RIP Troy Waters
Posted: 19 May 2018, 07:25
Former world class light-middleweight Troy Waters has sadly died of leukaemia at the age of 53.
Waters is one of the greatest Australian fighters of all time, driven to succeed by his brutal father (who makes Gregorio Benitez look like a nun) and fighting 12-rounders after a handful of fights, dropping a split decision to the powerful In-Chul Baek in Korea but stopping our own Lloyd Hibbert to win the Commonwealth light-middleweight title at home in 1987, a talented Brummie who had given Lloyd Honeyghan a tough 10-rounder (and won the Commonwealth title from Bristol's Nick Wilshire). Waters proved an outstanding champion with defences against Gilbert Josamu, Michael Harris, Ronald Doo and Judas Clottey and he broke into the world rankings with a knockout over American Jack Callahan in Melbourne in 1988.
A year later he made the first of three world title cracks when he was outscored over 12 rounds by cagey Italian Gianfranco Rosi for the IBF light-middleweight title in Italy but he came back with six straight wins and challenged a peak Terry Norris for the WBC title in San Diego in 1993. Norris dropped him in the first round (and as ever hit his man on the floor) but Waters returned the knockdown in the second and the pair slugged it out for the rest of a thrilling round before Norris asserted himself in the third, dropping Waters again and busting him up. The corner pulled Waters out at the end of the round.
Polished and hard-hitting, Waters came back with a stoppage over ill-fated former Olympic gold medallist Robert Wangila in Los Angeles to earn a shot at Simon Brown, who had deposed Norris in a shocker, and he went the full 12 rounds to concede a majority decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas topped by Frankie Randall's stunning win over the previously unbeaten Julio Cesar Chavez. Waters strung together another winning run and made his way to Madison Square Garden for a big fight against unbeaten Felix Trinidad in 1997 and, now pushing 33, was blown away in the first round. One of three boxing brothers, Waters had one more fight, which he won, then decided to call it a day. He beat men such as Craig Trotter, Jorge Vaca, Lonny Beasley and Alain Bonnamie.
Troy's father, Cecil (known as “Ces”), controlled him and his brothers, Dean and Guy, to such a degree that heavyweight Dean, who lost to Horace Notice here in 1987, agreed to murder Allan Hall in 1988, blasting him at close range with a shotgun because Hall was living with Ces's estranged wife, stepmother of the three boys. Dean had also been ordered to shoot his stepmother but he couldn't do it. In the subsequent trial, Dean and his brothers revealed shocking details of their upbringing and the physical and mental abuse applied by Ces, and Dean admitted he had “surrendered his will” to his father for the killing. The jury took just over an hour to find him not guilty of murder. Ces Waters, charged with conspiracy to murder, evaded justice when he died of a heart attack at the age of 70.
Dean, Troy, Guy and the notorious Ces.
Waters is one of the greatest Australian fighters of all time, driven to succeed by his brutal father (who makes Gregorio Benitez look like a nun) and fighting 12-rounders after a handful of fights, dropping a split decision to the powerful In-Chul Baek in Korea but stopping our own Lloyd Hibbert to win the Commonwealth light-middleweight title at home in 1987, a talented Brummie who had given Lloyd Honeyghan a tough 10-rounder (and won the Commonwealth title from Bristol's Nick Wilshire). Waters proved an outstanding champion with defences against Gilbert Josamu, Michael Harris, Ronald Doo and Judas Clottey and he broke into the world rankings with a knockout over American Jack Callahan in Melbourne in 1988.
A year later he made the first of three world title cracks when he was outscored over 12 rounds by cagey Italian Gianfranco Rosi for the IBF light-middleweight title in Italy but he came back with six straight wins and challenged a peak Terry Norris for the WBC title in San Diego in 1993. Norris dropped him in the first round (and as ever hit his man on the floor) but Waters returned the knockdown in the second and the pair slugged it out for the rest of a thrilling round before Norris asserted himself in the third, dropping Waters again and busting him up. The corner pulled Waters out at the end of the round.
Polished and hard-hitting, Waters came back with a stoppage over ill-fated former Olympic gold medallist Robert Wangila in Los Angeles to earn a shot at Simon Brown, who had deposed Norris in a shocker, and he went the full 12 rounds to concede a majority decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas topped by Frankie Randall's stunning win over the previously unbeaten Julio Cesar Chavez. Waters strung together another winning run and made his way to Madison Square Garden for a big fight against unbeaten Felix Trinidad in 1997 and, now pushing 33, was blown away in the first round. One of three boxing brothers, Waters had one more fight, which he won, then decided to call it a day. He beat men such as Craig Trotter, Jorge Vaca, Lonny Beasley and Alain Bonnamie.
Troy's father, Cecil (known as “Ces”), controlled him and his brothers, Dean and Guy, to such a degree that heavyweight Dean, who lost to Horace Notice here in 1987, agreed to murder Allan Hall in 1988, blasting him at close range with a shotgun because Hall was living with Ces's estranged wife, stepmother of the three boys. Dean had also been ordered to shoot his stepmother but he couldn't do it. In the subsequent trial, Dean and his brothers revealed shocking details of their upbringing and the physical and mental abuse applied by Ces, and Dean admitted he had “surrendered his will” to his father for the killing. The jury took just over an hour to find him not guilty of murder. Ces Waters, charged with conspiracy to murder, evaded justice when he died of a heart attack at the age of 70.
Dean, Troy, Guy and the notorious Ces.