John H Stracey coming up on channel
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King Tubby
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Captain Hook
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King Tubby
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Stracey reminds me of one of those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park - forgotten yet still lurking. The Bethnal Green boy left school with the words of his headmaster ringing in his ears: "I hope you make it as a boxer, because you'll never make it in anything else." Stracey made it; nobody knows what happened to the headmaster.
The path to success is never smooth, of course. Stracey was flattened in a matter of seconds by Jim Watt in the amateurs in 1968 but went to the Mexico Olympics when Watt, bizarrely, turned pro with little Jim Murray in Glasgow. Still only 18, Stracey was quickly eliminated by American southpaw Ronnie Harris (points), who went on to win the gold and do some growing; as a middleweight in the 1970s he was the only man Marvin Hagler never fancied fighting (and didn't).
But Stracey learned well from Mexico City.
He turned pro in 1969 with a young Terry Lawless and developed from a succession of easy opponents, the odd risky one and top quality sparring, as was the Cartel way - one of his regular sparring partners was Ken Buchanan, who raves about the Londoner in his countless autobiographies. Stracey was actually not dissimilar to the great Scot, with long arms, clever moves, a cold, ruthless streak and great stamina.
He was incredibly busy in his early pro years and shrugged off one or two surprise (but unscarring) setbacks to graduate to the British and European welterweight titles in some style. He flattened Coventry's Bobby Arthur for the Lonsdale Belt (first time they met, Stracey flattened Arthur after the bell and was slung out) and leading Frenchman Roger Menetrey for the EBU belt in Paris. Menetry, 52-5-1 going in, had just gone 15 rounds with Cuban great Jose Napoles.
With hindsight, Stracey was fighting way too often (43 fights in his first five years as a pro) but the Menetry win, and one over Ernie Lopez, elevated him to the higher echelons of world class and Mickey Duff had the clout to secure a world title showdown with Napoles in the scary altitude of Mexico City in December 1975. John was given no chance. "Mantequilla" was Floyd Mayweather - a welterweight sensation, a 'trade' sensation, a champion at home (he lived in Mexico City), a boxing great - to Stracey's Ricky Hatton. But Stracey knew all about Mexico City and in a Mexican bull ring, with a Mexican referee, pulled off one of the greatest British boxing wins of all time, climbing off the floor in the first round to punch Napoles to a standstill in the sixth, when Octavio Meyran waved "No Mas".
It went downhill fast. Stracey made one successful defence against faded American Hedgemon Lewis (staged at Wembley on a Saturday morning to suit American TV) but then the softest challenger his management could find, Carlos Palomino, a man held to a draw by Lewis, picked Stracey apart in 12 - really broke him up. A peak Dave "Boy" Green also thumped the Londoner.
And that was basically that.
The path to success is never smooth, of course. Stracey was flattened in a matter of seconds by Jim Watt in the amateurs in 1968 but went to the Mexico Olympics when Watt, bizarrely, turned pro with little Jim Murray in Glasgow. Still only 18, Stracey was quickly eliminated by American southpaw Ronnie Harris (points), who went on to win the gold and do some growing; as a middleweight in the 1970s he was the only man Marvin Hagler never fancied fighting (and didn't).
But Stracey learned well from Mexico City.
He turned pro in 1969 with a young Terry Lawless and developed from a succession of easy opponents, the odd risky one and top quality sparring, as was the Cartel way - one of his regular sparring partners was Ken Buchanan, who raves about the Londoner in his countless autobiographies. Stracey was actually not dissimilar to the great Scot, with long arms, clever moves, a cold, ruthless streak and great stamina.
He was incredibly busy in his early pro years and shrugged off one or two surprise (but unscarring) setbacks to graduate to the British and European welterweight titles in some style. He flattened Coventry's Bobby Arthur for the Lonsdale Belt (first time they met, Stracey flattened Arthur after the bell and was slung out) and leading Frenchman Roger Menetrey for the EBU belt in Paris. Menetry, 52-5-1 going in, had just gone 15 rounds with Cuban great Jose Napoles.
