Bunny Sterling passes away just days after fellow Jamaican Bunny Grant
Jamaican-born Basil Sylvester "Bunny" Sterling became the first Caribbean immigrant to win a British title when he won the Lonsdale middleweight belt in 1970.
He went on to become European middleweight champion in 1976.
He moved to London aged six and lost his first three professional boxing contests in 1966 before embarking on an eight-fight winning streak and claimed his first title within two years of his pro bow by stopping Johnny Kramer in the eighth-round for the Souhern Area middleweight strap in November 1968.
Despite failing to win his next four fights, Sterling won an Eliminator and a Final Eliminator for the British middleweight title before metting the champion Mark rowe and relieving him of his British and Commonwealth titles in 1970. He added the European belt to his collection with a 13th-round stoppage of home fighter Frank Reiche in Germany. He retired the following year with a record of 35-18-4.
Simon Block, Honorary Secretary of the Commonwealth Boxing Council, passed on his condolences, "It is very saddening to learn of the death of former British, Commonwealth and European Middleweight Champion, Bunny Sterling, coming as it does only a matter of days after the passing of another outstanding Jamaican ‘Bunny’ – Bunny Grant.
"Unlike his namesake, Bunny Sterling carved out his career in Britain as one of the early wave of immigrants from the Caribbean and went on to meet and often beat, some of the best Middleweights of the era including future and former World Champions, Maurice Hope (WRSC8) and Luis Rodrigues (WPTS10), and such notables as Wally Swift, Mark Rowe, Harry Scott and Kevin Finnegan, Champions all.
"He also upset the applecart by going into local heroes own backyards and, against the script, not losing eg Dane Tom Bogs (WPTS10), German Rudiger Schmidtke (WPTS10) and Aussie Tony Mundine (D15).
"Despite their talents, British boxers in the ‘60s and ‘70s who either came from the Caribbean or were born to immigrant families from there were generally not as well supported as some of their indigenous counterparts so it is unlikely that Bunny received the kind of financial reward that was earned by those that followed in the next couple of decades, such as Frank Bruno, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn etc. His record shows almost no easy matching and the fact that he was so successful against the odds, speaks well of his character and ability, in fact, pretty bloody good for one who lost his first 3 contests.
"Any analysis of his record reveals that he should be recognised as one of Jamaica and Britain’s ‘greats’ but during his active years and in retirement his achievements have tended to be undersung in comparison to many of his contemporaries.
"Had he been born 10 years later he may well have won a ‘World’ Championship. May this outstanding fighter and man rest in peace."
Bunny Sterling Dies
Re: Bunny Sterling Dies
RIP. A true trailblazer and a quality fighter.
Re: Bunny Sterling Dies
Bunny Sterling, the first black immigrant to win a British title and a man with nine lives as a boxer, has sadly passed away at the age of 70.
Bunny pulled off a huge upset when he stopped Camberwell's Mark Rowe in four rounds for British and Commonwealth middleweight titles at Wembley in September 1970. Sterling had won only two of his previous six fights and his stamina was always suspect but he busted up Rowe around both eyes to force the stoppage and gave a slick boxing display to outscore him over 15 rounds in a title rematch, after which Rowe called it a day.
Sterling only got the shot when the Board changed its eligibility rules but he proved a fine British champion, also turning back the challenges of canny Scot Don McMillan and and Lancashire's lethal-punching Phil Matthews to win a Lonsdale Belt outright, and he looked unlucky to drop the title on a 15-round decision to Kevin Finnegan in 1974, although he won it back when he stopped Maurice Hope in eight stunning rounds a year later. Hope, who stepped up from light-middleweight, took a bad beating in a genuine grudge match said to involve a woman. Bunny also found the time to win the European middleweight title.
