Steve Robinson - & His Son

[Taansend]

Apparently his son turns pro soon which got me reminiscing about the amazing run The Cinderella Man had back in the early 90's.

I'm sure most born before 1980 remember it all well (& have something to contribute) but here's my take on the whole extraordinary affair.

Maurizio Stecca was the first WBO Featherweight Champion. A fantastic amateur boxer who won Olympic Gold in LA in 1984 (when the US pretty much swept the board), he was the darling of the newly fledged WBO who let him fight for its vacant title TWICE & defend it against some terrible opposition.

Eventually he has to defend his belt against Sweet C Colin McMillan who puts on a masterful performance to take the crown. McMillan loses the belt in his first defence against uber tough but limited Colombian Ruben Palacios when Colins shoulder went.

Before that bout some were talking about McMillan as being Britains answer to Ray Leonard or something I was certainly onboard & it was an exciting time for the UK as we also had Paul Hodgkinson as World Champ while there were plenty of very tough British/Euro level fighters in Sean Murphy, Gary De Roux & John Davidson (more on him later). We also had one of my all time favourite fighters Duke McKenzie in his 3rd weight reign at 122 and a kid named Naseem Hamed blowing everyone away at Bantamweight.

So, Palacios gets brought back to the UK to defend against Davidson in Newcastle, with the winner to fight McMillan when he returns but fails a blood test a few days before the fight when he turns up with HIV. In steps Steve Robinson at 48 hours notice with his 13-9-1 record (although he had been improving & had beaten a highly touted French prospect) & he was coming off a loss two months earlier.

I remember it was a great bout & being amazed but I can't recall any details other than I thought Robinson won with rounds to spare although it was scored a split decision.

Suddenly the young Welsh kid is a World Champion but it won't be for long as the division is so talented.

First defence was Sean Murphy from the North London area. He'd lost his British title in a barnburner to De Roux & then lost on points to McMillan but he was definitely too good for Robinson. Except no-one told Steve & he stopped Sean in the 9th.

No problem, Sweet C was next. He was The Future & will easily outpoint the Welshman, even if the fight is in front of a fervent crowd in Cardiff. Wrong again, Robinson puts on a great performance to outpoint the smooth boxer.

Now people are taking notice. This bloke has gone from losing 8 rounders to beating quality champions, all in a matter of months. It was incredible.

So now he has a test of wills against Hoko a mad punching Scouser who had won by KO in 21 of his 22 wins. He had skills too with a great bobbing & weaving style but his Achilles heel was his eyes, if that makes any sense Hodgkinson had lost his 1st world title bout against Marcos Villasana when his eyes were so swollen he couldn't continue in the 8th. He rebounded to beat Villasana & make 3 defences before losing in an upset to Gregorio Vargas, who I thought oozed class in that bout & was sure he'd go on to be a great champion. Anyway, Hoko was straight back in with a title shot against Robinson & was expected to win by most. It didn't work out that way as the Welshman stopped him in the final round.

All of this, from losing a fight in France to winning & defending the title against three fighter he was expected to lose against happened in the space of 13 months

Robinson made four more defences, including against my man McKenzie, before being forced to fight mandatory contender Naseem Hamed for a purse much less than he deserved (allegedly ) due to some behind the scenes shennanigans. Naz was at his peak & toyed with Robinson before stopping him in 8.

I'm sure plenty of you lot can correct me on things my memory has mixed up but it was a brilliant time to be a British Boxing fan & the fights were on telly all the time. Even the Murphy v De Roux fight which was a cracker.

Sorry for the long post but Steve is a f*cking legend Best of luck to his son.

[Dirk Kelly]

Great fighter and has always come across as a gent when interviewed.

Didn’t he nearly loose the opportunity as he was a part time warehouse man on £90 a week so didn’t have a phone and they were hunting hi and lo for him?

[Taansend]

Great fighter and has always come across as a gent when interviewed.

Didn’t he nearly loose the opportunity as he was a part time warehouse man on £90 a week so didn’t have a phone and they were hunting hi and lo for him?

According to this he'd quit the warehouse 3 weeks earlier......