With hindsight, Stracey was fighting way too often (43 fights in his first five years as a pro) but the Menetry win, and one over Ernie Lopez, elevated him to the higher echelons of world class and Mickey Duff had the clout to secure a world title showdown with Napoles in the scary altitude of Mexico City in December 1975. John was given no chance. "Mantequilla" was Floyd Mayweather - a welterweight sensation, a 'trade' sensation, a champion at home (he lived in Mexico City), a boxing great - to Stracey's Ricky Hatton. But Stracey knew all about Mexico City and in a Mexican bull ring, with a Mexican referee, pulled off one of the greatest British boxing wins of all time, climbing off the floor in the first round to punch Napoles to a standstill in the sixth, when Octavio Meyran waved "No Mas".
It went downhill fast. Stracey made one successful defence against faded American Hedgemon Lewis (staged at Wembley on a Saturday morning to suit American TV) but then the softest challenger his management could find, Carlos Palomino, a man held to a draw by Lewis, picked Stracey apart in 12 - really broke him up. A peak Dave "Boy" Green also thumped the Londoner.
And that was basically that.
Wasnt Napoles a very very faded force when Stacey met him though, unlike floyd who's still top of his game?bennie wrote:John was given no chance. "Mantequilla" was Floyd Mayweather - a welterweight sensation, a 'trade' sensation, a champion at home (he lived in Mexico City), a boxing great - to Stracey's Ricky Hatton.
.
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Old bones Ian
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Napoles was definatly on the downside , but he was still heavily favoured to beat Stracey, and after the 1st round you wouldn't have put any money on John to comeback, he had been badly hurt and floored.
Terry Lawless was instumental in the win, Stracey was worried about the altitude of Mexico City, he had boxed there in the Olympics and said he was knackered after jogging 20 yards. So Lawless contacted Dr Neil Phillips who had prepared a plan for the England football team in the 1970 Mexico world cup. They put in a plan for Stracey to train at a higher altitude than Mexico City, so when the fight took place John would be coming down to a lower altitude. It worked.
Terry Lawless was instumental in the win, Stracey was worried about the altitude of Mexico City, he had boxed there in the Olympics and said he was knackered after jogging 20 yards. So Lawless contacted Dr Neil Phillips who had prepared a plan for the England football team in the 1970 Mexico world cup. They put in a plan for Stracey to train at a higher altitude than Mexico City, so when the fight took place John would be coming down to a lower altitude. It worked.
True, Napoles was cut-prone, had struggled with Mando Muniz in the build-up and nobody knew his age - but it's all a bit like labelling Neil Armstrong a small astronaut. Napoles was a truly great welterweight. He had destroyed another Cartel hope, Ralph Charles, at Wembley three years earlier, knocking Charles clean out of the ring, and had a 'thing' for accuracy and fighting opponents twice, almost as if he hadn't picked enough holes in them first time.
He was brilliant in rematches.
You know, there are many who believe Napoles would have beaten Stracey in a rematch (had he looked for it), and he probably would. Sadly, John H. was all punched out at 26.
He was brilliant in rematches.
You know, there are many who believe Napoles would have beaten Stracey in a rematch (had he looked for it), and he probably would. Sadly, John H. was all punched out at 26.
At that stage I think Napoles was more comparable to the Tszyu that Hatton fought, though Napoles was more active and a better all round fighter than Kostya.Wales wrote:Wasnt Napoles a very very faded force when Stacey met him though, unlike floyd who's still top of his game?bennie wrote:John was given no chance. "Mantequilla" was Floyd Mayweather - a welterweight sensation, a 'trade' sensation, a champion at home (he lived in Mexico City), a boxing great - to Stracey's Ricky Hatton.
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In view of this, for me Stracey's win over Napoles, was better than Hattons over Tszyu, particularly being so far away from home, in a very hostile environment.
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Old bones Ian
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Oh absolutely - I don't think from what I have seen that Napoles (even in his prime) was as good, quite, as Mayweather is currently.Wales wrote:I wasnt discrediting the win, just the similarity between napoles and Mayweather, one being n the slide the other being on the very top of his game.
But then Ricky didn't win.