GREAT COMPANY
I WAS thrilled to meet my hero John H. Stracey at my local ex-boxers’ association in the summer. Unfortunately, it coincided with the untimely passing of Robbie Davies Snr, who had been expected to come to the event.
John was a perfect gent. It was an absolute honour to meet him. I would have been quite contented to simply shake his hand and receive an autograph, but he sent me posters and a CD of him singing too. Apparently he does this for all of his fans.
John was so humble. He spent time chatting to me and my friends, telling us about his world title triumph against Jose Napoles in 1975. I still regard this win as one of the best victories of all time for a British boxer.
Thanks for the great day that you gave me, John. Christopher Byrne, Liverpool
THE CASE FOR MICHALCZEWSKI
DARIUSZ MICHALCZEWSKI should be in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, but probably won’t get in now. This is despite him being a former WBA, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight champion, and an EX-WBO cruiserweight champ too. He won 25 world title fights in total during his career.
I have always had a problem with the Hall of Fame’s selection process. There are too many people in it, and some of the inductees have no long-lasting world title reigns to speak of, and that includes the likes of Ingemar Johansson, Sonny Liston and Ken Norton.
I have my doubts as to whether Vitali Klitschko will be inducted into the Hall, even though he won 15 world heavyweight title fights during his career. Perhaps Europe should create its own Hall of Fame as a counter to the Canastota, New York version. John Ross
PULLING POWER
IT makes me laugh the way Joseph Parker and Deontay Wilder call out Anthony Joshua and insist on making the running in negotiations. What do they actually bring to the table, apart from their world title belts?
In my opinion, Parker got a lucky decision over Hughie Fury in his last fight, while Wilder just went over old ground against Bermane Stiverne in what was a non-fight.
Joshua has fought in front of around 90,000 and 80,000 people respectively in his last two fights. Parker and Wilder need to be realistic. John Kelly