Shane Sutcliffe (born June 17, 1975) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2004. He is referred to as "Kid Thunder" by his fans.
Sutcliffe was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, before moving to Nanaimo, British Columbia at age 12. He had no formal amateur boxing career; after winning 22 "Toughman Contests" in Canada, he made his professional boxing debut in 1992 at the age of 17. His first fight resulted in a sixth-round decision victory over Joe Wade. Shortly afterward he moved to Los Angeles, California and eventually Las Vegas, Nevada, to train with the legendary Eddie Futch. He won other fights by unexpected margins, including a 3-round defeat of Ray Phillips [1]
In 1997, Sutcliffe moved to and fought out of Montreal, Quebec, after signing a contract with International Boxing Management Interbox. On April 3, 1998, he defeated Ben Perlini via sixth round knockout to win the Canadian Heavyweight championship. In his third defense of the title on February 5, 1999, Sutcliffe lost via 12th-round TKO to former World titleholder Trevor Berbick in Montreal. His contract was then dropped by Interbox as a result. He challenged Berbick again for the title on May 26, 2000, in Vancouver. However, he dropped a close 12 round unanimous decision in that contest.[2]
Sutcliffe took over 2 years off from boxing to start a family after losing to fellow Canadian Patrice L'Heureux on November 30, 2001. After the birth of his son, Sutcliffe worked construction to provide a steadier source of income for his new family. However, he returned to the sport in 2004, dropping decisions to Wesley Martin and Louis Monaco.
Sutcliffe is what is termed a journeyman fighter, one who "journeys" to a variety of places (often on short notice) to provide relatively easy competition for up-and-coming prospects or fading former champions. He counted Tyrell Biggs, Leon Spinks, Trevor Berbick, Oleg Maskaev, Brian Nielsen, and David Tua among the opponents he faced.[3] As of the beginning of 2006, his ring record stands at 25 wins (15 knockouts), 14 losses, and one draw in 40 professional contests.
