Terry Downes B.E.M. – Man and Fighter
By Derek O’Dell
Where to place Terry Downes in the array of British middleweight boxers has vexed me for years. Opinions on who would beat who are subjective and cannot be proved. No man’s list of the top ten greatest performers in each division would concur with another’s opinion. It’s folly to take such matters seriously yet I do respect the views of those versed in the saga of fistic matters.
In my time we had Jock McAvoy and Randolph Turpin both mighty champions in their prime. Preceding them were Tom Thomas, Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis and Frank Moody with Alan Minter and Kevin Finnegan spearheading the modern champions.
Terry fought five men who, at a time, held world titles and he beat three of them. He was never counted out. Early in his career, in his third fight, he was floored three times by Dick Tiger but rose to fight back so strongly that his potentiality as a future champion was cemented. Shoreditch Town Hall, that renowned palace of sock, was in an uproar as both men traded heavy blows. Facial cuts forced the referee to intervene. Terry, although disappointed, took the stoppage in a sporting manner. Apart from one loss by disqualification he accepted verdicts that didn’t go his way.
In his second year in the paid ranks he ambitiously faced third-ranking ‘Spider’ Webb and was clobbered and clobbered hard in the first minute. He got up and lasted until the bell. Such was his self-belief that he then took the fight to Webb, forced him onto the backfoot and dealt out so much punishment that the American was absolutely exhausted at the finish. He was also the winner because Terry was badly cut. There were doubts that Webb couldn’t have lasted another round. As for Terry Downes – he was now competing at world level but still frequently plagued by cuts. He was a tough man with tender facial skin. In boxing there are men who seldom cut eg Turpin, ‘those that do and does who bleed.’ That was Terry: he was what the trade terms as a ‘bleeder’.
He reached the pinnacle of his profession in 1961 by beating Paul Pender and got out three years later-before he became a “has been”. In his last contest, he was on the way to becoming world Light-Heavyweight Champion by outfighting the title-holder, Willie Pastrano. By round eleven, Downes couldn’t have lost on points and the Pastrano corner knew it. Willie came out with a do-or-die attack and down went Terry from a right to the jaw. Bear in mind that Pastrano was never considered to be a big hitter. Terry decided to take another count by staying down on one knee so that he could clear his head. The referee stopped it at that point. Terry never fought again. He was still young with many good fights left in him but he had seen too many go on too long. “I love boxing” he said and gave so much to it. Thank goodness he stuck to his decision. As a fighter he was brave, proud and never easy to beat. Terry was a very, very popular practitioner of his profession and always trained hard, gave his all and fought cleanly. I admired him for his fistic prowess but my opinion of him as a man transcends that.
There are conflicting press cuttings concerning him in my files. Both concern his fight with Les Allen, a very capable and experienced man and a stern test for Terry at the early stage of his career. One press cutting was captioned “Les Allen exposes the limitations of Terry Downes.” In contrast, the other stated that the decision seemed unjustified and that Allen was hardly able to stand at the end. “Which one is correct?”, I asked.
“He beat me”
“Sure, but was it a bad decision?”
“I told you – he beat me. Give the lad credit for it”
Very few of the fighters I’ve interviewed are as honest when recalling their exploits. Later on two national newspaper reporters told me that Terry looked like an easy winner that night. Terry also refused to take credit for beating Sugar Ray Robinson, saying that it was just the shell of Robinson in the ring that night. Disappointed as he was to lose his world title to Paul Pender in a fight he considered he’d won, he accepted the verdict and keeping his feelings to himself said that Pender was ‘a nice guy.’
Quite a few years have passed since I was a member of the Uppercut Club. This was a charity organization of which Terry was chairman. We raised a lot of money and distributed to ex-boxers and their families when they were in need of help. At the same time Terry was instrumental in raising thousands of pounds for the Sunshine Coaches which took handicapped children on outings. To see the fuss he made of these children and the joy it brought to them made me so proud of him. These were well publicized charities but I was even more impressed by what he did out of sight of press reporters or even those of us who knew him. I saw him once quietly handing out cash to old-time fighters who were on a coach outing. And then there were times when I was working for Ricky Porter Promotions and we had benefit nights for an ex-policeman who was crippled and another old-timer suffering from terminal cancer. We asked Terry to appear and he accepted immediately, asked for no money and made those two unfortunates feel like royalty. It was touching to see the fuss he made of them. And one more charitable act – When my wife died some fourteen years ago, the first telephone message of condolence came from Terry. The man was 100 carat.
A rare blood disorder affected most of his post-boxing years. It impaired his mobility and caused him a lot of pain. More recently he’d had two hip replacements and a knee operation. More alarmingly, a bout of bladder cancer was overcome only to return later. He’d lost both kidneys in his last stay at Watford Hospital. The cancer was incurable and no dialysis could be given. The hospital, of which his wife Barbara speaks with admiration, gave him palliative care. He had a very close and loving family and was given all the attention that a good wife can provide before passing away quietly on October 6th. He leaves a fine family each of his children being privately educated and becoming pillars of society. His was a long, fulfilling marriage and to me, he’ll always be a Champion. Thanks for all the good times, Terry. R.I.P.