Wayne Alexander Talks About The Past, Present and Future
By Terence Dooley
“I won't say regret but it is sad that we never got two or three more of those fights. Imagine a bunch of fights between me, Anthony Farnell, Gary Locket, Steve Roberts and Richard Williams, that wouldn't have been a bad line up of fights. It would have defined one of us. We were the top three or four British light-middleweights so imagine if we'd have found out who was top by fighting each other? But I believe I was the best.”
Wayne Alexander was reminiscing about fight nights that never came to be, bouts that either withered on the vine or happened a little too late. Sure, Farnell mixed it with Takaloo, losing by first round TKO; the Iranian-born, Kent-based Takaloo also went to war with Wayne in September 2004 but that rich pool of domestic light-middleweight talent did not come close to yielding a series of battles that would have stood the test of time.
Wayne turned in his professional card a few years ago, his last fight took place in December 2006, a single stanza reverse to unheralded journeyman Serge Vigne yet 'Alexander The Great' had intended to squeeze a few more years out of his ring career only for time, and inclination, to slip away.
“I had my last fight in 2006 but kept in the gym with an eye on fighting again. I was supposed to be in a couple of fights but pulled out because I didn't want to be a journeyman or a stepping stone – I always boxed to win, you know? When I went to the ring I didn't want it to be half-hearted. I was offered a British title fight against Jamie Moore, the champ at the time, but it didn't work out so I got into training other people,” recalled Wayne.
“I'm still a massive fan of the game. I follow the sport, boxing is my big love. I work out of the Fight Factory in Croydon. We train white collar and unlicensed boxers. Boxing was my first love so I will always be involved in one way or another. But I'm not as hardcore as I used to be. I'm teaching other people about boxing.”
The former Southern Area, British, EBU and WBU title holder's slow road into official retirement was the polar opposite of his gun slinging fighting style. Indeed, he believes that his big punch mixed with a lack of fear going into the Vigne fight played a huge role in the shocking defeat.
He said, “I went out gunning and got caught cold in the first round. I did train hard for the fight. It was a good shot, my legs didn't recover. Even though I thought I could continue, I lost it fair and square. Boxing is a hard game. I was a championship level fighter, if the stakes were high I'd always rise to the occasion, I was like that since my amateur days. I found it hard to get motivated for those fights.”
“If I knew I could lose a fight I would get nervous and fight better. That guy didn't scare me, there was no fear, so I got caught early. My heart was still in it, I was still training and that, and could have gone on for another four years, but I decided to go away and do some work, that turned into a retirement,” he states, drawing a low-key line under a pro career that spanned eleven years.
Fighters often speak of the need for a fear factor, a huge dose of respect for your opponent goes a long way to honing your pre-fight preparations. Although Wayne, like all boxers, was quick to add that he took every fight seriously, it is just that some nights carried more danger, and therefore adrenaline, than others.
“I think it is a fighter's thing. You respect every fighter but for me personally there was an edge when I was nervous or there was a title on the line. When those fights are on you feel the boost. I could have done a lot more with my career, then again I could have done a lot worse,” was his understated analysis.
The WBU light-middleweight belt was on the line when that elusive Takaloo fight landed at York Hall. Mehrdud went into the fight in a confident mood, insisting that he had knocked Wayne out cold during sparring sessions and would repeat the trick. The 'Margate Rock's' confidence poured fuel on Alexander's fire, fear mixed with anger proving a devastating combination during the memorable second round of the confrontation.
“Takaloo and me got on for a while but then one day we sparred and he put me down”, he recalls, “I got up and carried on sparring but he told the whole world that he knocked me out cold. I got him back the next time out and Jimmy Tibbs [trainer of both men at the time] called time on that session. You've got to remember that in sparring you're working on different things and it should stay in the gym but people remembered those sessions, it became a big thing.
“I wasn't right when he put me down in the gym, it was one of those things – I put it right when we fought. It was a fight that was years in the making but was over in a blink. As I said before, it was one of those times where I went in thinking 'I can't lose this one' and there was a lot of talk around it, Takaloo was pretty mouthy. People had talked about it for years so that made me go away after losing to Delroy [Mellis] in 2003, refocus and make sure that I wasn't going to lose this fight.
“Takaloo hurt me with a big shot himself. The first round was even. We both got caught with a few shots. Second round he hurts me with a left hook body shot, the adrenaline must have kicked in because I should have gone down, it was perfect. If that had been any other contest I probably would have gone down but I wouldn't that night.
“I saw he kept coming in the same way, he was perfect to walk onto the left hook so I used a roll and counter shot – Jimmy Tibbs taught me that one – and took him out with the left hook. I look back on that as a big thing in my career because when people talk about knock outs in boxing they mention that punch. We put it all behind us by having that fight.”
That hook has lived long in the memory, it has attracted over a million views on Youtube, probably twice as many cries of “Press rewind”. How does it feel to land a punch of that magnitude? “It cannot be put into words. It is impossible to explain it,” marvelled Alexander.
