Boxer's from your area..?

[Dynamite Kid]

Don Broadhurst,Frankie Gavin,Pat Cowdell, Peter Till.

[Richie-G]

freddie mills is the only ever world champion from bournemouth, i think. also, steve bendall trains in bournemouth sometimes.

[mickey malone]

Don Broadhurst,Frankie Gavin,Pat Cowdell, Peter Till.

I always used to get Peter Till muddled up with Andy Till, the former British light-middleweight champ.. However, they're not related, and i think Peter was a lightweight..
I'll never forget the night Pat Cowdell took on Azumah Nelson.. I rushed home to see it, but mainly for Tim Witherspoon vs Jorge Luis Gonzalez, which was on the undercard.. Pat had completed 15 rounds against the legendary Salvador Sanchez, only to be knocked stone-cold out by Nelson in the 1st.. Even as they touched gloves, Cowdell was a light shade of grey without a drop of sweat on him.. Nelson then went back to his corner and immediately said to his trainer, "He's cold, i'm gonna take him out now."

[mickey malone]

freddie mills is the only ever world champion from bournemouth, i think. also, steve bendall trains in bournemouth sometimes.

You've got Scott Dann and Tony 'cokey' Oakey just down the road..

[1SILVA]

Lol... There's a vid knocking about somwhere on YouTube of him, stoned as plank.. Incredible that he's still fighting when you think about it..

I'm shocked that he hasn't died of an overdose yet.

[StarshipTrooper]

I've lived in Thailand for the past 7 years, but i'd spent most of my plausible life (30yrs) just on the very outskirts of East London, and within a 10 mile radius, of where quite a few well known fighters also lived; most of whom i've met, and was even fortunate enough to have trained with one or two of them as well..

John H Stracey, Frank Bruno, Terry Marsh and Nigel Benn, were all often seen and just up the road from me..

In the local gym, (early 80's) we had guys like John Moody, who came very close to winning the British lhwt title in a terrific fight! and Ian Strudwick, a good defensive fighter, who beat Errol Christie & gave Steve Collins a few problems.. Phill Soundy too, who was a very solid up and coming CW, (and a friend) who retired at 28, grief-stricken at the tragic ring death of Bradley Stone (vs Richie Wenton - British BW title - June 1994) who was also a mutual pal.. Then there was Georgie Smith, who looked like he was gonna go places at LWW, when he decides to beat up an old man in a pub, go to prison, and get banned.. By this time, he was already heavilly into drugs..

I won't be surprised if nobody's heard of at least, some of the above, but they're all from my own doorstep so to speak.. The next big prospect incidently, is LW, Kevin Mitchell from Dagenham.. He's just beaten Prescott, (conquerer of Khan) and looks like a future titlist..

It would be interesting to hear about any of the fighters who have adorned, or currently living in your manor/hood ?...

It doesn't matter if the fighters in question wern't 'big names,' or you never got a chance to speak with them.. Journeymen, prospects & legends alike, are all welcome on this thread..

It'd just be interesting to read about some of your memories on any professional boxers, who you always cheered on, and were almost considered, 'your own'..
Regards mm

There's a few name fighters from my area but they're outside the 10 mile limit.

Poet

[mickey malone]

There's a few name fighters from my area but they're outside the 10 mile limit.

Poet

Well throw em in anyway.. The 10 mile radius is more of a quaranteened durestriction for the likes of sunnygirl..

[StarshipTrooper]

Well throw em in anyway.. The 10 mile radius is more of a quaranteened durestriction for the likes of sunnygirl..

Just off the top of my head:

Ray Leonard
Rid**** Bowe
Simon Brown
Maurice Blocker

Poet

[hhascup]

I live in North Jersey so I have too many to count. I meet a lot of them every month, including Emile Griffith, Vito Antuofermo, Iran Brakley, Chuck Wepner, Gerry Cooney, Randy Neumann, Bobby Czyz, Paulie Malignaggi, Junior Jones, Zab Judah, Buddy McGirt, Tony Ayala, Livingstone Bramble, Kirk Johnson, Jameel McCline, Stefan Redl, Virgil Hill, Imamu Mayfield, Maurice Harris, Mark Medal, Saoul Mamby, Tracy Harris Patterson, Ivan Robinson, Leo Randolph, Joey Gamache, Juan LaPorte, Johnny Bumphus, Rocky Lockridge, Omar Sheika, Freddy Curiel, Hector Camacho, Charles Murray, Jimmy Dupree, Johnny Persol, Richie Kates, Bobby Joe Young, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Eric Harding, James Scott, Rubin Hurricane Carter, Sammy Goss, Harold Knight, Mark Breland, Kendall Holt and George Khalid Jones.

I also was friends with former Champions and contenders that are no longer with us, such as Mickey Walker, Freddie Red Cochrane, Tippy Larkin, Ike Williams, Willie LaMorte, Joe Borrell, Tommy Elm, Paul Cavaliere, Charley Fusari, Freddie Russo, Joe Miceli, Tony Galento, Arturo Gatti, Freddie Archer, Gene "Ace" Armstrong, Vince Martinez, Allie Stolz and Solly Seeman, just to name a few.

[DeepSleep]

The guys you fought at amateur level, have all got off to good starts as pro's, so i'd imagine you've got some good experiece there.. Aleem Whitfield in particular; looks like a bit of a beast!.. And Rashad Evans!.. Now that's just plain dangerous, but fair play for partaking in both disciplines..

What was the story with Messi?.. The last i heard, he'd failed a brain scan after the Jirov fight, and had his license revoked.. Is that why he never came back?

I'm surprised you have seen Aleem Whitfield, of the four I mentioned I thought he would be the least known especially in comparison to Porter and Thompson who both beat him in the amateurs.

Funny thing about Evans is I have a lot of friends whose older brother's either wrestled against him or played football against him as he went to one of my high school's biggest rivals. Most remember him as the running back on Niagara-Wheatfield who was hell to tackle.

Mesi got a brain bleed because of a rabbit punch in the Jirov fight. After he tried to get his license renewed in Nevada and he filed lawsuits against news outlets who had reported about his injury but he was unsuccessful at both. 2 years after the fight he had got his license in smaller states and Puerto Rico and fought about 6 or 7 times against limited competition winning handily in each. Finally he realized that his best days were behind him and he should focus on his health, he took his popularity in the Buffalo region and used it to run for New York Senate. He won the ********ic primary and lost the election and then accepted a cushy government job where I believe he currently resides. He is a very nice guy in real life it's a shame his career got sidetracked by such a lame rabbit punch but at least he is healthy and happy.