

Controversy dogged Smalls throughout his career. Smalls upset the boxing establishment when he appeared in the February 2005 issue of High Times magazine, posing for a photo wearing his belts and holding a marijuana bud. The article quoted him as saying that he regularly smoked marijuana during training. Later that year, he angered ESPN when he showed up to defend his NABO featherweight title bearing a temporary tattoo for Golden Palace, the online casino.

## Personal life

Tiger Smalls trains his son Prince Tiger Smalls and mentors students and fighters at the San Diego Combat Academy.
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner presented Smalls with the key to the City of San Diego on March 2, 2013.

## Professional boxing record

21 Wins (9 knockouts, 12 decisions), 16 Losses (14 decisions, 2 TKO), 1 Draw :
| Res. | Opponent | Type | Date | Location | Notes |
| Loss | Juan Castaneda Jr. | Decision (unanimous) | November 30, 2007 | Santa Ynez, CA | |
| Loss | Vasyl Tarabarov | Decision (split) | October 13, 2007 | Hoffman Estates, IL | |
| Loss | Nick Casal | Decision (split) | June 1, 2007 | Santa Ynez, CA | |
| Loss | Vicente Escobedo | Decision (unanimous) | February 1, 2007 | Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA | |
| Loss | Castulo Gonzalez | Decision (unanimous) | November 24, 2006 | Boston, MA | |
| Win | Pete Frissina | Decision (split) | September 29, 2006 | Tampa, FL | |
| Loss | Francisco Lorenzo | Decision (unanimous) | June 29, 2006 | American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL | WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) super featherweight title |
| Loss | Elio Rojas | TKO | January 7, 2006 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY | |
| Loss | Juan Ruiz | Decision (unanimous) | November 22, 2005 | Lancaster, CA | WBO-NABO junior featherweight title. |
| Loss | Marcos Ramirez | Decision (unanimous) | August 2, 2005 | Kansas City, MO | Lost WBO-NABO featherweight title. Aired on ESPN2 |
| Win | Alvin Brown | Decision (unanimous) | September 22, 2004 | Kansas City, MO | Won WBO-NABO featherweight title. |
| Win | Anthony Martinez | Decision (unanimous) | August 27, 2004 | Burbank, CA | WBO-INC featherweight title defense. |
| Win | Ramon Valle | Decision (unanimous) | April 9, 2004 | Burbank, CA | WBO-INC featherweight title defense. |
| Loss | Ismael Gonzalez | Decision (split) | April 9, 2004 | Montobello, CA | |
| Win | Pedro Mora | Decision (split) | November 14, 2003 | Montobello, CA | |
| Win | Cristian Favela | Decision (unanimous) | July 17, 2003 | City of Industry, CA | WBO Inter-Continental featherweight title. |
| Win | Roger Medal | TKO | September 20, 2002 | Burbank, CA | California State featherweight title. Medal ruled unable to continue due to shoulder dislocation. |
| Win | Mario Camarena | Decision (unanimous) | August 23, 2002 | Montebello, CA | |
| Win | Artur Petrosyan | Decision (unanimous) | November 29, 2001 | Inglewood, CA | |
| Loss | Marcos Licona | Decision (unanimous) | May 11, 2000 | Irvine, CA | |
| Loss | James Armah | TKO | September 13, 1999 | Irvine, CA | California State Featherweight title. |
| Win | Roger Medal | Decision (split) | August 9, 1999 | Anaheim, CA | California State featherweight title. |
| Win | Eddie Croft | KO | March 31, 1999 | Monterey, CA | |
| Win | Fernando Trejo | Decision (unanimous) | December 27, 1998 | Inglewood, CA | |
| Loss | Marcos Licona | Decision (split) | May 28, 1998 | Irvine, CA | |
| Win | Tony Green | TKO | March 22, 1997 | Pikeville, KY | Universal Boxing Association world featherweight title. |
| Loss | Danny Bostic | Decision (unanimous) | January 23, 1997 | St. Louis, MO | |
| Win | Frankie Banda | KO | June 3, 1996 | Anaheim, CA | |
| Loss | Sergio Sanchez | Points | December 13, 1995 | Woodland Hills, CA | |
| Win | Gary Adkins | KO | November 10, 1995 | Asheville, NC | |
| Win | Olegario DeLeon | TKO | October 26, 1995 | Woodland Hills, CA | |
| Win | James McCloskey | TKO | June 2, 1995 | Latham, NY | |
| Win | Jimmy Navaro | TKO 2nd | February 20, 1995 | Inglewood, CA | |
| Draw | Oscar Zamora | Points | August 29, 1994 | Inglewood, CA | |
| Win | Thomas Stiltner | KO | July 16, 1994 | Asheville, NC | |
| Win | Hilario Guererro | Points | April 11, 1994 | Inglewood, CA | |
| Win | Oscar Aguilar | KO | July 19, 1993 | Tijuana, Mexico | |
| Loss | Richard Thiele | Points | March 30, 1993 | San Diego, CA | |