If you look just at the mathes of Seabrooks record you may be fooled into thinking that here was a fighter who was nothing special... after all he lost nearly as many as he won... but if you saw him fight then you'll know that Kelvin was one of the most courageous and exciting fighters there was in the 80s.... He fought always in good opposition, often facing true blown featherweights when he himself was a natural Bantam... he was a dangerous yet erratic fighter who managed to turn his career around and won the fledgling ibf world Bantamweight title.... his world title defences were thrilling fights rivaling the fights of Saad muhammad for drama and action.... Seabrooks was often vulnerble early on but on a number of occasions stormed back from the brink of defeat to gain victory..... often it seemed that it was his tremendous heart that took him to victory when all seemed lost. Seabrooks lost his title after a thrilling war with the great Orlando Canizales.... and after a brave yet failing try to win the title back in a rematch Seabrooks career went rapidly down hill.
Sadly Seabrooks never seemed to gain the respect he should have... despite his exciting style many of his defences took place outside America... perhaps some questioned his credentials as a champion, but his great performances showed that he had a champions heart.... he also gave the very good Canizales some very tough moments despite losing... Seabrooks was definately one of the most exciting fighters out there in the 80s.... along with Saad, Chacon, Hearns,..... in some ways he was like a mixture between Saad and Buster Drayton.... like Drayton he went from being a dangerous Journeyman to being a world champion........Does anyone have any information about what Seabrooks is up to today?.... has anyone met him or seen any of his fights live....... Id be interested to here from any other Seabrooks fans....
Remember Kelvin Seabrooks...
Re: Remember Kelvin Seabrooks...
I was a big admirer of Seabrooks. The unfashionable American from Charlotte, North Carolina, won the IBF bantamweight title the hard way when he flattened a genuine tough guy, Miguel "Mask" Maturana, in Colombia in 1987. It was the culmination of a long, hard road for Kelvin, and he truly deserved his time in the sun. He came to London in 1984 to fight Pat Cowdell on a allegedly bill at the Ally Pally. Cowdell was a featherweight; Seabrooks just a bantam. But he gave Cowdell plenty of trouble in a fight that was televised on ITV on Saturday afternoon. I remember you could hear the crowd oohing and aahing as Seabrooks, clearly outweighed, rallied with dangerous punches everytime Cowdell threatened to overwhelm him (and Cowdell on his night, was something pretty special himself). Cowdell eventually stopped Seabrooks (Harry Gibbs made a compassionate stoppage in the fifth), but it was no surprise when the visitor refused to fade into obscurity. Boxing News legends Harry Mullan and Tim Mo always raved about him after his Cowdell performance.silkov wrote:If you look just at the mathes of Seabrooks record you may be fooled into thinking that here was a fighter who was nothing special... after all he lost nearly as many as he won... but if you saw him fight then you'll know that Kelvin was one of the most courageous and exciting fighters there was in the 80s.... He fought always in good opposition, often facing true blown featherweights when he himself was a natural Bantam... he was a dangerous yet erratic fighter who managed to turn his career around and won the fledgling ibf world Bantamweight title.... his world title defences were thrilling fights rivaling the fights of Saad muhammad for drama and action.... Seabrooks was often vulnerble early on but on a number of occasions stormed back from the brink of defeat to gain victory..... often it seemed that it was his tremendous heart that took him to victory when all seemed lost. Seabrooks lost his title after a thrilling war with the great Orlando Canizales.... and after a brave yet failing try to win the title back in a rematch Seabrooks career went rapidly down hill.
Sadly Seabrooks never seemed to gain the respect he should have... despite his exciting style many of his defences took place outside America... perhaps some questioned his credentials as a champion, but his great performances showed that he had a champions heart.... he also gave the very good Canizales some very tough moments despite losing... Seabrooks was definately one of the most exciting fighters out there in the 80s.... along with Saad, Chacon, Hearns,..... in some ways he was like a mixture between Saad and Buster Drayton.... like Drayton he went from being a dangerous Journeyman to being a world champion........Does anyone have any information about what Seabrooks is up to today?.... has anyone met him or seen any of his fights live....... Id be interested to here from any other Seabrooks fans....
And Kelvin later travelled to the Bahamas and iced local star Ray Minus with a big right, and also flattened the dangerous Freddie "Pebble" Jackson in two stunning rounds in Australia with a huge right. Make no mistake, Seabrooks was dangerous. His IBF title defence against Ernie Cataluna of the Philippines was a wildly-exciting affair. Seabrooks was floored and close to being stopped early in the fight, but rallied with body punches and broke the dangerous challenger's ribs to win by knockout.
He had a similar fight with Frenchman Thierry Jacob in Calais, rallying from the brink of defeat to retain his title. He was unlucky to run into Orlando Canizales a year after winning the title. Seabrooks was dropped in the first, but, typically, dug deep and made a real fight of it before he was pulled out in the 15th and final round. Canizales broke his hand, and said the fight was so tough at times, he wanted to quit. This from a man who went on to break the legendary Manuel Ortiz's record for the most number of bantamweight title defences ever made (16). That kind of sums up how good Seabrooks was.
One of the most amazing facets of Seabrooks and the quality which gives him more than a passing resemblance to Saad Muhammad was his ability to come back from the brink of defeat in a fight.... in many of his fights he is caught on the ropes or floored and absorbes enormous punishment, only to suddenly strike back and hurt his opponent. Probably the most dramatic example of this was in his fight (a world title defence) with Theirry Jacob... which had it been featured in a boxing film would have been described as unbelieveable... Seabrooks floored Jacob in the first round with almost his first punch, but then was floored twice himself..... the fight then went backwards and forwards, then in the 8th round in action remanicent of the 8th round of the 2nd Saad Muhammad vs Yacqui Lopez fight, Jacob unleashed a furious two fisted assault on Seabrooks... having him out on his feet and pounding him on the ropes... the referee seems on the verg of stopping the fight ...yet towards the end of the round Seabrooks comes backand hurts Jacob with some punches that have Jacob on the verge of collapse.... after this Jacob was spent and retired on his stool after the 9th...... an amazing fight.
Does any one know what Seabrooks is doing these days?.......
Does any one know what Seabrooks is doing these days?.......