BUNNY’S SEND OFF
Tributes paid to the brilliant Sterling at his funeral, writes Matt Christie
AROUND 70 people gathered inside the Holy Trinity Church in Stroud Green, north London, on Monday February 11 to say goodbye to Bunny Sterling, the former British, Commonwealth and European middleweight champion who died at the age of 70 on November 16 last year.
Sterling’s former stablemates, EX-WBC light-heavyweight champion John Conteh and Chris Sanigar, were in attendance as was Winston Mckenzie, who set up a Justgiving page to raise funds for the service.
Basil Sylvester Sterling was born in Jamaica in 1948 but he would soon be known as Bunny. He would become the first immigrant to win the British title when he dethroned Mark Rowe in September 1970. The victory triggered some ugly scenes at Wembley after Sterling was accused of head-butting the crowd darling on his way to a bloodsplattered victory. For Sterling, used to encountering racism – and the odd accusation of fighting dirty – the boos that cascaded down did not bother him.
His attitude was an inspiration to many. Upon the victory over Rowe, an immigrants’ organisation in Birmingham declared their loyalty to the new champion and would later travel in coaches to watch him fight.
“He always said that he knew he wanted to become a boxer,” his nephew Marcus Muirhead explained in a touching eulogy. “He would say that boxing was in his blood, it was something he knew he was born to do.
“He made his debut in 1966, aged 18,” Mr Muirhead – moved to research his uncle’s career in-depth following his death – continued. “He actually lost his first three fights so he didn’t have an auspicious start to his boxing career. However, it was something he knew he wanted to do. He went on to win a number of fights and in 1970 he became the first Caribbean from the Windrush generation to win the British title.
“His trainer George Francis took a lot of abuse for training my uncle. There was a lot of racism at that time, there were a lot of struggles for black fighters.”
Francis fought fiercely against this prejudice.
“I have had him since he was 15,” Francis told Boxing News in 1970. “He used to be a shy, skinny boy but all that’s changed. No promoter or matchmaker has helped Bunny get where he is. He has worked his way up and I feel a sense of achievement because it has been difficult, especially as Bunny’s a coloured boxer.”
Sterling enjoyed significant success, both a testament to his skills and his bloody mindedness. He would retire in 1977 with a record of 35-18-4 (14) which also included victories over Maurice Hope, Tom Bogs and Rudiger Schmidtke.
Like so many former boxers, he struggled with dementia and his finances in later years.
“For those who knew him, it would have been hard to see him that state, knowing that he was a very vibrant person,” said Marcus. “He was quite softly spoken, and he had a great sense of humour. He definitely had an independent streak.”
While Sterling – whose final resting place is the St Pancras and Islington Cemetery in Finchley – would regale the family with stories of his career, what they remember the most is a funny man, and a wickedly funny man at that.
“I remember growing up and spending time in my uncle’s company. I remember his sense of humour – he had these Siamese cats that were like twins and he would use them like guard dogs to scare my cousin, who had a fear of cats anyway. “My uncle would let me stay up late and let me watch old horror films. After the first 10 minutes he would switch off the lights and go upstairs and wait for me to go running away. He’d then tease me the following day saying that I couldn’t take it.
“I know my uncle would want today to be a celebration about his life and his achievements so while we are sad about his passing, I would like everybody to raise a toast and glass to my uncle, Bunny Sterling.”
We’ll drink to that; Bunny Sterling, a fighter who really made a difference.
‘HE WOULD SAY THAT BOXING WAS IN HIS BLOOD, HE WAS BORN TO DO IT’