BoxRec

Catford's finest, Hughroy Currie, has passed away at the age of 61. Hughroy was a throwback fighter for whom loss was gain and early defeats only served to harden and improve the determined big man until he linked up with manager and trainer Maurice Hope and made a real breakthrough with consecutive wins over Adrian Elliott and Alfredo Evangelista in the 1980s, both of whom were heavily favoured. He also won a couple of fights in the States.
By 1985, he was British heavyweight champion and ranked in the WBC top 10 but he lost the title to Horace Notice in a six-round thriller and started all over again with brutal knockout wins over Glenn McCrory and Chris Jacobs and a solid 12-round decision over perennial contender Noel Quarless to secure a rematch with Notice for British and Commonwealth titles at York Hall in March 1988.
It was another thriller, a proper slugging match that nobody could call until Hughroy ran out of steam and had to be rescued in the 10th round by referee Adrian Morgan. It proved to be Hughroy's last great effort but he stuck around for some decent paydays against Adilson Rodrigues, Gary Mason and Derek Williams, the latter for the European heavyweight title.
Hughroy, a man who mixed it with Frank Bruno in the amateurs, could have been special but at the worst possible time his manager Hope went bankrupt and was forced to leave the UK for Antigua, and that hit Hughroy hard.

RIP big man! I remember that excellent interview in BN must be over 20 years ago... he came off a building site to do the interview and it was an excellent read. He still looked like he could do 12 rounds.

A really good fighter who never had an easy time in the ring. Can't have been all that old?

R.I.P Champ

What did he die of? I saw him at York Hall circa 2007 and he must have been 25 stone, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

Tuan_Jim wrote: ↑24 Jan 2021, 10:39 What did he die of? I saw him at York Hall circa 2007 and he must have been 25 stone, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

Don't know what he died of. I read of his death on the facebook ex-boxers' site, run by Dave Hall.

bennie wrote: ↑24 Jan 2021, 12:42

Tuan_Jim wrote: ↑24 Jan 2021, 10:39 What did he die of? I saw him at York Hall circa 2007 and he must have been 25 stone, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

Don't know what he died of. I read of his death on the facebook ex-boxers' site, run by Dave Hall.

Covid being mentioned on other sites. RIP

Sad news. Also known as Trevor, he had good all round ability and was no pushover when he was in good shape.

You're right Bennie, the Notice fights were his last big efforts and Currie was in good nick for them. I think he trained with a rugby squad for the rematch. I must have watched that fight about 10 times.

I was at his final fight at Crofton Leisure centre and he capitulated badly. Currie made a big thing of the stoppage, but his mate Lloyd Honeghan encouraged him to let it go and cajoled Hughroy back to the dressing room for the last time.

I loved watching his fights in the 80's,RIP champ.

Hughroy Currie, I remember him well. RIP champ

THEBUTCH wrote: ↑24 Jan 2021, 14:22 Sad news. Also known as Trevor, he had good all round ability and was no pushover when he was in good shape.

You're right Bennie, the Notice fights were his last big efforts and Currie was in good nick for them. I think he trained with a rugby squad for the rematch. I must have watched that fight about 10 times.

I was at his final fight at Crofton Leisure centre and he capitulated badly. Currie made a big thing of the stoppage, but his mate Lloyd Honeghan encouraged him to let it go and cajoled Hughroy back to the dressing room for the last time.

Hughroy was very good mates with Honeyghan, who drove up to Oldham to watch his fight with Glenn McCrory a couple of weeks after destroying Don Curry (and received a 20-minute standing ovation). Hughroy was so buoyed up by Lloyd's appearance that he went out and flattened McCrory.

In case anyone is wondering how Currie cracked the WBC top 10 as British heavyweight champion, Hughroy's 10-round decision over Proud Kilimanjaro in Cardiff in 1985 earned him the spot because the big African was somehow ranked No.9 at the time. Kilimanjaro did nothing for eight rounds but nearly stopped Currie in the ninth after referee Harry Gibbs visited his corner and asked him to show something. F rank Warren wasn't happy with Gibbs.

a 20 minute standing ovation? lol that seems a bit awkward and tedious

I think Harry Gibbs had a soft spot for Currie.

Although his win over Banjo was a poor spectacle, Currie also claimed the British title whilst setting the record straight at the same time and by the time he beat Kilimanjaro was on a good run of wins, including probably his best win over Evangelista. So the top ten rating wasn't totally undeserved. Notice put a halt to any further progress in his next fight.

Gibbs was much more comfortable refereeing the heavies than the smaller fighters. He infamously lost control of the Wilfredo Gomez-Carlos Zarate superfight in Puerto Rico in 1978 and allowed Gomez to get away with repeated fouls.

Killamanjaro was fightiing fights with aids wasnt he

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑26 Jan 2021, 03:55 Killamanjaro was fightiing fights with aids wasnt he

As was Tommy Morrison

R.I.P

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑25 Jan 2021, 02:37 a 20 minute standing ovation? lol that seems a bit awkward and tedious

Back in 1986, Lloyd made the front page of the tabloids for defeating Curry (not the full page but part of it). Boxing was still big, still mainstream. To go to the States and stop a gifted, unbeaten fighter for the undisputed world welterweight title was an amazing feat that people recognised and appreciated. Why is their response tedious and awkward?

mercman wrote: ↑26 Jan 2021, 09:16

bennie wrote: ↑26 Jan 2021, 08:58

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑25 Jan 2021, 02:37 a 20 minute standing ovation? lol that seems a bit awkward and tedious

Back in 1986, Lloyd made the front page of the tabloids for defeating Curry (not the full page but part of it). Boxing was still big, still mainstream. To go to the States and stop a gifted, unbeaten fighter for the undisputed world welterweight title was an amazing feat that people recognised and appreciated. Why is their response tedious and awkward?

That's right, Honeyghan beating Currie was a really big thing at the time, all over the media. Honeyghan was a big star for a good while after that, no doubt. People forget, boxing was much more mainstream back then.

You got quite a bit of boxing on BBC and ITV, and successful boxers were big celebrities - the likes of Henry Cooper, John Conteh, Frank Bruno, etc. In newspapers, magazines, quiz shows on tele, guest appearances.

I was very young, but don’t think it was live on telly?

Yeah deffo shown the next day, I remember watching it.

bennie wrote: ↑26 Jan 2021, 08:58

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑25 Jan 2021, 02:37 a 20 minute standing ovation? lol that seems a bit awkward and tedious

Back in 1986, Lloyd made the front page of the tabloids for defeating Curry (not the full page but part of it). Boxing was still big, still mainstream. To go to the States and stop a gifted, unbeaten fighter for the undisputed world welterweight title was an amazing feat that people recognised and appreciated. Why is their response tedious and awkward?

never seen a standing ovation that long, after the first minute gotta be a bit reptitive and everyone gets the point by then. lol that's longer than a 4 round fight, just standing there clapping continously for 1 guy. did lloyd at least himself a drink during it or something?

I dunno, I seem to remember the crowd reaction to SRL just standing and waving at the Froch/Bute fight going on much longer than a minute and he'd been retired for good then by about 15 years.

maybe a couple minutes, ya, but 20 minutes? i mean im not denying it happened, just that seems kinda op

sore hands after that