BoxRec

A few months ago I bumped into Sammy Reeson in a south London pub. Didn't know it was him, we just started talking.

I remember he was the first Brit to fight for a world Cruiserweight title and the first to win Brit and Euro cruiser weight title (I think).

He is slim, grey haired but unfortunately lost a leg in some bizarre fluke accident. The leg is covered in chelsea stickers now :-)!

Apparently he was 17 stone, holidaying in Barbados when he got the call to fight DeLeon with only six weeks' notice. Obviously he took it. But he said 'I had nothing, I was so drained with losing the weight.'

I believe he got a good payoff for the accident.

1st boxer to win the EBU Cruiser title, at the time the Cruisers were struggling to get the fans it wasn't an exciting division.
But Reeson and McCrory both challenged for world titles within a month of each other in 1989, Reeson had the much harder opponent in De Leon who was in his 3rd world title reign and had won 10 and lost 3 title fights, I think Reesons people thought the Holyfield fight might of took something out of De Leon and he was there to be beat.
In a slow fight, the more experienced De Leon didn't do much for the first 4 rounds, but then came on a bit from the 5th and just wore Reeson down.

Old bones Ian wrote:1st boxer to win the EBU Cruiser title, at the time the Cruisers were struggling to get the fans it wasn't an exciting division.
But Reeson and McCrory both challenged for world titles within a month of each other in 1989, Reeson had the much harder opponent in De Leon who was in his 3rd world title reign and had won 10 and lost 3 title fights, I think Reesons people thought the Holyfield fight might of took something out of De Leon and he was there to be beat.
In a slow fight, the more experienced De Leon didn't do much for the first 4 rounds, but then came on a bit from the 5th and just wore Reeson down.

I remember that. I actually thought Reeson was more likely to win as he'd only had a cut loss and DeLeon was Old.

McCrory was fighting Lumumba who I thought would be way too strong. Glenn winning the title was an emotional night.

As to Sammy, it was clear he had no energy and was drained that night.

Hard to believe that we all thought De Leon was old back then, he was 30 when he took on Reeson. That's relatively young nowadays!

But yes you could only see one winner once they got in the ring that night

DeLeon was a class above really, even if Sammy had got down to 13 stone 8lb safely he would have been on the recieving end of it as he never fought anyone remotely in DeLeon's class - it was the first promotion at the Docklands arena if I remember rightly.

Reeson would have beaten Lumbumba though so - you know - snakes and roundabouts etc.

Fat Git wrote:DeLeon was a class above really, even if Sammy had got down to 13 stone 8lb safely he would have been on the recieving end of it as he never fought anyone remotely in DeLeon's class - it was the first promotion at the Docklands arena if I remember rightly.

Reeson would have beaten Lumbumba though so - you know - snakes and roundabouts etc.

Who knows. At the time Cruiserweight was a desert and totally new. Not taken seriously. I think Sammy with preparation, in the UK would've had a chance against DeLeon

reggaereggae wrote:

Fat Git wrote:DeLeon was a class above really, even if Sammy had got down to 13 stone 8lb safely he would have been on the recieving end of it as he never fought anyone remotely in DeLeon's class - it was the first promotion at the Docklands arena if I remember rightly.

Reeson would have beaten Lumbumba though so - you know - snakes and roundabouts etc.

Who knows. At the time Cruiserweight was a desert and totally new. Not taken seriously. I think Sammy with preparation, in the UK would've had a chance against DeLeon

I wouldn't go that far, on the world stage - there had been world champions at cruiserweight since 1979. That is a good 11 years of world championship boxing before Reeson got his chance.

streatham. fought at the Studio, i think.

DeLeon was a crafty boxer who knew how to pinch the points and where to have his head positioned for the inevitable bumping and boring. He cut a lot of his opponents so it was no disgrace for Sammy to go out that way. Sammy was an overachiever.

bennie wrote:DeLeon was a crafty boxer who knew how to pinch the points and where to have his head positioned for the inevitable bumping and boring. He cut a lot of his opponents so it was no disgrace for Sammy to go out that way. Sammy was an overachiever.

I think overachiever is a bit harsh. He was a nice boxer and from some accounts he liked to party too much, which is a hinderance to boxing!

Having said that I only ever saw the DeLeon fight in the inch he was flat.

Still, I admire boxers that say 'that's it' when they get as far as they can. So many fighters go on too long.

reggaereggae wrote:

bennie wrote:DeLeon was a crafty boxer who knew how to pinch the points and where to have his head positioned for the inevitable bumping and boring. He cut a lot of his opponents so it was no disgrace for Sammy to go out that way. Sammy was an overachiever.

I think overachiever is a bit harsh. He was a nice boxer and from some accounts he liked to party too much, which is a hinderance to boxing!

Having said that I only ever saw the DeLeon fight in the inch he was flat.

Still, I admire boxers that say 'that's it' when they get as far as they can. So many fighters go on too long.

Reeson was a good pro who could have done better with a bit more dedication. He suffered a bit with inactivity in his last couple of years and went into the DeLeon fight off the back of a years inactivity. Shame as I think he was at least as good as Mcrory.

Over achieving is actually a real achievement in boxing, most fighters under achieve.

Coco wrote:Over achieving is actually a real achievement in boxing, most fighters under achieve.

Right. This is applicable to a lot on the world!