By Miles Templeton
AMERICA produced a steady stream of world class middleweights back in the 1970s.
Men like Marvin Hagler, Vito Antuofermo, Eugene ‘Cyclone’ Hart, Tony Licata, Mike Rossman, Mike Baker, Bennie Briscoe, Eddie Gregory and Willie Monroe all spring to mind. One of the first to make his mark over here was Tom ‘The Bomb’ Bethea, a hard-punching fighter from Harlem, in New York City. Born in 1944, Bethea had already gone 10 rounds with Carlos Monzon, losing only via split decision, and stopped Nino Benvenuti in seven by the time he made his UK debut in 1970.
He was brought over to fight Mark Rowe in December of that year and the programme notes for the contest stated that “Bethea fights only one style, he barrels into his opponents and fires away with short punches from all angles.” Rowe had both won and lost the British title earlier that year and was at a crossroads. This, his 30th contest at the Royal Albert Hall, proved to be an unlucky one.
In a very tight affair, referee Harry Gibbs gave it to Bethea by just one round. BN thought Rowe deserved at least a share of the honours. A rematch was a natural and when the two met again, 10 months later at the same venue, Bethea repeated his victory, this time more conclusively. Rowe was well behind when a scalp wound, caused by a fifth-round head clash, and a badly cut eye proved to be too much for his corner and he was pulled out in the ninth.
Rowe’s trainer, Bill Chevalley, was unhappy about the amount of illicit headwork that Bethea was using but BN hit the nail on the head in stating that “Bethea had a very good ninth round and looked in far better shape than Rowe. For all Mark’s admirable gallantry, there was not a lot of point in letting him come out for the last round.”
Light-heavyweight, Johnny Frankham outpointed Ba Sounkalo on the undercard that night, and a match was made between Frankham and Bethea at 12st 3lbs, again at the Royal Albert Hall, in January 1972. Tom was becoming something of a fan favourite at this famous old venue and he was quite happy to step up a weight division to tackle the Reading fighter. Johnny spent much of the early rounds showboating. BN pulled no punches: “Frankham was his usual, exasperating, irritating, frustrating self, grinning and with hands held by his side. For the first half of the fight it was Johnny who did the back-peddling and Bethea the stalking.” A late Frankham rally was not enough, and Bethea won his third UK contest, with referee Harry Gibbs scoring him the winner by two rounds. Earlier in the evening, in a big upset, Mark Rowe was wiped out by Howard Sharpe in only 50 seconds.
The stage was set for the US import to fight the British champion, Bunny Sterling, in another Albert Hall 10-rounder. The St Pancras fighter was fancied in this testing encounter, despite Bethea’s UK form but, once again, the American boxed extremely well and had built up a commanding lead by the start of the ninth. Harry Gibbs had no alternative but to stop the contest when, after a head clash, Bethea reeled away with a severely damaged left eyelid. After the bout, Tom said that “Sterling’s a good mover and not a bad puncher. I don’t know how far in front I was, I just do the fighting.”
Bethea’s fifth, and final, British fight took place at the World Sporting Club, Mayfair and this time he was truly put in his place. Phil Matthews was a big punching middleweight from Rossendale, Lancashire, and was a real prospect at that time. He flattened Bethea in three rounds in a televised contest. After lighting up British rings for two years Tom went back to the States and quit the game in 1978.
