Claude Noel (boxer)

Claude Noel
Born	(1948-07-25)25 July 1948 Roxborough, Trinidad and Tobago
Died	21 May 2023(2023-05-21) (aged 74) San Juan–Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago
Statistics
Weight(s)	Lightweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	41
Wins	31
Wins by KO	18
Losses	10

Claude Noel CM (25 July 1948 – 21 May 2023) was a Tobagonian professional boxer. During his career, which spanned from 1973 to 1984, Noel held the WBA lightweight title and the Commonwealth Lightweight title.

Early life

Born on 25 July 1948 in Roxborough, Tobago to Thelma Fraser and Gabriel "Alfred" Noel. In his early teenage life, Noel began selling mangoes and other tropical fruits before branching off to boxing in 1973.

Professional career

Noel began his professional career on 13 November 1973, fighting in Port-of-Spain, he beat Art de Freitas by second round knockout. After a run of four victories Noel successfully challenged for his first title, the Trinidad & Tobago Lightweight title. The fight, scheduled for fifteen rounds, was stopped in the tenth with Noel's opponent, Fitzroy Guisseppi, unable to continue.

On 16 June 1979, Noel challenged for a version of the world title for the first time. Prior to this fight Noel had built up a record of nineteen wins and just two losses, both against Lennox Blackmoore via tenth round technical knockout. Noel and his opponent, the Venezuelan Ernesto Espana, were fighting for the WBA title recently vacated by Roberto Durán. The fight started badly for Noel as Espana scored a first round knock down. Although he was able to recover, he was knocked down once again in the ninth round and he was unable to beat the referee's count for the third knockdown, which ended the fight in the thirteenth.

Two years later on 12 September 1981, Noel once again challenged for the WBA title, this time successfully. The opponent for the fight, which took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was the Mexican boxer Rodolfo González. Noel started the fight well but had to withstand a strong finish by the Mexican. The bout went the distance and the scores were read out as: 145-140, 145-141 and 144-141, all in favour of Noel.

Noel's first defence of his title was on 5 December 1981 against the American challenger, and late replacement, Arturo Frias. Frias dominated the fight, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, before knocking Noel out in the eighth round.

Although Noel never fought for a world title again, he was able to win the Commonwealth Lightweight title and defend it twice. Noel fought ten more times after his final world title fight, losing six, most notably to the renowned Nicaraguan Alexis Arguello, when he suffered a horrid body injury during round three due to a body punch. Noel's final fight took place on 2 November 1984, and he lost the fight, and his Commonwealth title, to Graeme Brooke by a unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

41 fights	31 wins	10 losses
By knockout	18	7
By decision	13	3

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
41	Loss	31–10	Graeme Brooke	UD	12 (12)	1984-11-02	Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia	Lost Commonwealth lightweight title
40	Loss	31–9	Tsuyoshi Hamada	KO	4 (10)	1984-09-09	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
39	Loss	31–8	Mario Cusson	UD	10 (10)	1984-07-10	Forum, Montreal, Canada
38	Loss	31–7	René Arredondo	TKO	2 (10)	1984-05-17	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
37	Win	31–6	Davidson Andeh	TKO	7 (12)	1984-03-17	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	Retained Commonwealth lightweight title
36	Win	30–6	Steve Asson	PTS	12 (12)	1983-12-02	Jean Pierre Sports Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	Retained Commonwealth lightweight title
35	Loss	29–6	Alexis Argüello	TKO	3 (10)	1983-04-24	Showboat Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
34	Loss	29–5	Howard Davis Jr.	UD	10 (10)	1982-11-12	Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida, U.S.
33	Win	29–4	Barry Michael	MD	15 (15)	1982-07-22	Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia	Won Commonwealth lightweight title
32	Win	28–4	Steve Asson	PTS	15 (15)	1982-05-14	Jean Pierre Sports Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	Retained Trinidad and Tobago lightweight title
31	Loss	27–4	Arturo Frias	KO	8 (15)	1981-12-05	Showboat Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	Lost WBA lightweight title
30	Win	27–3	Rodolfo González	UD	15 (15)	1981-09-12	Bally's Park Place, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Won vacant WBA lightweight title
29	Win	26–3	Roberto Madrid	TKO	5 (10)	1981-07-24	Jean Pierre Sports Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
28	Win	25–3	Gaétan Hart	TKO	3 (10)	1981-03-24	Paul Sauvé Arena, Montreal, Canada
27	Win	24–3	Johnny Summerhays	UD	10 (10)	1980-11-08	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
26	Win	23–3	Antonio Cruz	SD	12 (12)	1980-05-17	Jean Pierre Sports Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
25	Win	22–3	Michael Reid	PTS	10 (10)	1980-03-28	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
24	Win	21–3	Jerome Artis	UD	10 (10)	1980-02-29	Jean Pierre Sports Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
23	Win	20–3	Francisco Becerra	KO	5 (?)	1980-01-18	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
22	Loss	19–3	Ernesto España	KO	13 (15)	1979-06-16	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico	For vacant WBA lightweight title
21	Win	19–2	Gaétan Hart	UD	10 (10)	1979-03-30	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
20	Win	18–2	Pedro Acosta Nunez	PTS	12 (12)	1978-12-15	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
19	Win	17–2	Augustin Estrada	UD	10 (10)	1978-11-07	Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
18	Win	16–2	Scotty Foreman	KO	2 (10)	1978-10-24	Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
17	Win	15–2	Warren Matthews	KO	2 (10)	1978-08-08	Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
16	Win	14–2	Hilbert Stevenson	TKO	3 (10)	1978-07-25	Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
15	Win	13–2	Frankie Moultrie	KO	2 (10)	1978-06-06	Orlando Sports Stadium, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
14	Win	12–2	Fitzroy Guisseppi	KO	9 (15)	1978-02-10	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	Retained Trinidad and Tobago lightweight title
13	Win	11–2	Hector Julio Medina	KO	10 (10)	1977-12-16	Sparrow's Hideaway, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
12	Win	10–2	Larry Stanton	PTS	10 (10)	1977-10-07	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
11	Win	9–2	Vinnie DeBarros	TKO	4 (?)	1977-07-30	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
10	Win	8–2	Rafael Solis	PTS	10 (10)	1977-06-03	Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
9	Loss	7–2	Lennox Blackmoore	TKO	10 (?)	1977-05-29	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
8	Win	7–1	Easy Boy Lake	KO	4 (?)	1977-05-17	Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands
7	Loss	6–1	Lennox Blackmoore	TKO	10 (?)	1977-02-25	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
6	Win	6–0	Francisco Cruz	KO	3 (?)	1977-02-11	Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
5	Win	5–0	Fitzroy Guisseppi	TKO	10 (15)	1976-11-26	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	Won Trinidad and Tobago lightweight title
4	Win	4–0	Selwyn Figarro	TKO	8 (?)	1976-09-20	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
3	Win	3–0	Clive Nichols	TKO	6 (8)	1975-10-23	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
2	Win	2–0	Michael Baptiste	KO	4 (?)	1975-06-16	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
1	Win	1–0	Art de Freitas	KO	2 (?)	1973-11-13	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Death and legacy

Noel died on 21 May 2023, at the age of 74.

The Claude Noel Highway in Tobago was named for him, in recognition of his sporting achievements.

See also

• List of world lightweight boxing champions

External links

• Boxing record for Claude Noel from BoxRec (registration required)