THEY may have weighed only nine stone or 126lbs, but the featherweights have established themselves as some of the very best in the business – and there’s a Brummie in Mike Lockley’s list of the greatest of all time.
Drunks, psychopaths and downright dirty fighters, the featherweights represent the good, bad and ugly of professional pugilism.
10. Young Griffo
Interesting Aussie, Griffo. Too many champs have become alcoholics after boxing, he’s probably the only alcoholic to become a world champ.
In fact, Griffo, the greatest boxer produced Down Under, entered at least two of his bouts while drunk. In one, a 1897 farce against Tom Tracey, he stunned the crowd by halting the action to give a slurred speech. Tracey, arms folded and glowering, was less than impressed.
The booze didn’t dim his amazing skills, though he was a powder-puff puncher.
Blessed with amazing ability, Griffo beat Torpedo Billy Murphy for the world title in 1890 and defended four times before making the weight became too great an ordeal.
And Griffo also made cinematic history. He appeared as himself in 1895 film, “Young Griffo v Battling Charles Barnett” – the first film shown for profit.
9. Owen Moran
A Brummie on our list! Owen Moran may have been a thoroughly nasty bit of work, but, boy, could he fight.
Three times he attempted to gain the title, three times he was unjustly denied.
Owen, with a temper to match his mop head of red hair, was born to brawl – and the violence was not confined to the ring.
He was not a nice individual. In drink, he was positively psychotic. Esteemed sports writer James Butler wrote of the 5ft 3ins dynamo: “Nature was pretty generous to Owen Moran, giving him most of the treasured gifts a man can have… everything barring one important asset – a sense of humour.
“To pull his leg was risking a challenge to a duel, for the little man from Birmingham would just as soon hit you on the chin as look at you if he thought you were trying to crack a joke at his expense.
“And he wasn’t interested whether you stood eye-to-eye or whether you were 6ft 3ins and 14 stone.”
Moran’s five years in America – from 1908 to 1913 – were littered with street altercations and he took particular pride in picking on New York cops. In fact, he decked a porter minutes after arriving in America.
While weighing in for one bout, he spied a rival on the street and – naked except for a bathrobe round his waist – stormed outside to swap blows.
His brawl with fight manager Jimmy Johnson, a rough, tough product of New York’s East Side, has become part of the sport’s folklore through its sheer violence.
The pair butted, bit and gouged each other in a Los Angeles’ hotel lobby until Johnson was pulled off the prone Brit. Moran was treated in hospital for a broken jaw, concussion, fractured hand, lacerated eyes and ripped ears.
On that occasion, Moran had seen red after being labelled a ‘Limey’.
That was Moran: a man weighed down by grudges, but a magnificent fighting machine. Ask him to play Buttons in a panto and you’d feel the might of his left hook.
During a brutal era, Moran was one of boxing’s most brutal exponents.
His record is littered with disqualification defeats. Tommy McCarthy died of injuries sustained during his 16th round San Francisco defeat to the frenzied fighter.
He was a product of Harry Cullis’ boxing booth and was fighting 20 rounders by the age of 16.
Moran was desperately unlucky not to lift the world featherweight title from Abe Attell, drawing both bouts – over 23 and 25 rounds – in 1908.
His greatest moment came on November 26, 1910, when he ground down former lightweight champ Battling Nelson, dubbed the Durable Dane because of his iron chin, in San Francisco. Nelson dropped like a log from a mighty right swing in the 11th round.
Seven months later he faced current champ Ad Wolgast, who shared Moran’s taste for violence, for the title.
In an X rated affair, Moran was felled by a body shot in the 13th round. He claimed until his dying day that the shot was ‘low’ and probably had a point.
Wolgast was a notoriously dirty fighter and pictures still exist of the Birmingham lad clutching his groin in agony as the American stands threateningly over him.
Moran was never the same after that blood-spattered contest. He continued to ply his trade until 1916, but the menace had long gone. He hung-up his gloves for good after being slung out for foul tactics against Billy Marchant.
He died, with little to show for the numerous ring wars, in March 1949, in Whitechapel.
8. Azumah Nelson
There are little men who pack a wallop way above their weight and there’s Nelson, the greatest fighter to emerge from Africa
I witnessed the Ghanian chilling power from ringside. One sweeping, almost lazy, shot sent Pat Cowdell to sleep in the opening round at the NEC in 1985.
Nelson burst on the scene with a sterling, losing effort against Salvador Sanchez, and never looked back after that loss. In all, he won 18 feather and super-feather title fights between 1984 and 96 and beat real ironmen in Jeff Fenech and Juan Laporte
He held one portion of the title, Barry McGuigan the other. They never met, which was probably lucky for Barry.
7. Vicente Saldivar
Salvador Sanchez was not a typical Mexican fighter, Saldivar was: an aggressive, stocky puncher with a trip hammer left hook to head and body.
He punched his way to the top in 1964 by stopping Sugar Ramos and defended his crown eight times before falling short against Kuniaki Shibata in 1970.
And Saldivar beat very good men, fighters of the calibre of Johnny Famechon, Mitsunori Seki and Raul Rojas.
Brilliant Welshman Howard Winstone pushed him heartbreakingly close in Cardiff, but lost all three contests with the legend.
6. Terrible Terry McGovern
Terrible Terry was the pocket-sized Mike Tyson of his era. Bulldog built, the sawn-off slugger was a bundle of fury, terrorising the featherweight division during the early 1900s.
