REMEMBERING PADDY GRAHAM(S)
The latest Merseyside and Midlands newsletters trigger memories
THE current Mug’s Alley – the Merseyside Former Boxers’ Association’s monthly mag – begins with a tribute to two unrelated (as far as I know) fighters who came from Belfast and shared the same name – Paddy Graham. The older Paddy passed away on October 9, aged 87. The newsletter describes him as a “great friend and supporter of our Association… [he] used to pay periodic visits to our Association’s meetings, and it was always good to see him. He was very popular with our members, and he appeared to enjoy the atmosphere and humour a great deal.”
Paddy made his pro debut on Boxing Day 1953, outscoring Tom Bleeks at Belfast’s King’s Hall. He would appear there and the Ulster Hall many times. Out of 53 bouts he won 33 (19 inside schedule) and drew one. In 1955 he lost to Gerry Smythe in a Northern Ireland lightweight title challenge – and in 1959 a bout with Peter Sharpe (whom he had already beaten twice) for the vacant welterweight belt also ended with a points loss. But in 1962 he got revenge over Sharpe – and after three more fights he hung up his gloves as undefeated champion. He met some good people, including future British middleweight kingpin Mick Leahy (with whom he drew) and future British and Commonwealth welterweight ruler Brian Curvis.
The younger Paddy Graham turned pro in 1968, after (he felt) being cruelly overlooked for the Empire Games in Jamaica two years earlier. “There was only seven in the flyweight division that year, so you might have only had to fight once, and you’d have won a medal,” he lamented, years later. As a pro bantam Paddy won 16 and drew one of 29. Like his namesake, he wasn’t afraid of tackling quality opposition – and only once did he fail to go the distance.
He scored a stunning one-round win over future British featherweight title challenger Les Pickett, and twice went to Bedford to defeat local favourite Mario Stango. Stango’s people were sure their man would get revenge the second time, but I covered the bout for BN and Graham won clearly. In June 1976 Paddy met local favourite Wayne Evans in Portsmouth, in a final eliminator for the British bantamweight title, but lost on points. In the piece he recalls beating useful Tony Humm as an amateur. Tony is now an active member of the London EBA, and coincidentally I recently received an email from LEBA member
Mick Rooney, now living in Australia, who met Tony three times in the unpaid ranks. “We occasionally have a bit of banter,” Mick said. Mick goes on to say that, like LEBA President Stephen Powell, he boxed for St Pancras ABC – and in the course of a 15-year career he met some good names, including three clashes with Johnny Clark, Mickey Piner and Micky Anthony.
I’m continually stressing the need for EBAS to show they take an interest in today’s fighters – and the Central (Midlands) EBA’S current newsletter has a long piece on Anthony Joshua, from his childhood and his brushes with the law (he’s yet another case of a life being turned around by boxing – something the anti-boxing brigade can’t or won’t acknowledge). We go through his amateur career, culminating in the gold medal at London 2012, and his switch to the pros – winning, losing then regaining versions of the world heavyweight title. There’s plenty of input from Joshua himself, and he makes no excuses for when things have gone wrong – and overall he comes over as thoroughly sensible and level-headed. “I’ve learned, through everything that I’ve been through, that you have to be determined… Just set yourself a goal and try to stick to it.”
There are also a couple of interesting snippets on former British world champions Ken Buchanan and Lloyd Honeyghan – the former highlighting an incident that inspired a scene in the first
Rocky film!
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