Fate, eh

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/robi ... 03303.html

[Coco]

His older boy is a pro too http://boxrec.com/hu/boxer/559278

[REEVE]

Watching Steve’s fight against naz is what got me interested properly in boxing I’ve been hooked since

[Mimmy]

What Steve did was a brilliant achievement by a boxer whos best win previous to John Davison was possibly Paul Harvey for the WBA Penta title, however he did beat Peter Harris who was a decent bantam come featherweight (who had 2 decent scraps with Paul Hodkinson) for the Welsh title. I'm not sure if Steve Robinson had the desire early on in his career and was possibly resigned to be a journeyman and make some money along the way to increase his monthly wage packet.

Coming in to fight John Davison on short notice after being beaten by Mehdi Labdouni (who had a record that suggested he was better than he really was, who did actually go on to beat Duke McKenzie for the European title but lose it to Billy Hardy then retake it from Hardy some 36 months later but getting knocked out by Michael Ayers for the IBO title in 1 round) was a great win for Robinson who took the vacant WBO featherweight title back to Wales but lets not over exaggerate the fete that Robinson did that night. He beat Davison on a narrow split decision. however Davison was a tough Geordie only getting stopped once in his 5 defeats. Davison was stopped in 4 rounds by Duke McKenzie in his final fight but if i remember rightly Davison was picked off for 4 rounds and the referee stopped the fight as it seemed Davison had no desire. McKenzie wasnt a concussive puncher but had a good work rate that wore down his opponents until they were stopped.

I'm not going to dispute the fact that Robinson coming in at short notice to win a world title wasnt a great fete but he wasnt fighting someone regarded the best in the world at that division. While John Davison was his opponent he wasnt really anything more than British level. What Robinson did after that fight however did show that he was a decent world champion to defend that title 7 times. Not something many world champions do these days.

Robinson's first defense he knocked out another British level fighter Sean Murphy who was touted as a big thing back in his day but it just didnt come together for him. Murphy knocked out John Doherty in 3 rounds to take the vacant British featherweight title but was also knocked out by Gary DeRoux in 5 rounds in his second defense and a fight or 2 later Colin McMillan stopped him and after Robinson Billy Schwer ended his career. Again Sean Murphy wasnt a world class boxer, but a decent British level featherweight.

Robinson then defended his title to Colin McMillan, who had just come off a loss for the WBO title due to a dislocated shoulder in a very close fight that most people thought McMillan would win. Robinson gave McMillan a bloody good fight to beat him on points, and i'm quite sure most people thought McMillan would beat Robinson that night but obviously Robinson had now found the self confidence and belief that he was a world champion and could mix it with world title contenders. McMillan was another decent win but again was he really 'world class'? McMillan was a decent boxer but I dont think he was quite there in world status but not far away.

Paul Hodkinson was next and he was a world class boxer and his first attempt at a world title he was stopped by Marco Villasana in 8 rounds but was behind on all scorecards but did take the title in a rematch by boxing to a unanimous points win by several rounds on each card. He defended another 3 times in simple fashion really before getting stopped by Vargas in 7 rounds but again was behind on all 3 cards. Taking the Robinson fight almost a year later Robinson was 5 rounds in front after 11 rounds before stopping Hoko in the 12th. That was a great win for Robinson and possibly got Hoko at the right time as it was Paul's last fight and obviously knew he had nothing left to mix it with the world champions.

Freddy Cruz was next and is almost certain he was in the last stages of his career as his record would suggest but again he didnt fight anything of world statue to get or earn a world title shot, so im guessing he wasnt mandatory and was possibly picked for a easy night and the scorecards suggest it was too.

Another very good world class boxer was next in Duke McKenzie but again im going to put my head on the block by saying McKenzie's world title days were over prior to the fight with Robinson. McKenzie boxed Mark Hargreaves the fight before who had a record of 7-10 but to me showed the level that McKenzie had to go to after his long successful career as a world champion. Again Robinson fought another ex champion at the right time.

Domingo Nicolas Damigella was next up and had a record of 22-2 but lets be honest, was those victories worthy of a world title shot? Was Damigella even world ranked? So lets not get carried away by this defense. Robinson won on points but was that a worthy world title defense to get carried away with? I think not.