“Especially when you pull it out in one of your biggest fights and best wins as a pro. It was a great crowd, the fight was good and people had finally got the chance to see us fight so it was one for the boxing fans. They all came out for that one even though it was on the same night as David Haye's fight with Carl Thompson. I cannot complain about that win. It is one that I like to talk about. It was set up by a big punch in sparring. I came out with the victory after landing my own big shot in the fight. It was perfect.”
A shame, then, that it had not come a year or two earlier along with, say, Alexander-Farnell, Williams-Takaloo and Roberts-Lockett. “Yeah, it would have been good for boxing,” says Alexander, echoing my own frustrations.
“It was always very hard to get us all together because of different promoters. I will say one thing, I nearly fought Steve Roberts when he was WBF champion but was offered the chance to fight David Santos for the WBO title so went with that one but had to pull out off that. I was up for the Roberts fight but I am sure people understand the Santos thing, even though that fight was pulled.
“When I see Anthony we talk about it all and what would have happened if we'd have fought. I wish it could have happened. Of them all, I really would have liked to fight Richard Williams because he was considered the best. Richard beat me as an amateur so I'd like to have got my revenge in the pros.”
'Alexander The Great' against 'The Secret'. Conventional wisdom would favour the Stockwell stylist yet the Croydon man's belief is that he would have been absolutely on top of his game if given the chance of gaining a measure of revenge over Williams.
“I would have had that motivation from the amateurs so I would have been up for that one. Richard is a nice guy but it would have been business because he held the IBO title – I'd have trained my hardest for it. I would have beaten him, I'm not being big headed but I do think that,” he opined.
When it comes to boxing, you can be a 'glass half empty' kind of person, in which case you will never feel disappointment, or you can be a member of the 'glass half full' mob, if you are one of these types then you would be advised to switch allegiances before you get dragged into the rival camp. I happen to be a 'I'm just glad to have a glass' type of guy. Yes, we missed out on a lot of good fights but we gleaned a few good memories from that 154lb division, Alexander's war with then-undefeated Paul Samuels a case in point.
“My main memory of Samuels is pain, the hardest puncher I've fought,” he said, wincing at the memory of his third round stoppage win over the Welshman in 2000. “It was a big fight at the time, two undefeated punchers – we had 21 knock outs between us. I was fighting for The British belt, it had been my dream since being a kid to have this type of fight but I look back now and all I can recall is the pain.
“Samuels bust my eardrum, cut me, hit me really hard, but I had that will to win. It was set in my heart to beat him that night so I took bigger shots than ones that knocked me down in other fights. I wanted that one so much. It is shame we both fought so early on in our careers. We could have waited for a bit, fought for a bigger title and more money. Paul really does hit.”
Power is a wonderful thing, it can turn a boxing match on its head in the blink of an eye, it can also be turned on its owner; Naseem Hamed started to decline when he placed more emphasis on his thunderous swings rather than the elusiveness and skill that had put him into so many prime punching positions.
“Yeah, definitely, I could have been more focussed and train harder, my power got me through a lot,” mused Wayne in response to my question of whether big punchers assume that their equaliser will always be there to bail them out. “I should have trained harder from the off. Every fighter must have regrets, you must hear a lot of that from guys you interview but that is not just boxing, it is life.
“Everyone is wise looking back. I trained but could have put that bit more in. My power did bail me out often, it also ruffled a few feathers in its time so I can't complain – I didn't do too badly in title fights.”
Opportunity knocked for the British boss in February 2001. Robert Allen withdrew from a fight with WBO title holder Harry Simon a day before the scheduled bout; Alexander stepped in, confident that he could hand the undefeated Namibian his first defeat.
“I went into that fight thinking about the possibility of getting beaten, this made me dangerous. I knew I wasn't favoured to win it but in my mind I knew it was one I could lose so I went in there to prove a point. This guy Simon was the best fighter I fought, not the hardest puncher of them all but the best all round. I was dealing with his power, speed, ring generalship and confidence, he had a good style.”
He added, “I would have liked the time to prepare for my first world title fight but I went in their knowing the deal – I was fighting at a higher level. Coulda, woulda shoulda, there's always a bit of that when you look back. I was fit, I stuck with him and he said after the fight that it was a tough one. It was hard.
“I look back and see things in that fight that make me proud. I turned southpaw and hit him with a right hook. It was a big shot. Who knows if I'd have got to him with a similar left hook. I'd have been celebrating a world title. I'm just proud that I went in there against him as he's the best I ever fought so I got that chance to test myself, not everyone does. It is a real shame that Simon didn't get to mix it with Oscar [De La Hoya], [Felix] Trinidad and the rest, he had an accident and retired but I read recently that he's thinking of coming back as well.”
Well, not quite. Simon announced his comeback to Boxingscene over a year ago but has yet to lace on the gloves, although there are still rumblings about the possibility of seeing 'The Terminator' in action again (he had a fight scheduled on Boxrec at the time of writing). Wayne laughed when asked if the temptation is still there. He said, “Everyone is coming back! But you're coming back to young, fit guys who have their own points to prove, it is a tough game.”
