Punching back the years - The featherweight division (Part Two) by David Statham Jul 21st 2008

In Part Two of ‘Punching back the years - The featherweight division' David Statham looks at the past attempts of British fighters beat the obstacles, defied the odds and challenged for world glory. WBC The undisputed featherweight title, held by boxers such as, Willie Pep, Sandy Saddler and Davey Moore, somehow avoided the hands of the remarkable Howard Winstone. The man from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, had a world championship trilogy with Mexico's Vicente Saldivar. And the South American beat Winstone on all three occasions. Saldivar, who was champion for three years, announced his retirement straight after his third clash with Winstone on October 14th 1967. His departure provided the Welshman with a fourth attempt at lifting the title, which was now recognised by the World Boxing Council. The Former Commonwealth Games and ABA champion had shot to fame in his home country. And his popularity increased when he stopped Japan's Mitsunori Seki in the ninth round of their 1968 contest in London. Winstone retreated to his corner with a cut above his left eye in the third round. But the Welshman recovered well, and in the middle rounds he applied the pressure, using his thunderous left jab and tireless work rate. Late in the ninth, Seki received a cut over his right eye and the referee, Roland Dakin, was forced to step in and stop the contest. Winstone, whose achievements were even greater considering he had lost the tips of three fingers on his right hand when working in a toy factory as a teenager, was crowned the first Welsh world champion for forty five years. Six months after the celebrations, the 29-year-old lost his title in his first defence against Cuba's Jose Legra in Porthcawl, Wales. Legra, nicknamed the ‘Pocket Cassius Clay' stopped Winstone in five rounds. It was thirteen years until another British boxer challenged for the WBC title. In December 1981, England's Pat Cowdell dug out his passport and jumped on a plane towards Houston, America. The challenge that lay ahead for Cowdell was by far the biggest of his career. He was up against the extraordinary Salvador Sanchez, who was defending his title for the seventh time. And he wasn't about to give it up. In the ring, Cowdell became the fourth title challenger to take Mexican the distance, but the British champion was on the wrong side of split-decision over fifteen rounds. Four years and eleven fights later, Cowdell made a second attempt for the belt. Following the untimely death of Sanchez, (who had tragically died in a high-speed car accident aged 23) Juan La Porte, Wilfredo Gomez and Azumah Nelson had been named world champions. And it was Nelson who travelled to the West Midlands to defend his belt for the third time. The Ghanaian, who was having his first fight in Britain, left the Country as he'd arrived - as a champion. He knocked Cowdell out in the first round. In 1990, Liverpool's heavy-handed European champion Paul Hodkinson stepped between the ropes to challenge the Mexican Marcos Villasana for the WBC title relinquished by Australia's famous three-weight world champion, Jeff Fenech. Hodkinson lost in his first attempt in Manchester, being stopped in the eighth, but in a re-match in Belfast fifteen months later, he widely outpointed the 31-year-old over twelve rounds. ‘Hoko' made three successful defences of his belt, finishing the challenges of Steve Cruz, Fabrice Benichou and Ricardo Cepeda inside the distance. But in his fourth defence in April 1993, he was stopped in seven by Mexico's Gregorio Vargas. Six years later, the WBC belt was in the hands of Naseem Hamed. The ‘Prince' defeated the new WBC titlist Cesar Soto in a WBO/WBC unification bout in 1999. When Hamed relinquished the title for business reasons, it was handed over to the Mexicans. Guty Espadas Jnr, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales all held the belt from April 2000 to May 2003. When Morales relinquished his belt, in order to box at super-featherweight, Manchester's IBO champion Michael Brodie stepped up to challenge Korea's In-jin Chi for the vacant title. Chi had failed in his attempt against Morales two years previous and he missed out on the title again when Brodie matched him for punches over twelve rounds, forcing a controversial draw. Manchester held the re-match in April 2004, but Brodie was knocked out in seven rounds. The belt is currently in the trophy cabinet of the undefeated Venezuelan, Jorge Linares. WBA Twenty-five thousand people walked through the turnstiles at Queens Park Rangers' Loftus Road football stadium on Saturday June 8th, 1985. But it wasn't Division One football the fans had come to watch. Ireland's Barry McGuigan was challenging Panama's WBA king Eusebio Pedroza, who was making his twentieth defence. ‘El Alacrán', who won the title in 1978, had travelled to America, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Venezuela to defend his belt. But his journey to London was his last as world champion. McGuigan floored the taller champion in the seventh round and rocked the thirty-two year old in the ninth. And although he appeared to tire in the later stages of the fight, held on to win a unanimous points decision. The popular Irishman defended his belt twice, against America's Bernard Taylor and Dominican Republic's Danilo Cabrera, before heading over to the States to take on Steve Cruz, in June 1986. Despite the overwhelming 110 degrees heat that surrounded Caesars Palace, McGuigan controlled the early stages of the fight against the Texan. But as the rounds increased, so did McGuigan's body temperature and the dehydrated champion was put down twice in the final round. The Irishman, showing familiar courage, climbed off the silky canvas and finished the fight on his feet. But as the decision was announced, it was the Americans who were celebrating a close, but unanimous, points decision. The contest on June 23rd 1986 was voted Ring magazine's Upset of the Year. The likeable boxer had four more fights, winning three and losing one, before hanging up his gloves in 1989. The ‘Clones Cyclone' is the last British boxer to hold the WBA title. The current king at the throne is Indonesia's Chris John, who is unbeaten in 45 fights and has held the belt for nearly five years. IBF The IBF belt was held by America's Tom Johnson for nearly four years. But Naseem Hamed stepped up and defeated the champion in a WBO/IBF unification bout in Millwall, 1997. A year after Hamed had relinquished the belt, Mexico's Manuel Medina was champion again, beating fellow Mexican, Hector Lizarraga over twelve rounds (Medina previously held the title for eighteen months after winning it in August 1991.) In November 1999, the 28-year-old took the title to the Hull, where England's Commonwealth and European champion Paul Ingle was waiting for him. Ingle may have been unsuccessful in his attempt for the WBO belt in his previous fight (against Naseem Hamed) but he grabbed the IBF with both hands, knocking down the champion on his way to a unanimous points victory. The 27-year-old successfully defended the belt five months later against America's Junior Jones in New York City, stopping the former WBO super-bantamweight champion in the eleventh round. Eight months after his trip to America, Ingle returned to Britain for a ‘homecoming' bout in Sheffield against small, tough South African Mbulelo Botile. The night on 16th December 2000, at the Hallam FM Arena, was to be a tragic night for boxing. Ingle, who was losing on points, was knocked down in the eleventh and twelfth round. He remained on the canvas for several minutes and left the ring on a stretcher. He was taken to hospital to undergo surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. He spent four weeks in intensive care. It's easy to forget the risks boxers put themselves through in the pugilistic sport. And although the chances of serious injury have been dramatically reduced over the years due to improved safety for fighters, a case like this represents the frailties that are undeniable in boxing. Paul Ingle's career record ended at 23-2. Robert Guerrero is the current champion of the IBF. The American has made two defences of the belt he won over a year ago. Liverpool's Derry Mathews got back to winning ways when he beat Kenya's John Gicharu in his home city on Saturday night (July 19th). The 24-year-old, who is ranked in the top ten by the WBO and IBF, demonstrated he can rebound from a defeat. But can the ‘Golden Boy' go on to lift one of the four major belts in the featherweight division?

Go back Comment on this article | Send to a friend | Print

There are no comments. Click here to be the first who comment on this article.