Pedro Ferradas was next up who had a record of 19 wins 2 draws and 1 loss but his record was worse than Damigella's to get his shot at Robinson he beat Manual Dias who had a record of no wins and 11 losses, again worthy title contender? I cannot imagine Ferradas was ranked in the top 100 but lets face it at this time the WBO was in the pockets of the British promoter so the British world champions who held the WBO belt including Chris Eubank could choose who they defended against. Anyway Robinson won in the 9th round.

It was now time to mix it with Naseem Hamed. Hamed was 19-0 and had stopped 17 of those who challenged him. Robinson gave a good fight but was clearly out of the league of world champion status, he was now fighting genuine world title contenders one of the best featherweights in the world. He was found out.

After beating Kelton McKenzie over 8 rounds Billy Hardy gave Robinson a boxing lesson over 12 for the European title, but Robinson was back to title winning ways in his next fight beating Tomas Santos Serrano (0-2-1) for the WBO intercontinental title, Serrano hadnt won a fight to earn a title shot but again this was the WBO we are talking about. Its possible that the WBO had earned a few quid in Robinson's world title victories and paved the way for him to get back into title contention as he defended the intercontinental title 4 more times.

Robinson picked up the European featherweight title and defended it 4 times including winning a split decision to Jon Jo Irwin but that was his last win as the journeyman status kicked back in for his last 6 fights that were for titles except for his final bout against Steve Conway. Finally calling it a day with a record of 32 wins 17 losses and 2 draws.

Looking back at his career record and who he fought yes he did fight 3 genuine world class boxers Welcome Ncita is in there too along with Paul Hodkinson and Naseem Hamed. Hodkinson was finished when Robinson met him and Hmaed was the up and comer.

Yes it was a great achievement by Steve Robinson what he did as a boxer from journeyman to champion but I suspect a bit of shrewd match making helped him along.

[Jackson328]

Great synopsis by Taansend and Mimmy, captured the mood of the era very well as I remember it

Not quite sure if the Hoko v Harris fights were for the Welsh title as Paul was a Scouser from Kirkby, maybe the British title? Hoko had big problems with marking up around the eyes and his style meant he was always willing to trade so no wonder his career was a relatively short but very exciting one and he won then defended a genuine world title having come up via the British and Commonwealth route. One of my favourite fighters of the 90s.

Steve Robinson really was the modern day Cinderella Man wasn't he? A really heartwarming story his career was and I felt sorry when Hamed outclassed him in front of his home fans, Robbo deserved a better finish to his career but thats the brutality of the game sometimes. Colin McMillan was a real smooth operator who we thought was destined for greatness but never really hit the heights again after that shoulder injury.

Good thread!

[Mimmy]

Great synopsis by Taansend and Mimmy, captured the mood of the era very well as I remember it

Not quite sure if the Hoko v Harris fights were for the Welsh title as Paul was a Scouser from Kirkby, maybe the British title? Hoko had big problems with marking up around the eyes and his style meant he was always willing to trade so no wonder his career was a relatively short but very exciting one and he won then defended a genuine world title having come up via the British and Commonwealth route. One of my favourite fighters of the 90s.

Steve Robinson really was the modern day Cinderella Man wasn't he? A really heartwarming story his career was and I felt sorry when Hamed outclassed him in front of his home fans, Robbo deserved a better finish to his career but thats the brutality of the game sometimes. Colin McMillan was a real smooth operator who we thought was destined for greatness but never really hit the heights again after that shoulder injury.

Good thread!

I see what you mean now ive read my piece back. I didnt mean Harris and Hoko fought for the Welsh title, Robinson and Harris did. I meant Robinson and Harris but it is written as if i am talking about Hoko, maybe i missed a commer.

[Jackson328]

Great synopsis by Taansend and Mimmy, captured the mood of the era very well as I remember it

Not quite sure if the Hoko v Harris fights were for the Welsh title as Paul was a Scouser from Kirkby, maybe the British title? Hoko had big problems with marking up around the eyes and his style meant he was always willing to trade so no wonder his career was a relatively short but very exciting one and he won then defended a genuine world title having come up via the British and Commonwealth route. One of my favourite fighters of the 90s.

