BoxRec

THE below passage is going in this Friday's Boxing News, but as the family want as many boxing people to attend the funeral and wake as possible, I'm posting this today (please could someone post this on the Eastside forum too as I'm banned):

DES GARGANO, the Manchester super-feather journeyman who lost to Naseem Hamed in the “Prince’s” fifth fight, has died, aged 49. Gargano, real name Des Southern, was a durable southpaw who in 87 defeats was halted just nine times. In a 13-year career he took on the likes of Pat Clinton, John Davison, Jimmi Bredahl and Spencer Oliver, taking them all the distance, although huge puncher Hamed got him out of there.

Gargano died on July 2 after a long battle with lung cancer. In mid-May, he was released early on compassionate grounds after serving 18 months of a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence for cigarette smuggling. He leaves sons Curtis, Spencer and Cameron.

“When they let him out, he was only supposed to have a day to live,” said Curtis. “But my dad’s a fighter and he lasted for nearly six weeks.”

Gargano’s funeral is at 10am today (Friday, July 16) at the Parish Church, Middleton, M24 6DE, with the wake taking place at Norton Grange, Manchester Road, Castleton, OL11 2XZ from midday.

We offer his family our sincere condolences.

That is a shame, Des was an undercard legend. Condolences to those close to him.

Des took his ring name from Nicky Gargano, the brilliant-boxing southpaw of the 1950s who won the Europeans and Olympic bronze. He never did anything by halves, which explains his prison sentence. He was a better fisherman than he ever was a fighter, but something left him as a fighter when he was stopped for the first time in his career by John Lowey in Ireland. Des was bitterly upset at the stoppage, in the sixth and final round.
Keep punching, Des.

This is sad. I'll remember Des with affection. Knew how to look after himself. He didn't like using gumshields because he felt that if somebody was struggling they needed as much air in their lungs as possible... Remember somebody asking him what should be done to make boxing safer and he suggested with a blank face one-minute rounds and three-minute intervals... fought John Hyland in the 1984 ABAs if I remember rightly, more than 100 pro fights - he beat the 1984 ABA featherweight champion Kevin Taylor, went the distance with men who went on to be champions like Pat Clinton, Jimmi Bredahl and Eyup Can (in Denmark), John Davison, Richie Wenton, Paul Lloyd and others, and lasted into the fourth with a very young Naseem Hamed.

RIP DES

I can remember reading how canny and skillful he was; he loved his fishing and was a decent family man. RIP.

Rip Des

Gutted. Used to have such a laugh with him. Expert Angler. RIP pal.

Yeah brilliant angler and a great man too. R.I.P des

RIP mate, quality person

Seen him box a few times & once sat next to him at a Tara show in Shaw. Top bloke.
RIP

RIP, Des.