The life and death of Johnny Owen, the Welsh boxer

[editor]

It's a short article, but one worth sharing, I think. His family's response to his death is really quite moving.

Born on this day 1956 in Merthyr,

Johnny Owen – Bantamweight Boxing Champion of Europe, Great Britain and the Commonwealth.

Owen was the fourth of a family of eight children to working-class parents Dick and Edith Owens and began to box at the age of eight and progressing to win several Welsh titles.

He was a quiet, reserved, friendly character outside the ring, but inside it, he was a formidable opponent with determination and strength in contrast to his frail looking body, which earned him many epithets, including ‘the Bionic Bantam’ and ‘the Merthyr Matchstick’. He possessed an impressive stamina built by long hours running up the steep hills of the South Wales Valleys.

On 4th November 1980, Johnny Owen died, following a knock out by Mexican boxer Lupe Pintor, during a challenge for the World Bantamweight title at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles on 19th September 1980.

Owen fell into a coma and never regained consciousness. Owen’s family, far from blaming the World Champion, telegraphed him shortly after their loss and encouraged him to go on fighting.
Twenty years later, a memorial to Johnny Owen was unveiled in Merthyr Tydfil and at the request of the late fighter's father, the unveiling was performed by Lupe Pintor.

(source)

More: The tragic tale of Johnny Owen and how it scarred boxing

 

[editor]

Fucking hell, when you read the report of that last fight from the Indie, the magnanimity of his father is really something else.

Owen was trailing on all three scorecards in the fifteen-round fight when the bell for twelfth sounded. The canvas was splattered with blood, Owen had been swallowing his own blood since round five from a cut inside his bottom lip, dropped heavily in round nine and sent crashing twice more to the sodden canvas in round twelve. The final knockdown is arguably the single most disturbing image in British boxing history; I have watched it for you and listened to the men that were there talking about it. It will never leave you if you watch it.

Poor Johnny was out cold on the canvas, folded over his legs at first like a butchered giraffe. There was an ancient stretcher, no resuscitation equipment and somebody tried smelling salts. His body was placed like a sacrifice on the stretcher with tender care by his father and others in the corner, and then they faced a gauntlet with their silent and still boy. The men carrying the stretcher were abused, had their pockets picked, were hit, kicked and had urine in beer cups thrown over them. They screamed back in hate, carried the kid and made it through to the ambulance.

 

[editor]

Fascinating local detail here Stories of a Post-industrial Hero: The Death of Johnny Owen

And the usual shit...

Although the World Boxing Council had claimed that Owen’s life was insured for $50,000, the policy was actually limited to $25,000 and that would only be paid if there was anything left after medical expenses had been dealt with. Those expenses came to $94,000, so his parents got nothing from the WBC’s insurance.

There was a public appeal for the family which raised £128,000, a testimony to the popularity of Owen. His family chose to donate the money to a local hospital and community projects. There was also separate insurance with the British Boxing Board of Control, which paid out £30,000, and Owen left, at least according to press reports, £45,189.57

Nonetheless, his father was only too aware of how little professional fighters often actually took home. After expenses and managerial and promotional cuts had been deducted, his son had got a pre-tax sum of £6,974.42 for a fight that cost him his life

 

[littlebabyjesus]

There was a tv show a few years back when his dad met up with Pintor. A lot of dignity on all sides. They showed footage of the fight, including the final punch that killed him. imo it amounts to manslaughter by the match organisers, the referee, and quite possibly his own team. No way he should have been fighting on at that point. I'm quite anti-boxing nowadays. Watching that programme and seeing that footage was part of what hardened my attitudes towards it.