Steve Robinson really was the modern day Cinderella Man wasn't he? A really heartwarming story his career was and I felt sorry when Hamed outclassed him in front of his home fans, Robbo deserved a better finish to his career but thats the brutality of the game sometimes. Colin McMillan was a real smooth operator who we thought was destined for greatness but never really hit the heights again after that shoulder injury.

Good thread!

I see what you mean now ive read my piece back. I didnt mean Harris and Hoko fought for the Welsh title, Robinson and Harris did. I meant Robinson and Harris but it is written as if i am talking about Hoko, maybe i missed a commer.

No it was my mistake, I just read it again and noticed you had put that part in brackets

[Coco]

Peter Harris, dad on Jay, the commonwealth super fly champ

[bennie]

I was always a fan of Peter Harris because he has tiny arms but still managed to beat some good men in his early bantamweight days, including the highly talented Keith Wallace, the more experienced Johnny Dorey and the previously unbeaten Roy Webb (a real nasty piece of work who liked chinning his sparring partners). Unfortunately, Peter couldn't make bantamweight for Webb, a final eliminator for the British title, but the fight still went ahead and Harris did a number on Webb before moving up to featherweight and capturing the Welsh title against Kelvin Smart (another spiteful bugger) and then the British title with a close decision over the horribly awkward Kevin Taylor (a southpaw to boot). He lost the title to Hoko but gave him a good fight in a rematch and still had enough left down the years to pull off the odd upset.

[Taansend]

I was always a fan of Peter Harris because he has tiny arms but still managed to beat some good men in his early bantamweight days, including the highly talented Keith Wallace, the more experienced Johnny Dorey and the previously unbeaten Roy Webb (a real nasty piece of work who liked chinning his sparring partners). Unfortunately, Peter couldn't make bantamweight for Webb, a final eliminator for the British title, but the fight still went ahead and Harris did a number on Webb before moving up to featherweight and capturing the Welsh title against Kelvin Smart (another spiteful bugger) and then the British title with a close decision over the horribly awkward Kevin Taylor (a southpaw to boot). He lost the title to Hoko but gave him a good fight in a rematch and still had enough left down the years to pull off the odd upset.

Cheers Bennie

Appreciate the trip down memory lane. He also fought Ray Minus who I remember as being a tough, edge of world class, competitor.

[bennie]

I was always a fan of Peter Harris because he has tiny arms but still managed to beat some good men in his early bantamweight days, including the highly talented Keith Wallace, the more experienced Johnny Dorey and the previously unbeaten Roy Webb (a real nasty piece of work who liked chinning his sparring partners). Unfortunately, Peter couldn't make bantamweight for Webb, a final eliminator for the British title, but the fight still went ahead and Harris did a number on Webb before moving up to featherweight and capturing the Welsh title against Kelvin Smart (another spiteful bugger) and then the British title with a close decision over the horribly awkward Kevin Taylor (a southpaw to boot). He lost the title to Hoko but gave him a good fight in a rematch and still had enough left down the years to pull off the odd upset.

Cheers Bennie

Appreciate the trip down memory lane. He also fought Ray Minus who I remember as being a tough, edge of world class, competitor.

Minus beat the best we had to offer for several years and he beat them in style; I wasn't surprised when he gave Miguel Lora a decent scrap for the WBC title.

[Taansend]

I was always a fan of Peter Harris because he has tiny arms but still managed to beat some good men in his early bantamweight days, including the highly talented Keith Wallace, the more experienced Johnny Dorey and the previously unbeaten Roy Webb (a real nasty piece of work who liked chinning his sparring partners). Unfortunately, Peter couldn't make bantamweight for Webb, a final eliminator for the British title, but the fight still went ahead and Harris did a number on Webb before moving up to featherweight and capturing the Welsh title against Kelvin Smart (another spiteful bugger) and then the British title with a close decision over the horribly awkward Kevin Taylor (a southpaw to boot). He lost the title to Hoko but gave him a good fight in a rematch and still had enough left down the years to pull off the odd upset.

Cheers Bennie

Appreciate the trip down memory lane. He also fought Ray Minus who I remember as being a tough, edge of world class, competitor.