Managed and trained by George Francis, Bunny moved to North London from Jamaica as a boy and turned pro as a raw teenager in 1966, losing his first three fights and continuing to lose to the better fighters on his record until the Rowe victory bucked the trend. After that, without the backing of a major promoter, Bunny fought mostly on the road and was stopped in a first shot at the European crown by brilliant Frenchman Jean-Claude Bouttier in Paris, whom Sterling had outboxed for much of the 15-rounder until he ran out of steam. Bunny found it difficult to make middleweight and he faded down the stretch of 15-rounders but was plain robbed in a second European title crack against Italy's Elio Calcabrini (Bouttier had relinquished to challenge Carlos Monzon), dropping a horrible 15-round decision in San Remo. Sterling did hang on to his Commonwealth belt for a while before he got himself stopped in the 15th round by gifted Aussie Tony Mundine in Brisbane. Once again, Sterling had outboxed Mundine for much of the fight and in today's world of super-middleweights and 12-rounders he would prove sensational because he was some boxer. He dominated a young Finnegan in defence of his British title until his late-round fade allowed Finnegan to snatch the closing frames and the verdict in a fight in which both men were paid a pittance.
Things looked grim for Sterling but after Finnegan relinquished, he gave probably the most complete display of his career to butcher southpaw Hope for the vacant title on a dinner show in Piccadilly, then made his way to Germany and pulled out a big right hand to stop Frank Reiche in 13 rounds for the vacant European title in February 1976. Bunny deserved a world title shot at this seasoned stage of his career but he didn't sell tickets and his career petered out abroad, where the ill-fated Angelo Jacopucci outjabbed him for the EBU belt and a couple of light-heavies proved too big. He retired in 1977 with a truly deceptive record of 35-18-4 (14) and later sold his Lonsdale Belt, which is shame. The man paved the way for hundreds of other black fighters born outside the UK and he could really box. Nobody can ever say otherwise.
Bunny pulled off a huge upset when he stopped Camberwell's Mark Rowe in four rounds for British and Commonwealth middleweight titles at Wembley in September 1970. Sterling had won only two of his previous six fights and his stamina was always suspect but he busted up Rowe around both eyes to force the stoppage and gave a slick boxing display to outscore him over 15 rounds in a title rematch, after which Rowe called it a day.
Sterling only got the shot when the Board changed its eligibility rules but he proved a fine British champion, also turning back the challenges of canny Scot Don McMillan and and Lancashire's lethal-punching Phil Matthews to win a Lonsdale Belt outright, and he looked unlucky to drop the title on a 15-round decision to Kevin Finnegan in 1974, although he won it back when he stopped Maurice Hope in eight stunning rounds a year later. Hope, who stepped up from light-middleweight, took a bad beating in a genuine grudge match said to involve a woman. Bunny also found the time to win the European middleweight title.
Managed and trained by George Francis, Bunny moved to North London from Jamaica as a boy and turned pro as a raw teenager in 1966, losing his first three fights and continuing to lose to the better fighters on his record until the Rowe victory bucked the trend. After that, without the backing of a major promoter, Bunny fought mostly on the road and was stopped in a first shot at the European crown by brilliant Frenchman Jean-Claude Bouttier in Paris, whom Sterling had outboxed for much of the 15-rounder until he ran out of steam. Bunny found it difficult to make middleweight and he faded down the stretch of 15-rounders but was plain robbed in a second European title crack against Italy's Elio Calcabrini (Bouttier had relinquished to challenge Carlos Monzon), dropping a horrible 15-round decision in San Remo. Sterling did hang on to his Commonwealth belt for a while before he got himself stopped in the 15th round by gifted Aussie Tony Mundine in Brisbane. Once again, Sterling had outboxed Mundine for much of the fight and in today's world of super-middleweights and 12-rounders he would prove sensational because he was some boxer. He dominated a young Finnegan in defence of his British title until his late-round fade allowed Finnegan to snatch the closing frames and the verdict in a fight in which both men were paid a pittance.
