The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Bunny Sterling, the first Caribbean immigrant to win UK boxing title
Former boxing champion Bunny Sterling, the first Caribbean immigrant to win a British title, has died aged 70.
Sterling, who beat Mark Rowe to win the British middleweight title in 1970 went on to become European champion in 1976.
He passed away after a four-year battle with dementia.
Sterling, who was trained by George Francis, moved to London from Jamaica with his family at the age of eight and retired from boxing in 1978 after 12 years in the ring.
He spent much of his life living in Tottenham, north London, where he moved at the age of six.
Although he lost his first three professional boxing contests in 1966, he went on an eight-fight winning streak and claimed his first title, Southern Area middleweight, within two years of turning professional.
Despite failing to win his next four fights, Sterling won the chance to meet British middleweight titleholder Rowe in 1970, taking his British and Commonwealth titles.
He added the European belt to his collection with a 13thround stoppage of Frank Reiche in Germany.
Sterling retired the following year with a record of 35-18-4.
Simon Block, honorary secretary of the Commonwealth Boxing Council, said: “Bunny Sterling carved out his career in Britain as one of the early wave of immigrants from the Caribbean and went on to meet – and often beat – some of the best middleweights of the era including future and former world champions Maurice Hope and Luis Rodrigues, and such notables as Wally Swift, Mark Rowe, Harry Scott and Kevin Finnegan, champions all.
“He also upset the applecart by going into local heroes’ own backyards and, against the script, not losing.
“For example, Dane Tom Bogs, German Rudiger Schmidtke and Aussie Tony Mundine.
“Despite their talents, British boxers in the ’60s and ’70s who either came from the Caribbean or were born to immigrant families from there were generally not as well supported as some of their indigenous counterparts.
“So it is unlikely that Bunny received the kind of financial reward that was earned by those that followed in the next couple of decades, such as Frank Bruno, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn etc.
“His record shows almost no easy matching and the fact that he was so successful against the odds, speaks well of his character and ability.
“Any analysis of his record reveals that he should be recognised as one of Jamaica and Britain’s ‘greats’ but during his active years and in retirement his achievements have tended to be undersung in comparison to many of his contemporaries.”