Minus beat the best we had to offer for several years and he beat them in style; I wasn't surprised when he gave Miguel Lora a decent scrap for the WBC title.

Funny. They fought in the Bahamas. Back then there were plenty of fights (& fighters) from there & Jamaica. Not so many now.

[stujones]

If I remember rightly, Robinson was scheduled to face Luis Espinosa for the WBC title when he was going through his decent run between 1997 and 1999 - that would have been a nice fight and quite a tough one to call.

It was very tough how he was treated in the run up to the Hamed fight - how again was Hamed installed as mandatory challenger? The man had never fought at Featherweight... but at the same time it was also quite hard to believe, in this days when Paul Smith (as an example) can have 3 shots of the world title (4 if you count Andre Ward in a 12 rounder) - that a man with Robinson's resume, beat the likes of Jon Jo Irwin, Manuel Calvo, Andrew Matabola and drew with NcIta - was both a EBU and WBO intercontinental champion and couldn't get a fight for a proper world champion. He seemed to be forever - 1 fight from a title shot.

I'm not saying that alone was worthy of a title, but when you take into account his past - making 4 defences of the European title surely qualifies for a world title fight.

Still put in some lovely displays post Hamed, just his chin started to let him down after the Ramirez fight - he really did hurt Scott Harrison before getting tagged himself.

[thepocketrocket]

Robbo was deffo frozen out post Hamed as they wanted Hamed to get the belts.

[Taansend]

Robbo was deffo frozen out post Hamed as they wanted Hamed to get the belts.

They being Allegedly

[thepocketrocket]

Robbo was deffo frozen out post Hamed as they wanted Hamed to get the belts.

They being Allegedly

Yes, that is enough so we don't get sued!

[bennie]

What Steve did was a brilliant achievement by a boxer whos best win previous to John Davison was possibly Paul Harvey for the WBA Penta title, however he did beat Peter Harris who was a decent bantam come featherweight (who had 2 decent scraps with Paul Hodkinson) for the Welsh title. I'm not sure if Steve Robinson had the desire early on in his career and was possibly resigned to be a journeyman and make some money along the way to increase his monthly wage packet.

Coming in to fight John Davison on short notice after being beaten by Mehdi Labdouni (who had a record that suggested he was better than he really was, who did actually go on to beat Duke McKenzie for the European title but lose it to Billy Hardy then retake it from Hardy some 36 months later but getting knocked out by Michael Ayers for the IBO title in 1 round) was a great win for Robinson who took the vacant WBO featherweight title back to Wales but lets not over exaggerate the fete that Robinson did that night. He beat Davison on a narrow split decision. however Davison was a tough Geordie only getting stopped once in his 5 defeats. Davison was stopped in 4 rounds by Duke McKenzie in his final fight but if i remember rightly Davison was picked off for 4 rounds and the referee stopped the fight as it seemed Davison had no desire. McKenzie wasnt a concussive puncher but had a good work rate that wore down his opponents until they were stopped.

I'm not going to dispute the fact that Robinson coming in at short notice to win a world title wasnt a great fete but he wasnt fighting someone regarded the best in the world at that division. While John Davison was his opponent he wasnt really anything more than British level. What Robinson did after that fight however did show that he was a decent world champion to defend that title 7 times. Not something many world champions do these days.

Robinson's first defense he knocked out another British level fighter Sean Murphy who was touted as a big thing back in his day but it just didnt come together for him. Murphy knocked out John Doherty in 3 rounds to take the vacant British featherweight title but was also knocked out by Gary DeRoux in 5 rounds in his second defense and a fight or 2 later Colin McMillan stopped him and after Robinson Billy Schwer ended his career. Again Sean Murphy wasnt a world class boxer, but a decent British level featherweight.

Robinson then defended his title to Colin McMillan, who had just come off a loss for the WBO title due to a dislocated shoulder in a very close fight that most people thought McMillan would win. Robinson gave McMillan a bloody good fight to beat him on points, and i'm quite sure most people thought McMillan would beat Robinson that night but obviously Robinson had now found the self confidence and belief that he was a world champion and could mix it with world title contenders. McMillan was another decent win but again was he really 'world class'? McMillan was a decent boxer but I dont think he was quite there in world status but not far away.