Things looked grim for Sterling but after Finnegan relinquished, he gave probably the most complete display of his career to butcher southpaw Hope for the vacant title on a dinner show in Piccadilly, then made his way to Germany and pulled out a big right hand to stop Frank Reiche in 13 rounds for the vacant European title in February 1976. Bunny deserved a world title shot at this seasoned stage of his career but he didn't sell tickets and his career petered out abroad, where the ill-fated Angelo Jacopucci outjabbed him for the EBU belt and a couple of light-heavies proved too big. He retired in 1977 with a truly deceptive record of 35-18-4 (14) and later sold his Lonsdale Belt, which is shame. The man paved the way for hundreds of other black fighters born outside the UK and he could really box. Nobody can ever say otherwise.
Re: Bunny Sterling Dies
Great work as always Bennie 
Re: Bunny Sterling Dies
Thanks Bennie.bennie wrote: ↑19 Nov 2018, 10:39 Bunny Sterling, the first black immigrant to win a British title and a man with nine lives as a boxer, has sadly passed away at the age of 70.
Bunny pulled off a huge upset when he stopped Camberwell's Mark Rowe in four rounds for British and Commonwealth middleweight titles at Wembley in September 1970. Sterling had won only two of his previous six fights and his stamina was always suspect but he busted up Rowe around both eyes to force the stoppage and gave a slick boxing display to outscore him over 15 rounds in a title rematch, after which Rowe called it a day.
Sterling only got the shot when the Board changed its eligibility rules but he proved a fine British champion, also turning back the challenges of canny Scot Don McMillan and and Lancashire's lethal-punching Phil Matthews to win a Lonsdale Belt outright, and he looked unlucky to drop the title on a 15-round decision to Kevin Finnegan in 1974, although he won it back when he stopped Maurice Hope in eight stunning rounds a year later. Hope, who stepped up from light-middleweight, took a bad beating in a genuine grudge match said to involve a woman. Bunny also found the time to win the European middleweight title.
Managed and trained by George Francis, Bunny moved to North London from Jamaica as a boy and turned pro as a raw teenager in 1966, losing his first three fights and continuing to lose to the better fighters on his record until the Rowe victory bucked the trend. After that, without the backing of a major promoter, Bunny fought mostly on the road and was stopped in a first shot at the European crown by brilliant Frenchman Jean-Claude Bouttier in Paris, whom Sterling had outboxed for much of the 15-rounder until he ran out of steam. Bunny found it difficult to make middleweight and he faded down the stretch of 15-rounders but was plain robbed in a second European title crack against Italy's Elio Calcabrini (Bouttier had relinquished to challenge Carlos Monzon), dropping a horrible 15-round decision in San Remo. Sterling did hang on to his Commonwealth belt for a while before he got himself stopped in the 15th round by gifted Aussie Tony Mundine in Brisbane. Once again, Sterling had outboxed Mundine for much of the fight and in today's world of super-middleweights and 12-rounders he would prove sensational because he was some boxer. He dominated a young Finnegan in defence of his British title until his late-round fade allowed Finnegan to snatch the closing frames and the verdict in a fight in which both men were paid a pittance.
Things looked grim for Sterling but after Finnegan relinquished, he gave probably the most complete display of his career to butcher southpaw Hope for the vacant title on a dinner show in Piccadilly, then made his way to Germany and pulled out a big right hand to stop Frank Reiche in 13 rounds for the vacant European title in February 1976. Bunny deserved a world title shot at this seasoned stage of his career but he didn't sell tickets and his career petered out abroad, where the ill-fated Angelo Jacopucci outjabbed him for the EBU belt and a couple of light-heavies proved too big. He retired in 1977 with a truly deceptive record of 35-18-4 (14) and later sold his Lonsdale Belt, which is shame. The man paved the way for hundreds of other black fighters born outside the UK and he could really box. Nobody can ever say otherwise.
RIP
Re: Bunny Sterling Dies
RIP champ. Can you believe it took til 1970?
Re: Bunny Sterling Dies
Remember his epic battles with Tony Mundine. Ring had Bunny as Number one contender for a time I am sure.
Sad to hear he was destitute.
Sad to hear he was destitute.