Tony Pep: Boxing Career Highlights
Tony Pep is a Canadian professional boxer from New Westminster, British Columbia. He compiled a record of 42 wins, including 22 by knockout, 10 losses and one draw. His career included Canadian titles at featherweight and lightweight, the Commonwealth super featherweight championship and the IBO lightweight championship. BoxRec’s Tony Pep profile and its IBO lightweight title history document his record and title reigns.
Pep won the Commonwealth super featherweight title on February 11, 1992, outpointing Paul Harvey over 12 rounds. He challenged Regilio Tuur for the WBO super featherweight title in March 1995 and lost a 12-round unanimous decision. In March 1996, Pep stopped Johar Abu-Lashin in the seventh round to win the vacant IBO lightweight title, then defended it against Louie Espinoza by unanimous decision later that year. The Harvey bout record and IBO title-fight history record those results.
On June 14, 1998, Pep faced Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Atlantic City and lost by unanimous decision after 10 rounds. BoxRec’s fight record notes that Pep later worked as a sparring partner for Mayweather ahead of Mayweather’s challenge against Genaro Hernández.
Pep continued boxing after that high-profile bout. In 2000 he defeated Mario Lechowski to win the Canadian lightweight title, and he later challenged Ricky Hatton for the vacant WBU super-lightweight title. Pep’s final recorded bout was a six-round points win over Leonardo Rojas in Edmonton on November 7, 2008, according to the Sport & Note record. That chronology makes the Rojas fight the end of a long professional career, rather than an immediate retirement after the Mayweather fight.
Pep’s titles across two weight divisions and his late-career return to the ring are part of a professional record that spanned more than two decades. His bout with Mayweather is among the best-known episodes, but his championship wins and extended career define the broader story.
Sources
BoxRec’s Tony Pep profile; IBO lightweight title history; Biographical source.
Article Tags
Tony Pep, Boxing, Sports History
