Virgil Eugene Hill (born January 18, 1964) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2015. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight title twice, from 1987 to 1997; the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight title from 1996 to 1997; and the WBA cruiserweight title between 2000 and 2002. He also held the WBA (Regular) cruiserweight title between 2006 and 2007. As an amateur, Hill won a silver medal in the middleweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics. In 2013, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Amateur career At the 1984 Summer Olympics Hill represented the United States as a Middleweight then age 20, and won a silver medal in a close decision loss in the 165-lb final. His results were: Defeated Edward Neblett RSC 2 Defeated Brian Schumacher 5–0 Defeated Damir Škaro 4–1 Defeated Mohamed Zaoui 5–0 Lost to Shin Joon-Sup 2–3

Hill was the 1984 National Golden Gloves champion at Middleweight. Hill ended his amateur career with a record of 288–11.

Professional career

Light-heavyweight

In September 1987, after going eighteen straight fights without a loss to start his pro career, Hill aka 'Quicksilver' (his nickname) was a challenger to Leslie Stewart of Trinidad for the latter's World Boxing Association light-heavyweight title in Atlantic City. After an even match in the early going, Hill floored the defending title holder twice in the fourth round – first with a left hook and the second time with an uppercut – to take the title on a Knockout win.

A series of ten successful defenses followed, eight of which took place in Bismarck, North Dakota. Hill received offers to fight in Las Vegas and other cities, but chose the place of his 'roots' and 'hometown fans' to be the place of the majority of his defenses. Opponents in his first run as champion included Bobby Czyz and James Kinchen. Superstar Thomas Hearns would meet – and defeat – Hill in Las Vegas by decision in June 1991 to end Hill's first reign as champion.

In September 1992, it was Hill pitted against 1984 Olympic teammate Frank Tate for the vacant WBA 175-lb. title. It was a 'grudge match' between the two, and Hill won the title on his home turf of Bismarck. Another string of ten defenses would follow, including a rematch with Tate, a close decision over Lou Del Valle who almost upset Hill.

Unification matches In November 1996 at the Olympiahalle, Munich, Hill won over the undefeated IBF champion Henry Maske to unify the WBA/IBF belts and win the vacant Lineal championship. In June 1997, WBO champion Dariusz Michalczewski scored a unanimous decision over Hill to unify the WBA, IBF, WBO and Lineal light-heavyweight titles at Arena Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany.

Hill boxed against Roy Jones Jr. the following year, and was stopped in round four with a body shot.

Cruiserweight The aging Hill won the WBA cruiserweight title at age 36 by knocking down Fabrice Tiozzo three times in Villeurbanne, France, by TKO in the first. He made his first defense, also in France, against Jean-Marc Mormeck, but would lose both match and title on cuts after nine rounds. In July 2003 he decisioned Donny Lalonde in a North Dakota-Manitoba 'border fight'. He lost a disputed decision to Mormeck in a title rematch in South Africa in May 2004.

On January 27, 2006, Virgil Hill won over previously undefeated Russian cruiserweight Valery Brudov by unanimous decision to win the 'regular' WBA cruiserweight title, as the WBA had now created a WBA "Super" title beside the standard WBA title. Despite being cut on the face in the sixth round, Hill was able to out hustle and out work his much younger opponent to capture his fifth world title at the age of 42.

He had his next to last fight in Germany on March 31, 2007, facing Henry Maske, whom he had beaten in 1996. Maske had announced his retirement prior to that fight and was frustrated to end his career with a split-decision loss, the only loss in his professional career. When he heard about Hill capturing the world title again at the age of 42, he decided to challenge him for a rematch. Hill lost the Maske rematch by decision in a non-title bout, then lost to Firat Arslan by decision to lose his WBA cruiserweight title.

He retired with a record of 50 wins (23 KOs) and 7 losses.

On July 16, 2011, Hill worked with his wife, Carla Hill, for their first ever boxing card and promotion at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey,

Hall of Fame On November 12, 2012, he was officially inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Class of 2013.

