“I’m not aware of any runner in the history of running who won a race with a broken leg, but I had broken hands nearly every time I fought. When I won, I saw how happy it made my trainer and the people who supported me and all that pain went away.”
TWENTY nine victories, three losses and one draw. It might not sound like the most standout of CVs, but delve into the career of three-weight world champion Jeff Fenech, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with his achievements.
Fenech turned professional on 12 October 1984 in his birth town of Marickville in front of 300 people, knocking out Bobby Williams in the second round. Four months later, the 20-year-old blitzed Wayne Mulholland in five rounds to become the South Pacific and South Seas bantamweight champion.
Shortly after, he challenged Satoshi Shingaki for the IBF world bantamweight title. With only six months of professional boxing to his name, the future Hall of Famer recalled his first roll of the dice at world honours.
“Prior to the fight, a lot of the press and older fighters had written me off, saying there’s no way I could last the 15-round distance. What they maybe didn’t realise, as an amateur I’d sparred hundreds of rounds and I came third at the World Cup in Rome after 15 amateur fights.
“I only had 28 amateur contests, but I fought and beat guys who had fought hundreds of times, so experience was not a problem. Then when I turned pro, I was sparring against five different people, three rounds each, for 15 rounds nonstop. I was fully prepared to go the distance that night. I still had nerves, but remember, if you’re not nervous, you’re not ready.”
Fenech took the decision out of the judges’ hands, stopping Shingaki in the ninth round, which was a wise move.
“That night, two judges had me winning every round, but the other judge, who was from Japan, had it a draw after eight rounds. That judge was also in Shingaki’s corner in the rematch four months later!”
The Marickville Mauler recalled the impact of being crowned world champion. “Back then I used to say, ‘I’ll never change,’ but fame and fortune changes everybody, automatically. You can still say you’re still the same, but you can’t be when you go from no money to suddenly being able to buy a house, a car and all these things. It’s how you manage that change that’s important long term.”
Fenech fought six times over the next 12 months, including an even faster stoppage of Shingaki, in the fourth and a successful title defence against unbeaten Jerome Coffee, who was 26-0 at the time and the first person to take him the distance.
Next up was decorated Mexican, Daniel Zaragoza, in April 1986, which Fenech regarded as one of his toughest fights.
“Have a look at everyone I fought and who they fought. I won every round against Daniel Zaragoza. I wasn’t just beating great champions, I was really beating them. Zaragoza said after the fight, as did Carlos Zarate, that I was the toughest and best fighter they’d ever fought. References don’t come better than that.”
Three months later, Steve McCrory challenged Fenech for his IBF strap. Fenech explained his motivation going into the fight.
“That fight meant so much to me, because he won the Olympic gold medal in 1984 and I was robbed of my chance to go to the Olympics. I was the first boxer in history to win by the judges and get overturned by the jury.
“I fought Redzep Redzepovski of Yugoslavia, and despite being given the nod by the judges, the guys on the Olympic Committee stepped in and did a recount. I lost. Redzep went on to get silver against McCrory.
“So, here I am now, two years later, defending my world bantamweight title against McCrory. I won every round on the scorecards and stopped him in the fourteenth. I kind of felt like I’d vindicated myself.”
Nine months later, Fenech moved up to 126lbs, beating Tony Miller for the Australian featherweight title, swiftly followed by another world title challenge against tough Thai, Samart Payakaroon, for his WBC world super-bantamweight title.
Despite hitting the canvas in the opening session, the Sydney native knocked out the previously unbeaten champion in four rounds.
Fenech recalled. “People bet a lot of money on that fight for me to lose, but it turned out to be one of my greatest performances. I knocked him out that badly, he needed to be rushed to hospital.”
Over the next five months, Fenech defended his WBC title twice, against Greg Richardson and teak-tough Mexican, Carlos Zarate. “Everybody was really nervous about Carlos Zarate. He was 37 when he made a comeback, but had won all 12 of his fights, 10 by knockout. The fight was stopped in the fourth due to a cut I sustained after a clash of heads, but I won every round on the judges’ scorecards up to then, and I would have probably stopped him a few rounds down the line.”
On 7 March 1988, Fenech took on Puerto Rican Victor Callejas for the vacant WBC world featherweight title. Fenech explained his situation going into the fight. “I felt great at 126lbs, but I broke my hand in training.
Either way, that was the dirtiest fight I’d ever been in. He was throwing elbows, headbutts and anything else he could get away with. Let’s just say I was relieved to stop him in the tenth. After the fight, Callejas said, ‘I hit him that hard I had to ask myself, ‘Am I fighting a human?’’
Fenech, now a three-weight world champion, defended his newly acquired crown three times, then beat Mario Martinez in 1989, in a contest billed as a WBC super-featherweight world title eliminator. After a year of inactivity due to two hand operations, on 28 June 1991, Fenech challenged ‘The Professor’, Azumah Nelson at The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, for his 130lbs WBC title.
Fenech walked away with a draw and explained his disappointment. “It was a terrible memory for me, but it was also one of the best things that happened, because after that, I learned what the values of life were and what the meaning of a true champion was. You don’t learn by winning all the time……. even though everyone knew I’d won that fight! Come on. In the last round, when the bell went, I had to hold him up.”
The pair locked horns nine months later, with Fenech suffering his first career defeat. “I completely changed as a person for the rematch. Instead of running at 5am, I’d run at 7am. Instead of eating healthy, I’d be down the restaurants. However, I need to compliment Azumah Nelson. After losing nine out of 12 rounds in our first fight, he came back with that self-belief that he could not only beat me, but stop me in my backyard. And he did.”
After one last shot at world honours in May 1996, getting stopped by IBF world lightweight champion Philip Holiday, Fenech retired. However, his involvement with boxing was far from over. “I trained Mike Tyson for the Clifford Etienne fight in 2003 and his fight against Kevin McBride in 2005. The experience was as good as winning a world title. Being part of Team Tyson was crazy, training him, being around him. It was a very humbling experience.”
Fenech gave his thoughts on Iron Mike’s recent debacle against Jake Paul. “If it was up to me I wouldn’t have taken the fight, but he got a lot of money, which is great. Look at it this way. At 58 years of age, he’s managed to turn his life around and has become one of those amazing stories in sports history. That wasn’t the boxer Mike Tyson in the ring, that was an entertainment show.”
In 2008, Fenech and Azumah Nelson both came out of long-term retirement to complete the trilogy. Fenech won by majority decision and they both walked away with a larger bank balance. At 60 years old, the affable Aussie discussed what is important to him now.
“I’m very lucky to say, I loved my boxing career and what I achieved. I’m grateful of the friendships I made and I thank the people who beat me, because they made me a better human being. My brain works perfectly, my memory is great and I can talk without a slur.
“What’s most important to me now is making positive memories. Whether it be having the opportunity to buy someone a meal, share time with friends or tell stories to the fans. If it wasn’t for all the fans who supported me, I wouldn’t have my house, or my car. They paid to watch me fight and without them I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”