Made tougher still by the sling and arrows of outraged fans and caustic pundits. Wayne took a few hits himself during his days in the sport, most noticeably when criticised for a lack of punch resistance by Barry McGuigan after a brace of fights against Ojay Abrahams in 1999, an observation that prompted a memorable response from Wayne in the wake of his win over Samuels.
“Yeah, how can I forget that,” he laughs, recalling the tiff with McGuigan. “Barry is a lovely guy. We get on well, now! Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Barry didn't think I was quite as good people had said I was, especially my chin. After a fight you're hyped up, you know, and, yeah, I came out with a bit of a message. I kept saying that I had a chin. And I did! My chin wasn't as bad as people made out, it was my defence that let me down because I was there to be hit when I threw my shots so I'd get hit by punches that I never saw coming.”
Simon aside, the Londoner's other defeats came in fights that he was favoured to win; Delroy Ellis, then 9-19-1, and Vigne, 20-15-2, both threw the script to one side when facing Alexander. Wayne reminded me of his need for fear going into a fight as well as pointing out that he had boiled down in weight for the first meeting with Mellis.
“You what, for that fight I lost two stone in six weeks. My attitude towards training wasn't great for that one. I felt bad, boxed anyway and there was nothing there. Delroy took his chance. I trained purely to lose weight. I was eating like a rabbit, hardly taking in water, it got to me. I made the classic mistake of struggling at the weight.
“I was OK for the first five rounds, then come round six I was on empty. There was nothing in the tank. I really wanted to see it through to the last, the eighth, I did but that was the round where he put me away! Again, I was devastated, that was the first time I cried after losing a fight, first time I'd cried in years. My legs weren't there.
“I won the first rounds on natural boxing ability, people forget that I could box and won a light-middleweight ABA title as an amateur by beating a really good fighter and future ABA winner Chris Bessey (in 1994). When you're weak at the weight you start to lose your natural strength. Delroy was a big guy, he felt me losing my strength and came into the fight. That taught me a lesson, I learned the hard way that you can't just train for weight.”
He set the record straight a year later. Wayne being Wayne, however, there was a bit of a slip during an interim two round stoppage win over Howard Clarke. “I fought Delroy almost a year to the day later. I fought Howard Clarke in-between, Howard put me down as well!” he laughed.
“The second one with Delroy was a ten rounder, I won every round. I was fit, strong and knew this guy was tough after the first one. Jimmy Tibbs had told me that I had to lose the weight properly and not just to go for the KO because Delroy was a hard fighter to stop. I just went out there to do what I could do. I actually preferred beating him on points because it showed I could do the ten rounds.”
It all adds up to a pleasing career: titles, KOs and a shot at one of the best in the world at your weight. Who could ask for more? “It is good to look back on it but it makes you feel a bit gutted at the same time”, admitted Wayne, “because I should have tried harder.”
Both Tibbs and Dean Powell, Frank Warren's matchmaker, have told me that Alexander had all the tools to win a world belt, that his power could have carried him to the big one had he given that little bit more in the gym.
“Really, they said that?” he asked. “My dream since a kid was to become world champion so it is nice to hear that. I ended my career looking back on some big belts and knock out wins so if people think I could have gone that step further then it is nice. I could have done better but other people have said that about themselves as well. What I do like is when people remember that I could box a bit as well.
“Then again, I got a lot of knock outs in the amateurs as well! But it was nice to beat guys on points, especially when they're slippery boxers like Delroy or Thomas McDonagh [for the WBU 154lb title at the Manchester's MEN Arena in 2006], I beat both of them on points. Thomas was slippery, a lot of people had me the loser going in, they said it would close but that I'd lose. Then I go and beat him on points, people weren't sure what to make of that. And in his own town as well.”
I asked Wayne what he would do if he could hop into a time machine and whisk himself back in time to have a word with his younger self. “I'd sit myself down, say 'Wayne, stay disciplined, stay focussed and always work hard.' Live the life, that is my advice to fighters,” he insisted.
“My own career has left me with great memories. I'm 37 now but can recall sparring sessions from when I was eleven. That was probably my problem because I'd been in it since I was so young so thirteen years later it became hard to maintain that focus, not rely on my power too much. Obviously you learn from your own experiences and tell fighters to train hard to maximise their ability.
“I came into the game as a hyper little kid. A busy school boy. So they decided to take me to local boxing club. I was never that good at school so this was something that I was good at – I enjoyed that. It felt great when people told me I was a good boxer. I knew it by then as well, I loved it all”
Our conversation took place as Wayne as on his way to the London premier of The Fighter. Rumour has it that the former fighter could party with the best of them during his London-based heyday. “You have to live the sport but we're not saints so you live a little between fights. You need to celebrate victory. It is about balance. Moderation, man, everything in moderation,” he purred ahead of his well-earned trip to the red carpet.
Wayne Alexander: 24-3 (18).
Alexander versus Takaloo:
Alexander against Samuels:
Wayne's KO reel:
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