Paul Hodkinson was next and he was a world class boxer and his first attempt at a world title he was stopped by Marco Villasana in 8 rounds but was behind on all scorecards but did take the title in a rematch by boxing to a unanimous points win by several rounds on each card. He defended another 3 times in simple fashion really before getting stopped by Vargas in 7 rounds but again was behind on all 3 cards. Taking the Robinson fight almost a year later Robinson was 5 rounds in front after 11 rounds before stopping Hoko in the 12th. That was a great win for Robinson and possibly got Hoko at the right time as it was Paul's last fight and obviously knew he had nothing left to mix it with the world champions.

Freddy Cruz was next and is almost certain he was in the last stages of his career as his record would suggest but again he didnt fight anything of world statue to get or earn a world title shot, so im guessing he wasnt mandatory and was possibly picked for a easy night and the scorecards suggest it was too.

Another very good world class boxer was next in Duke McKenzie but again im going to put my head on the block by saying McKenzie's world title days were over prior to the fight with Robinson. McKenzie boxed Mark Hargreaves the fight before who had a record of 7-10 but to me showed the level that McKenzie had to go to after his long successful career as a world champion. Again Robinson fought another ex champion at the right time.

Domingo Nicolas Damigella was next up and had a record of 22-2 but lets be honest, was those victories worthy of a world title shot? Was Damigella even world ranked? So lets not get carried away by this defense. Robinson won on points but was that a worthy world title defense to get carried away with? I think not.

Pedro Ferradas was next up who had a record of 19 wins 2 draws and 1 loss but his record was worse than Damigella's to get his shot at Robinson he beat Manual Dias who had a record of no wins and 11 losses, again worthy title contender? I cannot imagine Ferradas was ranked in the top 100 but lets face it at this time the WBO was in the pockets of the British promoter so the British world champions who held the WBO belt including Chris Eubank could choose who they defended against. Anyway Robinson won in the 9th round.

It was now time to mix it with Naseem Hamed. Hamed was 19-0 and had stopped 17 of those who challenged him. Robinson gave a good fight but was clearly out of the league of world champion status, he was now fighting genuine world title contenders one of the best featherweights in the world. He was found out.

After beating Kelton McKenzie over 8 rounds Billy Hardy gave Robinson a boxing lesson over 12 for the European title, but Robinson was back to title winning ways in his next fight beating Tomas Santos Serrano (0-2-1) for the WBO intercontinental title, Serrano hadnt won a fight to earn a title shot but again this was the WBO we are talking about. Its possible that the WBO had earned a few quid in Robinson's world title victories and paved the way for him to get back into title contention as he defended the intercontinental title 4 more times.

Robinson picked up the European featherweight title and defended it 4 times including winning a split decision to Jon Jo Irwin but that was his last win as the journeyman status kicked back in for his last 6 fights that were for titles except for his final bout against Steve Conway. Finally calling it a day with a record of 32 wins 17 losses and 2 draws.

Looking back at his career record and who he fought yes he did fight 3 genuine world class boxers Welcome Ncita is in there too along with Paul Hodkinson and Naseem Hamed. Hodkinson was finished when Robinson met him and Hmaed was the up and comer.

Yes it was a great achievement by Steve Robinson what he did as a boxer from journeyman to champion but I suspect a bit of shrewd match making helped him along.

[bennie]

What Steve did was a brilliant achievement by a boxer whos best win previous to John Davison was possibly Paul Harvey for the WBA Penta title, however he did beat Peter Harris who was a decent bantam come featherweight (who had 2 decent scraps with Paul Hodkinson) for the Welsh title. I'm not sure if Steve Robinson had the desire early on in his career and was possibly resigned to be a journeyman and make some money along the way to increase his monthly wage packet.

