forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

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johnnykayo
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forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by johnnykayo »

how many can remember the great welsh heavyweight david pierce ? he was a tough fighter in his day and fought some good uns,he was also a unlicensed fighter and if i remember rightly he died of a brain tumour ? alec steene was his manager,dave had a big fan base in newport. his cousin im sure was a professional goalkeeper,dave has gotta be one of the best welsh heavyweights we,ve had for many years. alongside tommy farr,dick richardson,joe erskine,carl gizzi,jack peterson,johnny williams etc.
funso banjo baby
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by funso banjo baby »

for some reason the British title was never on the cards for the young Frank Bruno's team. a shame for both Meade and Pearce. they were probably considered a shade too seasoned at that stage in his development.
bennie
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by bennie »

I watched him flatten a decent Belgian, Al Syben, in the first round back in the day. He could punch and he loved to fight but he never recovered from a 12-round beating he took against Lucien Rodriguez for the European title, even though he nearly stopped Rodriguez in one of the middle rounds.
His best performance came against Gordon Ferris, a really good Irish heavyweight living in Brum. The fight was screened on the Beeb and Pearce mauled Ferris.
ERIC GUY
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by ERIC GUY »

He sparred with Lennox a few times, nice guy
lukep
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by lukep »

Pearce knocked down Rodriquez 3 times in 2 rounds of the EBU Heavyweight Title Fight even though it was in a Football sized ring away from home in France, Limoges and had slept on a bench the night before the fight...!

The scores was close and if it had been judged with today's scoring he would have won hands down as he was the aggressor the whole way through the fight and on two of the Knockdowns the champion was down for over 10 seconds.

Pearce fought with 2 Broken hands and dropped the champion who even Larry Holmes couldn't move over 12!


Lucien Rodriquez said at the end of his career David Pearce was his hardest Fight.

Albert Syben said when asked what he thought of David Pearce in terms of his legacy "The White Tyson"
palooka
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by palooka »

mercman wrote:I remember David Pearce well. He was a rugged and hard-hitting but fairly small heavyweight. In fact, he would probably be a cruiserweight nowadays. I recall that Dave Pearce was from a sporting family. I think a couple of his brothers were pro boxers too.

I remember Pearce beating another Welshman, Neville Meade, to win the British title, and making a game but losing challenge for the European heavyweight title. Pearce was outpointed by Lucien Rodriguez and took quite a bit of punishment despite knocking the champion down (Rodriguez was down at least once, maybe twice. I can't remember properly now, we're talking twenty-five years ago now). I heard his preparations for the European title were not the best, unfortunately. I believe Pearce slept rough the night before he fought Rodriguez.

Pearce failed a brain scan soon after the Rodriguez fight and was never allowed to box professionally again in the UK, despite many attempts to regain his licence. Eventually he went to the US and had one last fight, which was a mistake. Pearce took a sustained beating from a 20 stone Purcell Davis. I believe he died a few years after that, in distressed circumsatnces: I think he was living back with his father, unwell, and unemployed. A sad end for a brave and well-liked fighter. Apparently he was very popular and well-liked in his local area. I hear that a lot of the up-and-coming heavyweights of the early-80s, incuding Frank Bruno, didn't fancy fighting Dave Pearce.
He beat Balby boxer Malc Tetley inside a round.
palooka
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by palooka »

Malc lives at the top of my street, he has kept in good nick, he's not arsed about anyone.
lukep
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by lukep »

Respect to Mal
reggaereggae
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by reggaereggae »

I remember the name never saw him fight. Sounds like a character.

Any YouTube vids?
lukep
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by lukep »

Watch this Pearce in his Prime he was such a nice guy out of the ring

http://www.johnnyowen.com/Boxing%20Clip ... erris.html

Hope you enjoy this just shows if he fought today under someone like Eddie Hearn he would
Have been loved and would have made an Excellent Cruiserweight or Light Heavyweight world Champion.

Hope you all enjoy
Bricks
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by Bricks »

Malc tetley is a hard bastard .I saw him slap up some one in a pub who was embarrassing a young couple.proper gent
palooka
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by palooka »

Malc went into The Fairway in Balby and put some flyers on the bar naming some of the local drug dealers and stating that they were to blame for the old folk not daring to go out after dark. He bumped into one of the men and knocked him spark out - the younger man was maybe 25 years old and had a reputation, Tetley was in his late 50's.
handsofstone
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by handsofstone »

palooka wrote:Malc went into The Fairway in Balby and put some flyers on the bar naming some of the local drug dealers and stating that they were to blame for the old folk not daring to go out after dark. He bumped into one of the men and knocked him spark out - the younger man was maybe 25 years old and had a reputation, Tetley was in his late 50's.
Thats proper old school that :salut:
palooka
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by palooka »

handsofstone wrote:
palooka wrote:Malc went into The Fairway in Balby and put some flyers on the bar naming some of the local drug dealers and stating that they were to blame for the old folk not daring to go out after dark. He bumped into one of the men and knocked him spark out - the younger man was maybe 25 years old and had a reputation, Tetley was in his late 50's.
Thats proper old school that :salut:
Oh, he's one on his own - he set up a private security firm to patrol the streets around some of the less salubrious areas in Doncaster and because his name was out there certain crimes dropped. The police weren't that pleased and to be fair he's had a chequered past himself; he's no angel.
misterpunch
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by misterpunch »

taking the law into his own hands? I'm appalled. outraged. this is the end of civilized society as we know it.


(good on ya, malc)
wesshaw1985
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by wesshaw1985 »

where is Scott Gammer?
ERIC GUY
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by ERIC GUY »

I remember david pearce coming to trin with Lennox at the henry cooper gym one weekend, I think Jurgen Blin was there with his son Knutte to spar with Lennox, I have the video somewhere in storage
ERIC GUY
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by ERIC GUY »

I remember david pearce coming to train with Lennox at the henry cooper gym one weekend, I think Jurgen Blin was there with his son Knutte to spar with Lennox, I have the video somewhere in storage
palooka
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by palooka »

Dave Jules also went down to spar Lennox, have you a recording Eric or were you present? Cheers
ERIC GUY
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by ERIC GUY »

I filmed most of the sparring for Lennox, I think we just went over the footage after a while, tho I have some stuff, I will need to see, guys I remember, jurgen blin, john westgarth, mick cordan, dave jules, gerry goff, trevor currie, chris jacobs, dave pearce, lorenzo canady,
bennie
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by bennie »

Dave is probably best remembered for his exciting win over Gordon Ferris for the British title but he also stopped Dennis Andries in a catchweight affair on an early F rank Warren show in London, a win which looks very good in hindsight. It restored the Pearce family honour, Andries having stopped Dave's elder brother Ray in Newport a few years earlier.
lukep
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by lukep »

ERIC GUY wrote:I remember david pearce coming to train with Lennox at the henry cooper gym one weekend, I think Jurgen Blin was there with his son Knutte to spar with Lennox, I have the video somewhere in storage
He did well didn't he :TU:
lukep
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by lukep »

ERIC GUY wrote:I remember david pearce coming to train with Lennox at the henry cooper gym one weekend, I think Jurgen Blin was there with his son Knutte to spar with Lennox, I have the video somewhere in storage
Can you still reproduce the footage onto DVD of David Pearce Eric?
CharlesListon
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Re: forgotten welsh heavyweight,dave pierce

Post by CharlesListon »

David Pearce was from a good, big family. Brothers Bimbo and Gary were also pros.
He's got a gym in Newport named after him (he died a few years back...very young age)
His nephew was in the army but left and has joined the RAF as a pilot which is unheard of.

He was in some cracking contests back in the day.
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