I WAS born in the Italian Hospital in Cairo. Dad was a Royal Engineer out there and met my mother, an Italian from Brescia. As a kid I spoke Arabic, Italian and French, as well as English. Today, Iโm also fluent in Spanish. My father spoke seven languages, wrote five. My brothers Bobby and Dennis were both born in Egypt too but when I was four, we were kicked out by Nasser and came back to Cardiff. I grew up in Ely, the posh part of the city!
Iโm the oldest of the three boxing brothers. Bobby, our older brother was a rugby player. When I was champion, Dennis (pro heavyweight) and Les (pro middleweight) wanted to beat the s**t out of me so I had to open up now and again. I started very young. My uncle Ozzie was in the Merchant Navy. Every time he came home, he took us to Cardiff to buy us presents and he bought me boxing gloves from a sports shop on the end of Caroline Street. I was a natural; a skilful boxer with a punch. Uncle Oz saw me win all the schoolboy and junior titles, the senior Welsh ABAs but, just as I was knocking on the door for pro titles, he drank himself to death! I had four fights the same day to win the Welsh seniors, then got beaten in the British semi at Wembley by Stuart Pearson. By the time I was 17, Iโd boxed for Wales schoolboy, junior and senior but didnโt go the Olympics or Empire Games because my first year as a senior, Eddie Thomas turned me pro. Iโd had a lot of hard fights as an amateur senior and Eddie didnโt want the edge taken off me. As a young pro, I was weaned at the Sporting Clubs โ I was NSC Young Boxer of the Year one year โ and I featured on a lot of undercards from my stablemates Howard Winstone and Ken Buchanan. I sparred hundreds, maybe thousands of rounds with Howard and Ken. Thomasโ stable in Merthyr was special. Eddie had done it all himself, British, European and Empire welterweight champion, knew what it was about. Boxers today couldnโt do the training we did; chopping trees, shovelling coal into Eddieโs mine. Theyโre not as rugged. Today the bandages are as big as the gloves!
I lost my fifth fight, aged 18 to Joe Somerville from Berkhamstead who, like all southpaws, shouldโve been drowned at birth but won my next 22. I was nominated for a final eliminator for a (British) middleweight title fight but suddenly was lacking a bit in the gym. I was struggling to walk getting out of bed in the morning. When the doctor checked me over in the hospital, rheumatic fever! I spent three weeks in the nunโs hospital in Canton, then four months in St Davidโs hospital. I had a murmur in my heart and was in a wheelchair when I came out. They thought Iโd never box again.
Today, I doubt theyโd let me carry on yet the Board of Control never even asked how I was feeling. It was as if I had the flu! After eight months out, I came back as a light-heavyweight but some of the spark was gone. In 1966, still just 21, I had a shot at Derek Richards, the Welsh champion from Merthyr, another southpaw. He beat me on points in my hardest ever fight. Derek never won again after that but, within a year, I was challenging Young McCormack for the British. In 1967, I was matched with Young (John) McCormack for the vacant light-heavyweight title at the NSC. We fought three times and Young John, an Irishman based in Brixton, was a tough man, real dirty b*****d. He threw โem from all angles and wasnโt shy to chuck his nut in, knee you in the b*****ks…
Years later, I walked into a hotel, hadnโt seen him for ages. He nodded at me, and instinctively I ducked! After six rounds of our first fight, I was well in front and just about to knock him out but he stuck the swede in and the cut was like a mackerelโs gill. Eddie was the best cuts man in the country but the ref stopped it. After that, they chiselled my skull to stop me cutting. John kept me waiting, waiting, waiting (19 months) for our rematch but second time round at Mayfairโs Anglo-American Sporting Club, it was a much closer fight. I hit him with an uppercut which ripped his eye open and he retired (round 11). It meant so much after seeing the likes of Howard and Joe Erskine with their (Lonsdale) belts as a kid.
Six months later, I was one of the very few pros to box behind the old Iron Curtain when I challenged Ivan Prebag for the European title in Zagreb (Yugoslavia). He was a hard Eastern European but I boxed the ears off him for 15 rounds and had him down twice. Thomas said: โYouโve got a Spanish referee. After every round, make the sign of the cross.โ It didnโt f**kinโ work but what can you do over there?
