Darrin Van Horn (born September 7, 1968) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1994. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior middleweight title in 1989, and the IBF super middleweight title from 1991 to 1992.

Professional boxing career

Van Horn boxed as an amateur for four years, winning Golden Gloves and Junior Olympic titles. With his father as his manager and trainer, he made his professional debut in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 2, 1984. Van Horn was just five days short of his 16th birthday.

Since Van Horn was still a high school student when he turned professional, he was given the nickname "Schoolboy." In 1986, he moved to Lexington, Kentucky, to attend the University of Kentucky where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Boxing with the letters "UK" on his trunks, the "Schoolboy" angle was played up heavily.

He compiled a record of 38–0 before challenging for a world title. Van Horn, a 2:1 underdog, defeated Robert Hines by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship on February 5, 1989, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On July 15, 1989, Van Horn returned to Atlantic City to make his first title defense against Gianfranco Rosi, the former WBC Super Welterweight Champion. Rosi, a decided underdog, took the title by winning by a 12-round unanimous decision.

After five consecutive wins, Van Horn had a rematch with Rosi in Italy on July 21, 1990. Although Van Horn fought better than he did in the first fight against Rosi, he was unable to regain the title. Rosi once again won by a 12-round unanimous decision.

Van Horn moved up in weight and won the IBF Super Middleweight Championship with an 11th-round knockout of Lindell Holmes in Italy on May 18, 1991. In his first title defense, he scored a third-round knockout of mandatory challenger John Jarvis in Irvine, California, on August 17, 1991.

On January 10, 1992, Van Horn lost the title to Iran Barkley, the former WBC Middleweight Champion, by a second-round technical knockout in New York City. Barkley, a 2-1 underdog, wobbled Van Horn with a left hook early in the first round and floored him three times in the second.

In May 1992, Van Horn graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism.

Van Horn was scheduled to face James Toney for the IBF Super Middleweight Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on October 29, 1993, but he pulled out of the fight after claiming a shoulder injury. The Boston Globe reported: "Sadly, word around boxing says his real problem has been near-constant headaches that recently forced him to stay in a darkened room for days at a time." The Van Horn camp denied that was true, but one fight figure was quoted as saying: "It would be child abuse for his father to put him back in the ring. When I was with him, he knew me and why I was there, but every 15 or 20 minutes he'd ask, 'Why are you guys here?' It's pretty sad."

Van Horn was scheduled to face Nigel Benn for the WBC Super Middleweight Championship in England on September 10, 1994, but the fight was called off. According to Boxing news, it was cancelled after Van Horn failed a brain scan. However, during an interview with Boxing news online in 2015, Van Horn said: "I never failed any scan, not ever. I have no idea where that came from. I fought a few times after the Barkley fight. Rumors and things come up, it's just ridiculous. I just became disenchanted with the sport. I said to myself I was going to step back for a while and get a few things done; like going back to college, and my intention was to come back to boxing. But I never did."

Retirement Van Horn won his final six fights. His last bout took place in Harlingen, Texas, on August 3, 1994. He defeated journeyman Willie Bell by a second-round technical knockout.

After retiring from boxing, Van Horn became a state trooper.

On August 14, 2026, Van Horn was arrested in Lexington, Kentucky, for violating an emergency protective order (EOP).

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes57Win54–3Willie BallTKO2 (10), Aug 3, 199456Win53–3Ricky ThomasUD10Dec 15, 199255Win52–3Rollin WilliamsUD10Oct 16, 199254Win51–3Bill BradleyRTD2 (10), Sep 24, 199253Win50–3Martín AmarillasUD10Sep 4, 199252Win49–3Nicky WalkerUD10Jun 30, 199251Loss48–3Iran BarkleyTKO2 (12), Jan 10, 199250Win48–2John JarvisKO3 (12), Aug 17, 199149Win47–2Lindell HolmesKO11 (12), May 18, 199148Win46–2Randy WilliamsUD10Dec 28, 199047Loss45–2Gianfranco RosiUD12Jul 21, 199046Win45–1Jake TorrancePTS8Apr 14, 199045Win44–1Ruben CortinaKO1 (?), Mar 2, 199044Win43–1Salim MuhammadUD10Oct 9, 198943Win42–1Mike SacchettiPTS10Sep 25, 198942Win41–1Steve LangleyUD10Sep 13, 198941Loss40–1Gianfranco RosiUD12Jul 15. 198940Win40–0Robert HinesUD12Feb 5, 198939Win39–0Miguel Angel HernandezTKO5 (10), Nov 3, 198838Win38–0Jake TorranceUD10Sep 20, 198837Win37–0Juan ElizondoKO3 (10)May 5, 198836Win36–0John MundugaTKO7 (10), Feb 21, 198835Win35–0Joe SummersUD10Dec 5, 198734Win34–0Juan Alonso VillaUD10Oct 17, 198733Win33–0Norberto BuenoKO3 (10), Sep 17, 198732Win32–0Greg TaylorUD8Aug 25, 198731Win31–0Luis SantanaUD10Jun 21, 198730Win30–0Elio DíazUD10Apr 20, 198729Win29–0John MooreTKO6 (8), Feb 24, 198728Win28–0Danny ThomasUD10Jan 13, 198727Win27–0Sammy FloydUD10Sep 9, 198626Win26–0Keheven JohnsonKO8 (8)Hil 1, 198625Win25–0Donald GwinnTKO5 (8), Jun 24, 198624Win24–0David RamseyKO4 (?)Apr 15. 198623Win23–0Norberto SabaterTKO2 (10), Mar 6, 198622Win22–0Ed ModicueUD8Jan 21, 198621Win21–0Reggie DixonPTS6Oct 15, 198520Win20–0Javier MunizKO5 (?)Oct 2, 198519Win19–0Pablo ValdezTKO4 (8)Sep 17, 198518Win18–0Earl WhiteKO5 (?)Sep 6, 198517Win17–0Robert ManousKO3 (?)Jul 11, 198516Win16–0Reggie DixonUD6Jun 26, 198515Win15–0Alonzo StringfellowTKO1 (6), Jun 10, 198514Win14–0John Wesley MortonSD6May 7, 198513Win13–0Ronald PaigeKO1 (?)Apr 18, 198512Win12–0James SandersKO4 (6), Mar 20, 198511Win11–0Derrick EarvinSD4Mar 7, 198510Win10–0Jessie HopkinsKO1 (4)Mar 4, 19859Win9–0Jimmy MitchellTKO5 (?)Feb 12, 19858Win8–0David SevilleKO2 (?)Feb 8, 19857Win7–0Mike FrenchTKO1 (?)Jan 16, 19856Win6–0Jamie HobbsKO1 (?)Dec 18, 19845Win5–0Rodney JonesTKO2 (?), Dec 4, 19844Win4–0Pete LeeKO1 (6), Nov 29, 19843Win3–0Willie RimmerUD6Nov 20, 19842Win2–0Richard MorrisTKO2 (?)Nov 13, 19841Win1–0Leon KerlingerKO2 (?)Sep 2, 1984

See also List of world light-middleweight boxing champions List of world super-middleweight boxing champions

References

External links