Personal life Hill's wife, Denean Howard, is a former Olympic athlete. They met while competing at the 1984 Summer Olympics. His daughter, Azaria Hill, is a bobsledder for Team USA.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes58Win51–7 Jimmy CampbellTKO2 (8), Feb 28, 2015 57Loss50–7 Firat ArslanUD12Nov 24, 2007 56Loss50–6 Henry MaskeUD12Mar 31, 2007 55Win50–5 Valery BrudovUD12Jan 27, 2006 54Loss49–5 Jean-Marc MormeckUD12May 22, 2004 53Win49–4 Donny LalondeUD10Jul 5, 2003 52Win48–4 Joey DeGrandisUD12Nov 17, 2002 51Win47–4 Carlos BatesTKO1 (12), Aug 23, 2002 50Loss46–4 Jean-Marc Mormeck8 (12), Feb 23, 2002 49Win46–3 Fabrice TiozzoTKO1 (12), Dec 9, 2000 48Win45–3 Glenn ThomasUD10May 9, 1999 47Win44–3 James HayesKO2 (12), Nov 7, 1998 46Loss43–3 Roy Jones Jr.KO4 (12), Apr 25, 1998 45Loss43–2 Dariusz MichalczewskiUD12Jun 13, 1997 44Win43–1 Henry MaskeSD12Nov 23, 1996 43Win42–1 Lou Del ValleUD12Apr 20, 1996 42Win41–1 Drake ThadziUD12Sep 2, 1995 41Win40–1 Crawford AshleyUD12Apr 1, 1995 40Win39–1 Frank TateUD12Jul 23, 1994 39Win38–1 Guy WatersUD12Dec 17, 1993 38Win37–1 Saúl MontanaTKO10 (12), Nov 9, 1993 37Win36–1 Sergio Daniel MeraniUD12Aug 28, 1993 36Win35–1 Fabrice Tiozzo12Apr 3, 1993 35Win34–1 Adolpho Washington11 (12)Feb 20, 1993 34Win33–1 Frank TateUD12Sep 29, 1992 33Win32–1 Lottie MwaleKO4 (12), Apr 11, 1992 32Win31–1 Aundrey NelsonUD10Mar 1, 1992 31Loss30–1 Thomas HearnsUD12Jun 3, 1991 30Win30–0 Mike PeakUD12Jan 6, 1991 29Win29–0 Frank MintonTKO9 (10)Oct 27, 1990 28Win28–0 Tyrone FrazierUD12Jul 7, 1990 27Win27–0 David VedderUD12Feb 25, 1990 26Win26–0 James KinchenTKO1 (12), Oct 24, 1989 25Win25–0 Joe LasisiTKO7 (12), May 27, 1989 24Win24–0 Bobby CzyzUD12Mar 4, 1989 23Win23–0 Willie FeatherstoneTKO10 (12), Nov 11, 1988 22Win22–0 Ramzi HassanUD12Jun 6, 1988 21Win21–0 Jean-Marie EmebeTKO11 (12), Apr 3, 1988 20Win20–0 Rufino AnguloUD12Nov 21, 1987 19Win19–0 Leslie StewartTKO4 (12), Sep 5, 1987 18Win18–0 Junior EdmondsUD10Jul 19, 1987 17Win17–0 Marcos GeraldoKO2 (10)Jun 13, 1987 16Win16–0 Marvin CamelKO1, May 1, 1987 15Win15–0 James WilliamsKO4Mar 6, 1987 14Win14–0 Clarence OsbyUD12Dec 11, 1986 13Win13–0 Eric WinbushUD10Oct 17, 1986 12Win12–0 Wayne CapletteKO1Oct 4, 1986 11Win11–0 Marcus DorseyKO2Aug 14, 1986 10Win10–0 Willie MayberryTKO1Aug 2, 1986 9Win9–0 Mike SedilloUD10Jul 10, 1986 8Win8–0 Santiago Valdez1, Jun 30, 1986 7Win7–0 Abdul HakimTKO4 (8), Apr 30, 1986 6Win6–0 James WilliamsonTKO6, Mar 2, 1986 5Win5–0 Fred JordanTKO4 (6), Jan 22, 1986 4Win4–0 Dawud ShawUD6Jul 13, 1985 3Win3–0 David Vedder6Feb 16, 1985 2Win2–0 John TyrellTKO1 (6), Jan 5, 1985 1Win1–0 Arthur Wright2, Nov 15, 1984

See also List of light heavyweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of IBF world champions

References

External links

Virgil Hill's amateur boxing becord Virgil Hill - CBZ Profile