Mark Rowe - RIP
Posted: 11 Jan 2022, 09:33
Camberwell's Mark Rowe died a few days ago at the age of 74, a forgotten champion from a forgotten era. One or two remember him for the lucrative pig farm he owned out in Kent and for his ABA final defeat at the hands of Edinburgh banger Tom Imrie but Rowe could really fight and packed out venues like Wembley and the Albert Hall once he switched to the pros.
Strong, aggressive and clever, Mark racked up the stoppage wins to secure a shot at Liverpool's Les McAteer for British and Commonwealth middleweight titles at Wembley in May 1970. McAteer was the better boxer but Rowe chased hard and kept on chasing and he finally nailed a tiring McAteer in the 14th round, dropping him three times to force the stoppage. However, he lost the belts quickly to Bunny Sterling on cuts and even a promoter like Harry Levene struggled to bring him back.
Mark lost a brace of thrillers to American Tom "The Bomb" Bethea, who had once stopped world middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti in a non-title fight, and scraped a draw with another useful American, Fate Davis, and it was clear that Rowe's best days were behind him. He gave it one last throw of the dice in a rematch with Sterling at the Albert Hall in 1973 but was convincingly outpointed over 15 rounds and decided to call it a day.
Mark battled dementia in recent years and had to be reminded of his thrilling win over McAteer and of his sensational bout with Imrie at the ABA finals in Wembley in 1966, when he was flattened in the dying seconds of a fight he had dominated. Mark never had much luck as a fighter but he loved the game and rarely took a backward step. He was the Mark Kaylor of his era.
Strong, aggressive and clever, Mark racked up the stoppage wins to secure a shot at Liverpool's Les McAteer for British and Commonwealth middleweight titles at Wembley in May 1970. McAteer was the better boxer but Rowe chased hard and kept on chasing and he finally nailed a tiring McAteer in the 14th round, dropping him three times to force the stoppage. However, he lost the belts quickly to Bunny Sterling on cuts and even a promoter like Harry Levene struggled to bring him back.
Mark lost a brace of thrillers to American Tom "The Bomb" Bethea, who had once stopped world middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti in a non-title fight, and scraped a draw with another useful American, Fate Davis, and it was clear that Rowe's best days were behind him. He gave it one last throw of the dice in a rematch with Sterling at the Albert Hall in 1973 but was convincingly outpointed over 15 rounds and decided to call it a day.
Mark battled dementia in recent years and had to be reminded of his thrilling win over McAteer and of his sensational bout with Imrie at the ABA finals in Wembley in 1966, when he was flattened in the dying seconds of a fight he had dominated. Mark never had much luck as a fighter but he loved the game and rarely took a backward step. He was the Mark Kaylor of his era.
