VINTAGE DOWNES
We recall three standout victories from the career of the legendary “Paddington Express” Terry Downes
WITH the passing of Terry Downes, aged 81, on October 6, not only did Britain lose its oldest surviving ex-world champion, but a unique tangible link to a long-gone golden era.
Glance through Terry’s record and you’ll see the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Joey Giardello, Paul Pender, Willie Pastrano and Don Fullmer – names that evoke a special time in boxing. A time when leading fighters were household names and the heroes of every sportsmad schoolboy. In Britain, Downes enjoyed that kind of fame.
With his all-action style, he was a worthy wearer of the “Crashing, Bashing, Dashing...” moniker first bestowed on Ted Kid Lewis. But unlike the quiet, reserved Lewis, Downes was among the fight game’s most colourful characters. Everready with a dry witticism or newsworthy quote, he was a sportswriter’s dream.
It’s been 53 years since Terry’s last fight, so let’s remind ourselves of three of his finest nights – all, incidentally, at Wembley’s Empire Pool.
vs JOEY GIARDELLO, Oct 1960 THIS fight brought Terry US recognition and put him in the mix for a world-title challenge. At the time, Giardello boasted 107 pro bouts to Downes’ 30 and a few months earlier had drawn with Gene Fullmer for the NBA version of the 160lb world crown. Boxing News was one of the few publications that picked Terry to win.
The American probably expected Downes’ usual tearaway tactics, but against tough-guy Giardello, Terry felt this was a mistake. Instead, he surprised everyone by jabbing and moving all night.
“Apart from slight spells of danger in the third, fourth and eighth rounds, which he handled with ice-cool restraint,” wrote BN, “Downes simply waltzed his way to victory... It was a bloodless, no-knockdown battle. But the crowd loved it.”
Terry later described it as “a peak night when everything went right... it was the best I’d fought!” Mixing at world level for the first time, Downes had passed his test with flying colours. Three years later, Giardello would be world middleweight king.
vs PAUL PENDER, Jul 1961 IN January 1961, in Boston, Downes put up a gallant challenge for Pender’s world title. But he was stopped on his feet by the ref in the seventh because of awful cuts that required 12 stitches.
The July rematch saw a reversal of fortune, with Pender retiring between rounds nine and ten, ostensibly because of cuts. However, as Downes said later: “He quit because I made him quit... Maybe it was an off night. But only maybe. I broke his heart because he couldn’t hurt me.” Although victory hadn’t arrived in the manner Terry would have chosen, he was, all the same, middleweight champion of the world. The Sportswriters’ Association voted him “Sportsman of the Year”, the first boxer to win that coveted award since Randolph Turpin 10 years earlier.
vs SUGAR RAY ROBINSON, Sep1962 “I DIDN’T beat Sugar Ray – I beat his ghost,” Downes said later, modestly. But victory over even a faded Robinson was a fine achievement.
Terry brought over Boston-based trainer Johnny Dunne to prepare for the fight because he knew Robinson’s style. Dunne’s advice was to keep pressing Sugar as Downes couldn’t hope to outbox him. This approach worked and Terry wore down the 41-year-old to secure the verdict in a lively 10-rounder.
“Don’t tell [promoter] Harry Levene,” said Terry, “but I’d have fought Robinson for expenses only, for the privilege of being in there with him. Sugar came out for the last round with a wonderful grandstand finish. He whipped punches at me and I thought, ‘Gawd, what must this geezer have been like 15 years ago?’”