Coming in to fight John Davison on short notice after being beaten by Mehdi Labdouni (who had a record that suggested he was better than he really was, who did actually go on to beat Duke McKenzie for the European title but lose it to Billy Hardy then retake it from Hardy some 36 months later but getting knocked out by Michael Ayers for the IBO title in 1 round) was a great win for Robinson who took the vacant WBO featherweight title back to Wales but lets not over exaggerate the fete that Robinson did that night. He beat Davison on a narrow split decision. however Davison was a tough Geordie only getting stopped once in his 5 defeats. Davison was stopped in 4 rounds by Duke McKenzie in his final fight but if i remember rightly Davison was picked off for 4 rounds and the referee stopped the fight as it seemed Davison had no desire. McKenzie wasnt a concussive puncher but had a good work rate that wore down his opponents until they were stopped.

I'm not going to dispute the fact that Robinson coming in at short notice to win a world title wasnt a great fete but he wasnt fighting someone regarded the best in the world at that division. While John Davison was his opponent he wasnt really anything more than British level. What Robinson did after that fight however did show that he was a decent world champion to defend that title 7 times. Not something many world champions do these days.

Robinson's first defense he knocked out another British level fighter Sean Murphy who was touted as a big thing back in his day but it just didnt come together for him. Murphy knocked out John Doherty in 3 rounds to take the vacant British featherweight title but was also knocked out by Gary DeRoux in 5 rounds in his second defense and a fight or 2 later Colin McMillan stopped him and after Robinson Billy Schwer ended his career. Again Sean Murphy wasnt a world class boxer, but a decent British level featherweight.

Robinson then defended his title to Colin McMillan, who had just come off a loss for the WBO title due to a dislocated shoulder in a very close fight that most people thought McMillan would win. Robinson gave McMillan a bloody good fight to beat him on points, and i'm quite sure most people thought McMillan would beat Robinson that night but obviously Robinson had now found the self confidence and belief that he was a world champion and could mix it with world title contenders. McMillan was another decent win but again was he really 'world class'? McMillan was a decent boxer but I dont think he was quite there in world status but not far away.

Paul Hodkinson was next and he was a world class boxer and his first attempt at a world title he was stopped by Marco Villasana in 8 rounds but was behind on all scorecards but did take the title in a rematch by boxing to a unanimous points win by several rounds on each card. He defended another 3 times in simple fashion really before getting stopped by Vargas in 7 rounds but again was behind on all 3 cards. Taking the Robinson fight almost a year later Robinson was 5 rounds in front after 11 rounds before stopping Hoko in the 12th. That was a great win for Robinson and possibly got Hoko at the right time as it was Paul's last fight and obviously knew he had nothing left to mix it with the world champions.

Freddy Cruz was next and is almost certain he was in the last stages of his career as his record would suggest but again he didnt fight anything of world statue to get or earn a world title shot, so im guessing he wasnt mandatory and was possibly picked for a easy night and the scorecards suggest it was too.

Another very good world class boxer was next in Duke McKenzie but again im going to put my head on the block by saying McKenzie's world title days were over prior to the fight with Robinson. McKenzie boxed Mark Hargreaves the fight before who had a record of 7-10 but to me showed the level that McKenzie had to go to after his long successful career as a world champion. Again Robinson fought another ex champion at the right time.

Domingo Nicolas Damigella was next up and had a record of 22-2 but lets be honest, was those victories worthy of a world title shot? Was Damigella even world ranked? So lets not get carried away by this defense. Robinson won on points but was that a worthy world title defense to get carried away with? I think not.

Pedro Ferradas was next up who had a record of 19 wins 2 draws and 1 loss but his record was worse than Damigella's to get his shot at Robinson he beat Manual Dias who had a record of no wins and 11 losses, again worthy title contender? I cannot imagine Ferradas was ranked in the top 100 but lets face it at this time the WBO was in the pockets of the British promoter so the British world champions who held the WBO belt including Chris Eubank could choose who they defended against. Anyway Robinson won in the 9th round.

It was now time to mix it with Naseem Hamed. Hamed was 19-0 and had stopped 17 of those who challenged him. Robinson gave a good fight but was clearly out of the league of world champion status, he was now fighting genuine world title contenders one of the best featherweights in the world. He was found out.

