DOWNES’ FINAL BELL

BRITAIN’S former world middleweight champion Terry Downes has died at the age of 81.

Downes (right) excited fans with his aggressive, hardhitting style and claimed his world crown in 1961 before beating a fading Sugar Ray Robinson.

The Londoner, who spent two years in the US Marines, also took the British and Commonwealth middleweight belts. The high point of his career came in his trilogy with Paul Pender, losing his world title to the American in Boston in April 1962 on points. That September, he beat Robinson on points, although he admitted: “I didn’t beat Sugar Ray, I beat his ghost.” Downes retired at 28 with a record of 35 wins, 28 inside the distance, and nine defeats. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2012.