In the 1980s, as far as Sheffield was concerned, Herol Graham was king.
The Nottingham-born, Sheffield-based man could do nothing wrong with his dazzling footwork, blurring handspeed and switch-hitting style that had most opponents swiping at air. Their frustration would manifest itself as the delighted Graham would continue to dodge, duck and hit before cranking up the pressure.
Graham picked up British, Commonwealth and European honours at Light-Middleweight and the British and European Middleweight titles.
Perhaps defensive genius Graham was just too good, if there's such a thing. He just could not get a shot at a world title and wasn't until he'd had 42 fights and been professional for nearly nine years that he got his chance. Incredibly his final chance at world honours came another nine years later.
Unfortunately the opponent was not some predictable come-forward fireball but the exceptionally gifted Mike McCallum - who equally struggled to attract the big names.
The result of the 1989 bout for the WBA Middleweight Championship in London was a split decision loss for Graham.
A year later Bomber got another shot at a world title when he took on Julian Jackson. Graham boxed beautifully, cutting his opponent and having him on the brink of being stopped before he was caught with an explosive shot in the fourth round that left him out cold.
In 1992 after two back-to-back losses Graham retired. Nobody would have guessed four years later he would come back and make another run for the title.
After four straight wins Bomber got a chance to take on IBF Super-Middleweight Champion Charles Brewer. After a bright start Graham looked like he might just realise his dream but unfortunately the younger, fresher and much stronger Brewer came storming back. In the tenth round Graham was stopped with one judge having him a point ahead, the other a point behind and one judge having the score even.
Hard luck Herol.
At least he can look back on forging ahead with a flashy, tricky style that went on to become the hallmark of his trainer Brendan Ingle's fighters. The switch-hitting, hands-down style was later used to good effect by the likes of Johnny Nelson, Junior Witter, Esham Pickering and of course, Prince Naseem Hamed.
* Postscript: To discover the extent of Graham's popularity in Sheffield, see Johnny Nelson's autobiography Hard Road To Glory. Nelson lived with Graham for a period of time and admits to attracting attractive ladies to the house who were seemingly more interested in Nelson's more illustrive housemate!
The Nottingham-born, Sheffield-based man could do nothing wrong with his dazzling footwork, blurring handspeed and switch-hitting style that had most opponents swiping at air. Their frustration would manifest itself as the delighted Graham would continue to dodge, duck and hit before cranking up the pressure.
Graham picked up British, Commonwealth and European honours at Light-Middleweight and the British and European Middleweight titles.
Perhaps defensive genius Graham was just too good, if there's such a thing. He just could not get a shot at a world title and wasn't until he'd had 42 fights and been professional for nearly nine years that he got his chance. Incredibly his final chance at world honours came another nine years later.
Unfortunately the opponent was not some predictable come-forward fireball but the exceptionally gifted Mike McCallum - who equally struggled to attract the big names.
The result of the 1989 bout for the WBA Middleweight Championship in London was a split decision loss for Graham.
A year later Bomber got another shot at a world title when he took on Julian Jackson. Graham boxed beautifully, cutting his opponent and having him on the brink of being stopped before he was caught with an explosive shot in the fourth round that left him out cold.
In 1992 after two back-to-back losses Graham retired. Nobody would have guessed four years later he would come back and make another run for the title.
After four straight wins Bomber got a chance to take on IBF Super-Middleweight Champion Charles Brewer. After a bright start Graham looked like he might just realise his dream but unfortunately the younger, fresher and much stronger Brewer came storming back. In the tenth round Graham was stopped with one judge having him a point ahead, the other a point behind and one judge having the score even.
Hard luck Herol.
At least he can look back on forging ahead with a flashy, tricky style that went on to become the hallmark of his trainer Brendan Ingle's fighters. The switch-hitting, hands-down style was later used to good effect by the likes of Johnny Nelson, Junior Witter, Esham Pickering and of course, Prince Naseem Hamed.
* Postscript: To discover the extent of Graham's popularity in Sheffield, see Johnny Nelson's autobiography Hard Road To Glory. Nelson lived with Graham for a period of time and admits to attracting attractive ladies to the house who were seemingly more interested in Nelson's more illustrive housemate!
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