Willie Toweel, champion haunted by ring death
● Willie Toweel, who died at the age of 83 on Christmas Day after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s, was one of South Africa’s greatest boxers despite being haunted by the death of an opponent in 1956.
His slick scientific style in the ring won him fans and plaudits around the world — and it also allowed him to shed his killer instinct after Hubert Essakow died in the hours following their bout at Johannesburg City Hall.
Toweel suffered a nervous breakdown. “He was always religious, but after that he went to mass every single day and prayed for his soul,” said Alan Toweel jnr, son of Willie’s brother and trainer, Alan.
“He was never the same after the Essakow fight,” said boxing historian Ron Jackson. “Sometimes he’d hurt a fighter and then pull back.”
Four years later Toweel was disqualified for hitting Jannie Botes low in another bout at Joburg’s city hall. “Willie [explained] it was the same venue and he saw Essakow and he needed to get out of the ring, so he hit him low,” said Jackson.
Four divisions
Up until the Essakow fight Toweel boasted a knockout ratio of nearly 73%, but that dropped to below 30% afterwards.
Toweel, who won an Olympic flyweight bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Games, came from the famous Fighting Toweel family, bantamweight brother Vic winning South Africa’s only undisputed world title in 1950.
Willie challenged for the same world title against Robert Cohen in 1955 and, in spite of being dropped four times, got up to earn a draw.
He remains the only South African to have won national titles in four divisions — bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.
Internationally he was also world ranked as a lightweight, beating England’s former world champion Jimmy Carter in a 1957 bout, the footage of which was used for instructional purposes by the London Schools Amateur Boxing Association.
In his last significant victory, at New York’s renowned Madison Square Garden in 1959, Toweel outpointed highly rated Len Matthews despite going in as a 3-1 underdog. That performance earned him comparisons to two all-time ring greats, Sugar Ray Robinson and Willie Pep.
Toweel, unable to secure a shot at then world lightweight champion Joe Brown, became a ring official and was responsible for bringing Stan Christodoulou into the game.
“He gave me tips that I still use today,” said Christodoulou, inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.
As a trainer Toweel groomed future world champions Brian Mitchell and Sugarboy Malinga and steered Piet Crous to the WBA cruiserweight crown in 1984.
“Even in his 50s Willie used to spar with his fighters and they used to say they couldn’t believe how strong he was,” said boxing statistician Andre de Vries.
‘I learnt to forgive myself’
Flamboyant trainer Nick Durandt started out as Toweel’s bucket boy, but lured all his boxers away overnight, all but ending Toweel’s career as a trainer.
Toweel was genial, approachable to fans and loyal to his friends.
He was also reputed to be unbeatable in the street.
One story goes that at a boxing tournament at Ellis Park, a fighter in one of the heavier divisions got into an altercation with students from Rand Afrikaans University, now the University of Johannesburg.
He called on the smaller Toweel for help, and the retired fighter stormed to his aid, decking his friend’s opponents, one after the other.
In his last professional bout, in 1960, Toweel was stopped by Emile Griffith, a future world welterweight champion who two years later killed challenger Benny Paret.
Griffith was inconsolable until he received a letter from Toweel.
“I learnt how to forgive myself, Emile, and you must do the same,” Toweel wrote in the missive that was published in Donald McRae’s book A Man’s World.
“You and me have to learn to roll with the punches in this life. They are often harder to deal with than the ones we got in the ring,” he wrote.
Toweel sent a similar letter to Mitchell after his tragic 1985 bout with Jacob Morake, who died after the fight.
Toweel is survived by his wife, Alida, their three daughters and five grandchildren. The funeral will be held at St Charles Catholic Church in Victory Park at 1pm on January 6.