Dean Francis passes

[Terminator666]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/boxing/44250522

[GlobalBox]

Rest in Peace Champ

[dr_devious]

RIP champ

[spudder56]

Terrible news RIP dean

[Taansend]

A fighter to the end

[Tuan_Jim]

Awful day for boxing. 44 is no age to die at all. At least he lived a full life; that boxing career is way beyond what most people who lace on the gloves will achieve.

[Lennox]

Sad news. A really lovely bloke and immensely talented boxer. RIP Dean

[tonyevs]

Very sad news.

He was my pick of the young super middle weights coming up in the late 90`s ... he was the only one I feared could beat Calzaghe; Dean was a big tough, strong, and very talented fighter.
If he hadn`t had the shoulder injury he would 100% have won - and kept hold of - a world title.

Life can be so cruel!

RIP Dean Francis. Very sad day today.

[lillywhite14]

RIP

Sad day for British boxing

[ILikeBeer]

RIP.

[punchers chance]

I read he was struggling against the worst diagnosis of them all but I hoped it would prove to be wrong and that Dean would beat the toughest opponent of them all.
Sadly it was not to be.

RIP Champ.

[Exoddus]

I saw the sad news on BBC points west today. RIP mate. You will be sadly missed here in Bristol.

[SticknMove]

RIP to an absolute class act

[Boxerbeetle]

Really tragic news, RIP.

[chinarich]

Terribly sad news, it’s unbelievable when someone is taken so young. He had quite a few injuries, didn’t he? Certainly could have won a world title without those...

[veriton]

RIP Dean Francis. Great boxer to watch and a quality bloke too by all accounts.

This article by Boxing News is worth a read, if only for the awful headline that describes the whole nonsensical mess that follows.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/must-re ... al-cancer/

This sort of lionisation of fighters really annoys me but in this case it was dangerous. There is no way to beat terminal cancer, even if you're a boxer. I know that may be hard to accept but nature doesnt really care about these things.

Expensive quack clinics in Mexico? This article backs them, no doubt making decent people spend their money giving to a cause that can never succeed. Better off spending the money on your own family, not those condemned (unluckily) to a death sentence.

Terribly sad what happened to Dean, no one deserves that, but it happens every day to people from all walks of life. Boxers are not superheroes.

[Boxerbeetle]

RIP Dean Francis. Great boxer to watch and a quality bloke too by all accounts.

This article by Boxing News is worth a read, if only for the awful headline that describes the whole nonsensical mess that follows.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/must-re ... al-cancer/

This sort of lionisation of fighters really annoys me but in this case it was dangerous. There is no way to beat terminal cancer, even if you're a boxer. I know that may be hard to accept but nature doesnt really care about these things.

Expensive quack clinics in Mexico? This article backs them, no doubt making decent people spend their money giving to a cause that can never succeed. Better off spending the money on your own family, not those condemned (unluckily) to a death sentence.

Terribly sad what happened to Dean, no one deserves that, but it happens every day to people from all walks of life. Boxers are not superheroes.

That’s an appalling piece of journalism tbh. Wouldn’t have expected that from Matt.

[rd350lc]

Tragic news ,
Remember watching most of his fights when I was a lad .
RIP

[veriton]

RIP Dean Francis. Great boxer to watch and a quality bloke too by all accounts.

This article by Boxing News is worth a read, if only for the awful headline that describes the whole nonsensical mess that follows.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/must-re ... al-cancer/

This sort of lionisation of fighters really annoys me but in this case it was dangerous. There is no way to beat terminal cancer, even if you're a boxer. I know that may be hard to accept but nature doesnt really care about these things.

Expensive quack clinics in Mexico? This article backs them, no doubt making decent people spend their money giving to a cause that can never succeed. Better off spending the money on your own family, not those condemned (unluckily) to a death sentence.

Terribly sad what happened to Dean, no one deserves that, but it happens every day to people from all walks of life. Boxers are not superheroes.

That’s an appalling piece of journalism tbh. Wouldn’t have expected that from Matt.

It's very rare that BN get it wrong, but they did with this one. And then people wonder why boxers often suffer silently with mental health issues. This sort of article is part of the problem: a boxer is so tough he can beat terminal cancer just by saying he can! RIP Dean.

[Autobarn]

The most well schooled of all the British super middleweights.

Thrilling fights with Oakey and Baker.

Sorry to hear.

[Autobarn]

RIP Dean Francis. Great boxer to watch and a quality bloke too by all accounts.

This article by Boxing News is worth a read, if only for the awful headline that describes the whole nonsensical mess that follows.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/must-re ... al-cancer/

This sort of lionisation of fighters really annoys me but in this case it was dangerous. There is no way to beat terminal cancer, even if you're a boxer. I know that may be hard to accept but nature doesnt really care about these things.

Expensive quack clinics in Mexico? This article backs them, no doubt making decent people spend their money giving to a cause that can never succeed. Better off spending the money on your own family, not those condemned (unluckily) to a death sentence.

Terribly sad what happened to Dean, no one deserves that, but it happens every day to people from all walks of life. Boxers are not superheroes.

did the alternative treatments allow him to survive longer? Or at least to enjoy better the remaining time with his family?

Obviously it seems he was very positive in facing his illness.

BTW I always find I crass when commentators call Daniel Jacobs the “guy who beat cancer.”

[Rexob]

Sad Sad news was a big fan of Dean Francis, R.I.P

[bennie]

Comparisons between John Conteh and Dean Francis go way beyond the light-heavyweight division in which they won British titles. Both men boxed at other weights and boxed there successfully, both were gifted, determined, charismatic, superbly conditioned, both had a real nasty streak, both never fulfilled their brilliant potential through injury...
Who knows what Dean might have achieved but for a dislocated right shoulder he suffered in a nothing fight in Basingstoke in 1998. The shoulder affected him for the rest of his career - just as an injury to Conteh's right hand in a nothing fight in the States in 1975 blighted the rest of his career, although Conteh was luckier: he at least had climbed the greasy pole as WBC light-heavyweight champion. Francis made it to British, Commonwealth and European titles.
Essentially one-handed fighters, Conteh and Francis carried on because they were good enough to win with that one hand. In 1979, Conteh went to Atlantic City and jabbed the ears off Matthew Saad Muhammad for 15 rounds when everyone said he was through. They said the same of Francis in 2007 before he went out and blasted Ovill McKenzie in the first round with left hooks. It was a belated reminder of their good old days (Conteh dropped a desperately close decision to Saad), and Francis pulled out the left hooks again to stop Tony Oakey in nine rounds for the British light-heavyweight title in 2008. By doing that, Dean went one better than his father, Trevor, who failed in a bid for the British welterweight title in the 1976. Conversely, Dean never won an ABA title whereas Trevor won an ABA title back in 1972. Conteh won two ABA titles.
I digress. In 2014, at the age of 40, Dean was still in there pitching with the best Britain had to offer, still poking out the right to find the range for his left hooks, and his jab was always good. His career lasted 20 years because of all the lengthy breaks he took in order to try and preserve the shoulder and at the end of it, his record read 34-5-1 (26); Conteh retired in 1980 with a record of 34-4-1 (24). They won 34 fights apiece and their lives spiralled downwards after boxing: Conteh into a world of alcoholism and Dean into horrendous, undeserving ill-health. Conteh found golf but there was nothing to save Francis, who died yesterday at the age of just 44 of cancer in a reminder of how cruel the world can be. He is survived by his dad, his wife Ghalia and son Rocco.

[funso banjo baby]

a truly gifted boxer

very sad

[JC]

RIP

Remember him always being in the mix.