At the after-fight party up in the mountains, Prebeg was speaking to the press in about four different languages. Ivan went up to number three in the world after that, I went home to defend against McCormack. Third fight, at Nottingham Ice Rink, John got slung out for nutting me. He charged into me like a bullet. Wally Thom, the ref, owed us one after voting against Winstone (in his second world title challenge to Vicente Saldivar) three years earlier. That night, the great Buchanan boxed on my undercard. Ken and I still laugh about it.
Just after I was matched to challenge Bob Foster for the world title in Liverpool but decided I needed a bit more experience so went to America to fight Mike Quarry (21-0) in California. Mike was a normal boxer, nothing more. I knew I beat him but I didnโt get the decision after 10 rounds, and the opportunity was gone. Itโs only in this country they gave overseas fighters a fair shake. Foster might have suited me because I could take a punch but it didnโt go my way.
Instead I went over to Brisbane, Australia to challenge Trevor โThe Icemanโ Thornberry for the (vacant) Empire title. Back then we had to fight overseas, had to fight where the British Board, European Board or Empire Board told us we had to fight. No slaloming. [The Iceman melted in six and, in a subsequent fight, endured life altering injuries]. When Trevorโs son, Ricky challenged Joe Calzaghe in Cardiff, an Australian TV team took us out for something to eat but I bawled my eyes out, couldnโt speak, knowing what happened to his father.
In 1970 I was due to defend both titles against a young Chris Finnegan but, five months before, driving my red convertible E type, I had a head-on collision with a lorry on the A48. The engine came through the dash board and it knocked the s**t out of me; my head, arms, chest. The car was smashed to pieces. If Iโd lost consciousness, I was gone. The doctor at the scene told me I had no pulse. It was only my condition as a boxer that kept me alive. Eventually, Chris and I fought at the Grosvenor House in Mayfair on a Sunday evening. Chris tried to get out of it, claiming he was a Catholic but we fought a close hard fight. In round 11 or 12, Harry Carpenter commentating for the BBC said, โThe titleโs still in Walesโ but, after the road accident, I had no fifth gear. I cut Chris and his corner panicked but I just didnโt have it.
Eddie shouldโve told the promoters to back off until I was fully ready. Chris was the best man I was inside a ring with, awkward even for a southpaw [Avoth surrendered his belts in the 15th round]. Following that, I was sent as fodder to face the South African champion, Kosie Smith, at Ellis Park rugby ground. The massive crowd were all white, very partisan โฆ โKosie, Kosie, Kosie.โ But I boxed his ears off, even chucked in a bit of showboating, pretending to kick him up the arse at the end of one round. Suddenly, โEddie, Eddie, Eddieโฆโ
After the fight I never touched the floor. The crowd just passed me over the top, all the way to the dressing room. Best purse I ever had, five grand. Back home, I was having 1800 quid for 15 rounds, ยฃ400 for 10 rounds. By then I was struggling to make light-heavy but there was no cruiserweight class. I was also struggling with double vision. For my final fight I boxed Bunny Johnson โ a guy Iโd previously beaten – as an unfit heavyweight. Brian Curvis trained me as Eddie wanted me to pack in. I was only 26 but Iโd had 53 hard fights against tough opposition in just eight years. Bunny never hurt me. Johnny Hendrickson, a West Indian I fought three times, hit me hardest. When Bunny dropped me, he f**king woke me up. I took a knee but got straight back up and I felt absolutely great but Eddie, who still worked my corner, thought I was old and pulled me out.
I never made money out of boxing – maybe ยฃ16-18,000 altogether – but made plenty through boxing, through the associations and relationships I made. Whilst I was champion, I started up a very successful plant hire business and later owned a few pubs. I first went out to Spain when I was 28 then returned again in the late 70s. I loved the sunshine, especially down south, Marbella. The language came quite easily cos I spoke Italian. I still go back and forth.
