More than half a century on, mention of that classic British heavyweight showdown between Henry Cooper and Joe Bugner is guaranteed to rekindle the debate about who won.
Controversially, Bugner got the nod in an all-time British classic. I was in the Cooper camp. Still think Our ‘Enry deserved to have his hand raised.
Now, 53 years later, we are reflecting on another classic heavyweight duel. Frazer Clarke and Fabio Wardley fought themselves to a standstill at the O2 in London last week in a bout that divided the cognoscenti.
Though both emerged with their unbeaten records intact, I thought big Frazer did just enough. Either way, it was fabulous to see two British heavyweights going at it in a contest neither deserved to lose, augmenting a proud tradition shaped by the likes of Bugner and Cooper, Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno.
It is great for boxing that a night like this can set the agenda and fire the imagination. It helped, of course, that the top of the bill was broadcast at a sensible hour when casual observers are just as likely to tune in as die-hard fans. That’s a sure way to build audience figures.
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Hats off to Wardley. He put up a hell of a fight, dropping Clarke in the fifth. Clarke took three rounds to recover but showed great skill and heart to come back strongly. The final round was a testament to both fighters: a proper, all-or-nothing ding-dong. There is nothing quite like watching the big boys blazing away.
There was a fair bit of needle beforehand. Clarke was a world-class amateur. Wardley does not have that elite amateur background, which was part of the tension. Wardley wanted to dent Clarke’s Olympian hauteur and demonstrate there is more than one way to skin a cat in this game.
Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke fought to a draw in London on the weekend (Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer)Success in the amateurs is no guarantee of glory as a pro. This was a vindication of both pathways, a real test of character that ended with each full of respect for the other. On nights like this boxing is the winner, demonstrating its appeal in the most authentic way possible.
Where these two go individually from here is hard to tell. But as a sport British boxing showed itself to be in rude health. In this era of white-collar TV bouts and crossover fights involving MMA interlopers, that cheered me almost as much as the fight itself.
* Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @mcguigans_gym
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