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.[1]

Tiger Smalls
Smalls in 2011
Statistics
Real namePriest George Youngs Smalls
Nickname(s)Tiger - The Pride of the Wild
The One and Only
The Bad Guy
Weight(s)Super featherweight
Featherweight
Junior featherweight
Height5'9
Reach72"
NationalityAmerican
Born (1969-03-02) March 2, 1969
New York, New York, United States
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights38
Wins21
Wins by KO11
Losses16
Draws1
No contests0

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.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Tiger Smalls Receiving Key to the City

Personal life

Tiger Smalls trains his son Prince Tiger Smalls and mentors students and fighters at the San Diego Combat Academy.[6]

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[1][7]
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[8]
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 Ashville, 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 Ashville, 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

References
  1. "BoxRec.com". Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  2. Jet magazine. Johnson Publishing Company. 12 April 1973. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  3. "BoxRec.com". Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  4. Ben Corbett. "Tiger Beat". High Times. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  5. "ESPN Has A Fit When Tiger Smalls Unvails A "Golden Palace" Tattoo". eastsideboxing.com. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  6. "San Diego Combat Academy". Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  7. "Tigersmalls.com". Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  8. "Ramirez prevails; Seda suffers second career loss". ESPN.com. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
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