LIGHTWEIGHT Cleveland Denny is from a small group of Guyanese boxers to never have had a professional fight on home soil. Notable members of that group are `Vicious’ Vivian Harris, Steve Frank and Dennis Andries. Denny had 12 of his 14 professional fights in Quebec, Canada. The other two were held in the USA. On February 9, 1977 Denny won a six-round fight against American Ron Pettigrew. It was the second bout of his relatively short professional career.

He made his professional debut on December 14, 1976 in his adopted homeland Canada. Born in 1956, Denny was crowned Canadian lightweight champion on November 1, 1977 following a points decision victory over Jean Lapointe.
He had three fights against Gaetan Hart. The first was held in September 1977 and the Guyanese won on points. Hart snatched Denny’s Canadian title on April 5 of the following year via a split-decision victory. The heart of the boxing world was shaken following the third encounter.
On June 20, 1980 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Hart won by TKO at two minutes and 48 seconds of the 10th round. Denny died 16 days later of injuries sustained in the fight and ended with a record of 10 victories, two defeats and two draws.