Joe Ham

Joseph Ham (born 20 June 1991) is a Scottish former professional boxer. As an amateur, he competed at the 2013 World Championships, as well as two European Championships and two Commonwealth Games.

Early years

Born and raised in the Gorbals, Ham began boxing at the age of 12 as a way to get fit and lose weight, initially joining Dennistoun McNair ABC. He followed the advice of his father, also named Joseph, who was a former boxer himself. Just a year later he won the Scottish national championship, his first at the youth level. After turning 18 he started training at Hayfield ABC in the Gorbals.

Ham won a total of ten Scottish championships, and was a two-time British champion as well. Following his round of 16 loss to Sakaria Lukas at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he collapsed in his training room and required medical assistance. The following year he won a gold medal at the 2011 GB Amateur Boxing Championships in London, defeating 2010 Commonwealth gold medallist Sean McGoldrick in the final. In March 2014 he won his fifth consecutive Scottish national title at the senior level, securing his spot at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in his hometown. At the Games, Ham defeated Nadir Nadir of Pakistan in the round of 16 before getting knocked out in the quarterfinals by longtime rival Qais Ashfaq.

Amateur results

Professional career

Ham made his professional debut on 14 December 2014, defeating journeyman Dato Kvaratskhelia by first-round knockout (KO) at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow. He won the vacant Scottish Area super-bantamweight title on 15 April 2017, beating Scott McCormack on points on the Ricky Burns–Julius Indongo undercard for his first title. His employer, Glasgow-based construction firm City Building, gave him seven weeks off to train in preparation for the fight. He suffered his first defeat as a professional on 30 June 2018, losing to southpaw Tyrone McCullagh by unanimous decision (UD) in Belfast with the vacant Celtic super-bantamweight title on the line. After two more victories back home, Ham travelled to Manchester to challenge for the vacant WBA Continental super-bantamweight title on 2 November 2019 against Qais Ashfaq, who had knocked him out of the 2014 Commonwealth Games quarterfinals. In their rematch five years later, an accidental headclash in the sixth round caused the referee to halt the bout and go to the judges, who awarded Ashfaq the unanimous technical decision victory with scores of 70–63, 70–64 and 69–64.

In September 2020 it was announced that Ham had signed with MTK Global.

Ham fought Dennis McCann for the vacant Commonwealth super-bantamweight title at The O2 Arena in London on 26 November 2022, losing by stoppage in the eighth round.

He retired from professional boxing in July 2023 and joined Boxing Scotland as a coach.

Professional boxing record

External links

• from BoxRec (registration required)