Shawn O'Sullivan

Shawn O’Sullivan took up boxing as a youngster and, by the age of 16, had been crowned the Canadian junior champion in the light-middleweight division. By the early 1980s he was representing his nation abroad and was crowned the World Amateur Champion, as well as Canadian Athlete of the Year, in 1981. He took gold again at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and was considered one of the favorites, along with American Frank Tate, in the division at the 1984 Summer Olympics. After a bye in the first round, O’Sullivan dispatched his first three opponents, Mohamed Halibi of Lebanon, An Dal-Ho of South Korea, and Rod Douglas of Great Britain, with ease, before losing in a 3-2 decision against Christophe Tiozzo of France. This split triggered an automatic review of the judges’ decision by a jury, who ended up awarding the bout to O’Sullivan 4-1. The Canadian then fought Tate in a battle that most spectators, including Tate’s coach, believed that O’Sullivan won. Nonetheless, the judges awarded the match to Tate, who was booed by his hometown audience during the medal ceremony.

O’Sullivan turned professional after the Games and won sixteen of his first seventeen fights, losing only to Simon Brown, a future WBC Welter and Light-Middleweight Champion. He was defeated by another future WBC Light-Middleweight Champion, Luis Santana, in a bid for the NABF Welterweight Title and retired after another loss later that year, this time to Donovan Boucher for the Canadian Welterweight Title. He staged comebacks in 1991 and 1996, but was never able to return to peak form and returned to retirement within a year of both attempts, finishing with a career pro record of 23 (KO16)-5.

Since retiring from boxing, O’Sullivan has been diagnosed as suffering from Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as punch drunk syndrome.