Darnell Wilson

Personal information
Nickname	The Ding-A-Ling Man
Born	Darnell Wilson (1974-09-22) September 22, 1974 (age 51) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	Heavyweight Cruiserweight
Boxing career
Reach	75 in (191 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	49
Wins	25
Win by KO	21
Losses	21
Draws	3
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  United States Pan American Games 1999 Winnipeg Light Middleweight Goodwill Games 1998 New York Light Middleweight

Darnell Wilson (born September 22, 1974) is an American professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBA World Cruiserweight title in 2008. He is perhaps best remembered for his brutal left-hook knockouts of Emmanuel Nwodo and David Rodriguez.

Background

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland, He graduated from Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Amateur career

Many people confused Darnell Wilson with the outstanding amateur Darnell Wilson who won the United States Amateur Light Middleweight Championship three years in a row (1997–99).^[1]

Professional career

Known as "Ding-A-Ling Man", Wilson turned pro in 2000 as a light heavyweight. He showed a world-class punch and a good chin but couldn't outbox his opponents. His best results were draws with George Jones (record 19–2) and James Lubwama (record 18–1).

In 2005 he moved up to cruiserweight. There he was outpointed by prospects/fringe contenders Vadim Tokarev (17–0), Felix Cora Jr. (17–0–2), and veteran Andre Purlette (record 38–2) and also lost to heavyweight Owen Beck.

In late 2006 he at least managed to KO another former light heavyweight in southpaw Daniel Judah (21–1–3), but at age 32 seemed to be going nowhere. He says of this time: "I was diagnosed. My adrenal glands were being worn down. I would go flat after a few rounds of sparring because of a bad effect from energy drinks."^[2]

His career direction changed dramatically in 2007 when he scored a sensational KO2 over Canadian contender Dale Brown in Edmonton. He quickly added another upset KO3 over Kelvin Davis who had put him on the deck before in the second round. At this point, Wilson was rated in the Top 10 by The Ring Magazine.

Wilson knocked out hard-punching Emmanuel Nwodo on June 29, 2007. ESPN announcer Teddy Atlas proclaimed it the most devastating knockout ever on ESPN's Friday Night Fights series. It was later named the ESPN.com Knockout of the Year.^[3]

He finally got a shot at the WBA cruiserweight title on May 3, 2008, but lost a unanimous decision to Firat Arslan.^[4]

Wilson lost his first fight of Season 4 of The Contender to Ehinomen Ehikhamenor.

Professional boxing record

Life outside the ring

Darnell Wilson owns and operates a digital infrastructure firm as a technology systems engineer.^[2]

References

External links

• Boxing record for Darnell Wilson from BoxRec (registration required)
• Davis-fight
• Nwodo-fight