My main business there was real estate but people know me for my restaurant Silkโs. It started in the st end of the Puerto Banus, full of abandoned boat engines and anchors, in 1982. All the people who knew me came. All the crims, Freddie Foreman, Ronnie Knight, Mickey Green visited and Iโll never denounce them. I knew that crowd, including the Krays, since they frequented the Sporting Club when I fought there regular in the 60s. Rod Stewart, Sean Connery, Bernie Winters, Peter Stringfellow, every celebrity from the UK came to Silks and it took off. I sold my share for a very tidy sum in 1992.
In 1987 I put on a promotion with Mickey Duff and Jarvis Astaire in the bull ring in Marbella. Lloyd Honeyghan defended his world title against Gene Hatcher, and Frank Bruno also fought. A Daily Mirror reporter did a huge centre spread article, doctoring photos of Bruno, me and my missus in matador hats with a headline: โShame Night at the Ugly Bugโs Ballโ. It claimed a load of murdering crims had backed me and could all be seen at my โeating houseโ where my wife worked topless. It was all b*****ks and I had 10 grand off โem. If I was still living in the UK I couldโve had a lot more. Mickey Duff, who helped with the promotion, had contributed to that article. The day before the fight, all the tourists going to the fight gathered in the lobby of the Andalucia Plaza. Duff was sat with Barrett, Astaire and Lawless, his leg in plaster up to his knee. In comes Foreman in his tennis gear, lifts Mickey up in that sitting position and screams: ‘If I hear another peep out of you, Iโll kill you!โ Mickey goes: โDid everybody see that?!โ But no one piped up. It went very quiet.
Another night, shortly after the 1986 Cannes Film Festival, two producers from Warner Brothers came by Silkโs. Iโve my white suit on, a big cigar, making sure everyoneโs ok, when they asked if Iโd like to star as a mob boss (Silke) in their movie Instant Justice. It was a low budget thing. They sent over a script, told me; โJust be yourself.โ I knew I could do it so dived in. When I think of all these wannabes who take waiting jobs in Hollywood just to bag a walk on role, then I stroll up from nowhere, no acting background, straight into the main event!
I was 26 days on set, first light until dark. The money was negligible but it was the best experience of my life. I loved the professionalism and I got very friendly with the likes of Charles Napier and Jon Voight who donโt do budget movies.
My missus at the time werenโt too keen. She thought, โHollywood movies, heโll be off shaggingโ. She said: โCarry on with it and Iโll leave you.โ I didnโt carry on with it but she still f**kinโ left me! I could have been in Hollywood before Vinnie Jones. A bit later, I played promoter Jack Solomons in โRisenโ (a 2010 biopic about Howard Winstone). I miss Howard dearly.
When I returned to Wales, I did a little bit of coaching. Today, I represent insurance companies and, unless something falls out of the sky onto my head, I still hope to be doing it while Iโm 80. I donโt fancy sitting in front of my fire watching the telly in my check slippers with a mustard coloured cardie one bit.
I live in Caerleon with my partner Sue. Her father was a famous rugby player CD Williams who beat the All Blacks in 1953. I get invited to various dos and shows but I couldnโt even tell you who the light-heavyweight champion of Great Britain is. Couldnโt name any one of the current British champions.
But boxingโs just the greatest sport and itโs given me a great life. Iโd hoped to celebrate my 75th Birthday by doing a 12,000ft parachute jump for the Cardiff Hospice charity and lost a stone and a half but this pandemic has temporarily put that on the back burner. Thatโd be the icing on my cake.
The other day, I was with [British Lions rugby legend] Scott Gibbs who spoke about hooking me up with an agent and writing a book about it all. Iโd like that. Youโve only heard the boxing parts! My only regret is not winning the Lonsdale outright. If Finnegan had ever wanted to sell his, I asked for the first pop at it. Iโd not look at it, like I won it. Iโd just love to own it. Beautiful belt.
Unfortunately, the fever knocked me back a mile and I never reached my full potential. I had great foot work when I was a middleweight – some compared mine to Sugar Ray Robinsonโs in some write-ups – and a hard punch; left hook or right hand, equally hurtful. Most of my losses were due to bad cuts … and southpaws!
After Iโd finished, Thomas claimed if Iโd not had that fever, Iโd have been middleweight champion of the world. In his last TV interview, he insisted I had everything Winstone and Buchanan had but also carried a punch. I burst out crying when I heard that.