The Pennsylvania puncher ripped the title from George Dixon in 1900, but, during the lawless dawn of the gloved era, his was a championship reign marred by controversy.
The fact McGovern was from Irish stock ensured he got the breaks.
He disposed of challenger Aurelio Herrera in five rounds, though Herrera later claimed he was drugged during the fight.
Joe Gans lasted two rounds, but swore he threw the fight.
McGovern lost his title to Young Corbett II in two rounds on November 28, 1901, the cocky challenger winding-up Terry so much that the enraged champ forgot about defence. He simply rushed out with the intention of separating Corbett from his senses and got nailed.
Corbett also won their rematch.
McGovern won 65 of 80 bouts. Much of his short life after boxing was spent in mental institutions, his brain damaged by the blows he’d taken.
He died, aged just 37, in 1918.
5. Henry Armstrong
Homicide Hank, the only fighter to simultaneously hold world titles at three separate weights, has already featured in our welter countdown.
But it was at featherweight where Armstrong, a ring whirling dervish, forged his greatness.
He beat Petey Sarron for the undisputed crown in October, 1937, but never defended the title, electing to move on to bigger things and bigger opponents.
Quite simply, Armstrong was a marvel between the ropes.
4. Jim Driscoll
Welshman Driscoll so impressed audiences in America, where he bamboozled the best boxers the vast country had to offer, they dubbed him “Peerless Jim”. In his prime, the Cardiff maestro was simply untouchable.
There’s one reason, and one reason alone, why Driscoll didn’t get the world title he so richly deserved.
His peak came during the “no decision” era where you had to stop the other guy to win. If a contest went the distance the winner was adjudged from the consensus view of the following morning’s press reports, dubbed “newspaper decisions”.
Driscoll faced titleholder Abe Attell in 1910, dominated every round but failed to halt the champ.
Jim’s career was stalled by World War One and he continued to box despite being riddled by consumption, the disease that claimed him in 1944, aged just 44.
Over 100,000 people lined the streets as his coffin was taken to Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff.
His career statistics read: 53 wins, four losses and six draws, but that tally doesn’t include the many “newspaper decision” contests he took part in.
3. Salvador Sanchez
The Mexican stylist, with a chin of iron, should top this list, but a car accident robbed the boxing world of this rare talent in 1982.
Sanchez was only 23 and had not yet hit his peak when tragedy struck.
Thankfully, there’s enough YouTube footage out there to prove how exceptional Salvador was.
He was beaten only once in 46 fights, defended the world title nine times and bettered top calibre opposition in Juan Laporte, Danny Lopez, Azumah Nelson and Ruben Castillo.
His most significant win came in 1981, an emphatic eighth round stoppage of fellow great Wilfredo Gomez.
Sanchez’ flashy skills hid a tungsten toughness, but there were some close calls along the way. Our own Pat Cowdell pushed him to a split decision: testament to how good Cowdell was at his best.
2. Willie Pep
The ring artistry and defensive skills of Pep earned him the nickname Will o the Wisp and spawned sporting myths.
It’s taken as gospel that Pep – born Guglielmo Papaleo – remains the only man to win a round without throwing a punch, securing the feat during his 1946 clash with Jackie Graves.
It never happened, but Willie was certainly blessed with sublime skills and uncanny reflexes, even though he continued long after those razor-sharp reflexes dulled and Father Time had scattered sand in his shoes.
Pep, who turned pro in 1940, didn’t hang up his gloves until 1966 and by that time he’d taken part in 241 contests.
He took the title from Chalky Wright and peeled off 62 straight wins before savouring defeat.
Even severe injuries sustained in a 1947 plane crash couldn’t derail the Connecticut legend. It took Saddler, in four rounds, to do that in 1948, Sandy’s broadsword proving mightier than Pep’s rapier skills.
Pep, who retired in 1959, made an ill-advised comeback six years later – a shadow of the truly remarkable athlete that dominated 1940s boxing. He was 43 when he finally quit for good.
Suffering from Alzheimer’s, Pep spent his last year’s in a convalescent home unaware of his immense achievements. He died in 2006 aged 84.
1. Sandy Saddler
In a division where Willie Pep is genuinely considered the undisputed number one, the selection of Saddler – heavy handed and mean as a junkyard dog, will prove controversial.
But there’s method in the madness. Saddler, who struck terror through the nine stone division from 1944 to 1956, fought peerless Pep four times, winning three – all by stoppage.
Sportsmanship never clouded Saddler’s all-consuming desire for victory. He was a dirty fighter who was not averse to using thumbs, head and elbows. And that X-rated approach has undoubtedly tainted his legacy.
His third encounter with Willie, in 1950, was foul-filled. Their last meeting, a year later, is generally regarded as one of the dirtiest in history, with both taking turns to gouge, butt, grapple and generally tear-up the rule-book.
Pepp, roughed-up and exhausted, quit before the start of the eighth.
The lanky Boston fighter, who twice reigned as world champ, didn’t have to be dirty – he carried dynamite in both hands. It was simply in his psyche.
His 162-fight career (144 wins) is littered with wins over greats such as Flash Elorde and Paddy DeMarco.
Saddler’s career was cut-short by eye injury sustained in a 1956 car crash.
He lived his last year’s in a twilight world clouded by mental health issues. He died in a Bronx nursing home in 2001 aged 75.
