how good was maurice hope?

[stevieb_8006]

never saw him and cant find much except the benitez ko.

he admirally did the brit/common/euro route b4 picking up a real belt.

can some1 fill in the gaps please?

[Poncey]

Terry "Lemon drizzle cake" Dooley wrote a story on Maurice, and even interviewed him, I think.

Pm him and he might have a copy.

[overhand_right]

Seen a few of his fights, stylish & very useful boxer, willing to fight abroad for championships, took on one of the finest fighters in all of boxing in Benitez - he handled himself well but Benitez was always ahead - great one punch kayo.

Deserves respect, a shame he seems forgotten.

[stevieb_8006]

Seen a few of his fights, stylish & very useful boxer, willing to fight abroad for championships, took on one of the finest fighters in all of boxing in Benitez - he handled himself well but Benitez was always ahead - great one punch kayo.

Deserves respect, a shame he seems forgotten.

thats what i mean. there seem less champs that get more credit/attention than him

[MightyWarrior]

Yeah Mo Hope never got the recogntion he deserved, and was fighting at an incredibly tough time in the division: If he hadn't landed an all time great like Benitez, he had Duran, Hearns and also Leonard eyeing up his much prized WBC belt. Enough to make a sane man run for the hills.

He was overshadowed in the UK by the other world champs we had at the time, Watt, Minter, Magri...even Boza Edwards, who the American networks just loved.

And I remember his last title fight at Wembley was shown live on the BBC, only for ITV to show a delayed Leonard/Duran 2 on the other side at the same bloody time! When no one had VHS...You can imagine which one drew the most attention...

He beat future middle champ Antuofermo by 15th round TKO, in Italy, a brilliant result really.

Benitez was never regarded as a puncher, but the punch he knocked out Mo with was like the crack of doom.
Benitez broke into a huge grin before Mo had even hit the canvas.

Read about their tragic final meeting, years later, in an excellent BN interview right here

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=85

[overhand_right]

AWESOME INTERVIEW.

I always wondered where Hope was now - turns out he's enjoying a long retirement in the sun of Antigua and still involved in the sport he loves - fantastic!!

What can you say about Benitez? Much of it was self-inflicted, but still sounds horrible. I bet Hope was relieved by his own life choices after meeting his old rival.

[Scrap]

Nice peice, Hope was under rated, very good Fighter. Beat some good Men, nice to see Him doing good. His Brother Lex wasnt bad either often wondered why they had different sir names.

[Old bones Ian]

Got his title win over Rocky Mattioli on tape, Maurice really puts on a boxing display in there, floors Mattioli in the 1st, then outboxes and cuts him up for a stoppage win.

One of the most complete boxing displays you'll see.