After beating Kelton McKenzie over 8 rounds Billy Hardy gave Robinson a boxing lesson over 12 for the European title, but Robinson was back to title winning ways in his next fight beating Tomas Santos Serrano (0-2-1) for the WBO intercontinental title, Serrano hadnt won a fight to earn a title shot but again this was the WBO we are talking about. Its possible that the WBO had earned a few quid in Robinson's world title victories and paved the way for him to get back into title contention as he defended the intercontinental title 4 more times.

Robinson picked up the European featherweight title and defended it 4 times including winning a split decision to Jon Jo Irwin but that was his last win as the journeyman status kicked back in for his last 6 fights that were for titles except for his final bout against Steve Conway. Finally calling it a day with a record of 32 wins 17 losses and 2 draws.

Looking back at his career record and who he fought yes he did fight 3 genuine world class boxers Welcome Ncita is in there too along with Paul Hodkinson and Naseem Hamed. Hodkinson was finished when Robinson met him and Hmaed was the up and comer.

Yes it was a great achievement by Steve Robinson what he did as a boxer from journeyman to champion but I suspect a bit of shrewd match making helped him along.

Mimmy, Paul Hodkinson was miles ahead in the first Villasana fight and he was also well ahead against Vargas. As for Duke McKenzie against Mark Hargreaves, Duke was merely using Hargreaves as a loosener prior to his crack at Steve Robinson, which if anything made him even more dangerous. You are too severe on Robinson. You say that shrewd matchmaking helped him along but Robinson was hardly a protected fighter. He should be applauded for turning back John Davison, Hodkinson, McKenzie, Freddy Cruz and other solid contenders as WBO champion (Even Sean Murphy ranks as a dangerous fighter in my book).

[Counter-puncher]

Vargas was a level above Hodkinson that night IMO, Hodkinson huffed and puffed and scuffled away but the accumulation of damage, and who'd really been winning the fight, was clear from the way Hodkinson eventually 'unravelled' (IE, it wasn't actually that sudden and shocking, as he was eating shots from Vargas hungrily all night).

[Marlo Stanfield]

Too young to remember all this, but really enjoyed reading. Great posts lads

[littlepug]

Vargas was a level above Hodkinson that night IMO, Hodkinson huffed and puffed and scuffled away but the accumulation of damage, and who'd really been winning the fight, was clear from the way Hodkinson eventually 'unravelled' (IE, it wasn't actually that sudden and shocking, as he was eating shots from Vargas hungrily all night).

Yes Hoko was shipping punishment throughout but he was landing as many heavy shots on Vargas as he was taking, they just didn't have the desired effect and Hoko couldn't keep walking on to shots like he was all night, underrated fight and well worth a rewatch

[Taansend]

Vargas was a level above Hodkinson that night IMO, Hodkinson huffed and puffed and scuffled away but the accumulation of damage, and who'd really been winning the fight, was clear from the way Hodkinson eventually 'unravelled' (IE, it wasn't actually that sudden and shocking, as he was eating shots from Vargas hungrily all night).

Yes Hoko was shipping punishment throughout but he was landing as many heavy shots on Vargas as he was taking, they just didn't have the desired effect and Hoko couldn't keep walking on to shots like he was all night, underrated fight and well worth a rewatch

My memory of that fight is that it looked fairly even when suddenly Vargas went up about 20 gears and looked superb.

But I haven't seen it since the night so

[Counter-puncher]

Vargas was a level above Hodkinson that night IMO, Hodkinson huffed and puffed and scuffled away but the accumulation of damage, and who'd really been winning the fight, was clear from the way Hodkinson eventually 'unravelled' (IE, it wasn't actually that sudden and shocking, as he was eating shots from Vargas hungrily all night).

Yes Hoko was shipping punishment throughout but he was landing as many heavy shots on Vargas as he was taking, they just didn't have the desired effect and Hoko couldn't keep walking on to shots like he was all night, underrated fight and well worth a rewatch

My memory of that fight is that it looked fairly even when suddenly Vargas went up about 20 gears and looked superb.

But I haven't seen it since the night so

I've seen it about 6 times as I love watching Vargas and found it a masterclass

*condescending comment, apologies* but the commentary was very pro Hodkinson, was applauding some fairly ineffective work from him, like I say scuffling, where Vargas was timing sweetly all night.