The Boxing History Blog

Hi Here is a free chapter from the book Nigel Benn Vs Chris Eubank: Who’s Fooloing Who?, which is available on Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, and Barnes & Noble:  https://linktr.ee/leroy_fight_writer All the best fight fans Lea  Declaration of War  “He (Chris Eubank) was the first person to come out and slag me off, and so he lit the fuse – he lit the fuse good.” – Nigel Benn.  “For me it was never a matter of hate. This was an individual who I needed to win against in order to, well, get out of a maisonette flat and get into a house.” – Chris Eubank. Chris Eubank made the second defence of his WBC International middleweight title at Brighton’s Conference Centre against Birmingham’s Kid Milo on 5th September. Milo, born Winston Walters, started his paid career in April 1985, and by the time he challenged Eubank, he had amassed a record of 13-3-1 (7 KOs).         Milo threw himself at the champion from the start as Eubank was...

In December 2019 I was on a family vacation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We visited Mystic Mountain, about five minutes from Dunn's River Falls (also highly recommended). On our ascent through the rainforest scenery on the SkyExplorer to take us to the famous Bobsled ride, I wasn't expecting to be greeted by a room full of sports memorabilia.  Obviously, the Jamaican Bobsled team dominated the room, but I was instantly drawn to the massive information board on Lennox Lewis and seeing smaller articles on Mike McCallum, Simon Brown and Glen Johnson, giving me the inspiration for The Pride of Jamaica posts. Lennox Claudius Lewis was born in West Ham, England on 02nd September 1965 to Jamaican parents. His mother agonised over whether to terminate the pregnancy when she found out the man she loved was already married to a woman in Montego Bay. Fortunately for the boxing world, Violet decided against a termination. "I was desperate. But the moment I held baby Lennox in my arms I kne...

Mike McCallum One of the most complete ring technicians of the modern era, Mike McCallum first came to prominence in the 1978 Commonwealth Games, held in his home country, picking up the gold medal in the welterweight division.  Born in Kingston, Jamaica on 07th December 1956, he left his native country to turn professional in the United States as a light-middleweight in January 1981. He stopped the American Rigoberto Lopez in the fourth round, going 12-0 before fighting in his home country in his thirteenth contest against Gilberto Almonte. Unfortunately for the Kingston crowd they only got to see 66 seconds of their man in action, issuing a sixth straight and final stoppage defeat on the Dominican's ledger. It would be Kevin Perry who stopped McCallum's stoppage spree, lasting the full ten rounds in front of the Madison Square Garden crowd in the Jamaican's fifteenth pro outing in June 1982.  Two fights later he faced the biggest name of his career to date in the guise of...