BoxRec

R.I.P. :(

Gutted R.I.P Gary

My condolences to Gary's family and friends.....RIP Gary

Tragic news, rest in peace Gary.

RIP Gary.

A very nice man & a pretty decent fighter in golden era of heavyweight boxing.

I was shocked and gutted when I heard this terrible news.
I so used to enjoy him as a studio guest after he retired, he always was interesting to listen to, as well as being funny.

I always thought that he shouldn't of been stopped when he was against Lewis, he was giving Lewis plenty of problems before then and I didn't think he was in that much trouble at all.

This was a cycling accident/collision? I've been wondering if Gary was wearing reflective gear and lights or not. Over the years, especially when making right turns and at certain roundabouts, cyclists without reflective gear and lights often camouflage into the dark night. This happenned at 6.15am, maybe this is the reason why and if not, maybe the drivers at fault but to those that do cycle, make sure you wear as much reflective gear and have good lights as possible.

R.I.P Gary Mason

My old man used to play card with him in Chatham Snooker Club years ago. He was well liked in the Medway area, infact it seems he was well liked in every area that he lived.

Such a shame.

Thats a real shame! One of the first fighters i knew the name of back when i was still at primary school. Him and Bruno, its a sad loss.

He had endless charm, personality and Charisma. Plus he was a big man who was as tough as granite and could really fight.
He was the best pundit Sky ever had, would call it how it was and always with good humor.
Unfortunately the only attribute he missed was good luck.
I met him briefly a couple of times once as a child at a charity football match and clearly remember chasing across the pitch after him for his autograph and being a bit star struck to meet my hero off the Tele. The second time 10 years later he was handing me out a boxing trophy at an amateur show. Both times he was in good spirits and left a lasting impression.
Will be sadly missed, thanks for the memories.

grim grim news, aways liked watching Gary on sky.

I will never forget the classic "good shot ees done im" when Holyfield ko'ed Douglas.
always wanted to see him back on Sky.
God bless you Gary.

Used to drink in the Windmill in Clapham, where I used to see him quite a bit. He was always affable and laughing, and never gave it the charley big potato with anyone.

What bad luck to run into some idiot white van man when he did. I hope the geezer has nightmares.

R.I.P. Gary.

woke up to a text from a non-boxing fan mate informing me of this. My initial reaction was "who's gary mason?" cos we have a few pals called gary, then he told me. Gary Mason retired around the time I started to follow the sport and I only saw him on the Sky sofa maybe once or twice, so cheers to Bennie for the good tribute because he sounded a lot better does Gary Mason than what I had realised. In fact he'd be a World Champion today by the sounds of it.
Sounded like a lovely man. RIP big Gary and condolences to his family.

TONY T wrote:This was a cycling accident/collision? I've been wondering if Gary was wearing reflective gear and lights or not. Over the years, especially when making right turns and at certain roundabouts, cyclists without reflective gear and lights often camouflage into the dark night. This happenned at 6.15am, maybe this is the reason why and if not, maybe the drivers at fault but to those that do cycle, make sure you wear as much reflective gear and have good lights as possible.

this is completely true and worth pointing out. I used to do a few miles down the country roads on a weekend as fast as I could. In the end I'd seen enough cars fly round bends toward me doing upward of 60 or 70 miles an hour, and read about enough cyclists in the local paper who'd been victim to such careless fckers, to the point that now I don't bother cycling in the country now.
Likewise in the town, it makes no difference if you know what you're doing. I've hurtled across round-abouts giving it some with right of way, only to find that the fckers don't always stop because the sleepy c*nts are even paying due care and attention.
A horrible modern day evil.

RIP CHAMP!

What a loss this is. Gary had an infectious way about him - he always appeared to be cheerful, happy, relaxed. You got the impression people enjoyed being in his company! Always laughing & joking.

A Real Warrior who lost to one of the best in Lennox Lewis!

Gary was also a brilliant commentator for SKY!

Sad Sad news R.I.P Gary. XXX

i only found out about this on friday evening. very upsetting. Seems like Gary was one of those people who you'd only wish good luck but only got bad.

I'd like to have thought that in a collision between Gary Mason & a van that the van would have come off worse.

RIP

Terribly sad news.

Good piece Ian. "In a Daily Telegraph article in 2001, it was reported that '(Mason) does not have a bank account. In fact, he does not have a house, a home, a job or anything else but loyal friends, a big smile and an intelligent, ever-engaging, optimistic personality.'"

This really seems to sum him up and is a testament to the man.

Gutted. R.I.P Gary.

Deno1986 wrote:RIP Gary.

His fight against James Tillis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFrjI0hSQn8

I've also uploaded hid comeback fight against Porter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0-GjnngXmA

will try and get his british title fight against Currie up this weekend

Seemed a top bloke.I never knew him but remember being in his company for a matter of minutes at a show and I remember the size of the man. "Rhino" springs to mind.
I went to Wembley Arena for his fight with Lewis, it wasn't his best as Lewis' jab stood out that night and gave him loads of trouble, like any tall "boxer" would to be honest but he would have matched up well against any other type.
Would have liked to have seen him fight the returning George Foreman, Ray Mercer, Tim Witherspoon, Tommy Morrison, Axel Schultz. Could have broke into title recognition if matched with one of these.
R.I.P Big Man

whilst looking at tributes to gary , this one stood out. shows a different more private side to him.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news ... on/?ref=mr

Old bones Ian wrote:whilst looking at tributes to gary , this one stood out. shows a different more private side to him.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news ... on/?ref=mr

good post. what a sh*t thing to happen to anyone but especially such a decent sounding bloke.

Thanks for the quick write up Ian, some Of the posts reminded me of what a character he was, loved him on ringside a proper bloke who spoke his mind not seen the Lewis fight since the night although I was sure he did well and had lennox blowing a few times !. But was never a Lewis fan at brittish/European level :-) and must admit was rooting for Gary.

Rest in peace condolences to all your close friends and family.

Remember watching him when he was fighting R.I.P. big man