Australian Boxing Legend Jeff Fenech in Bangkok Hospital

As widely reported, Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech is in Bangkok awaiting surgery to repair a defective heart valve. Fenech was in the Thai capitol training boxers when he was stricken. He is expected to remain hospitalized for at least a week after the surgery is performed.

Fenech, now 55 years old, was raised in Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney. He turned pro in 1984 at age 20 after competing in the Los Angeles Olympics where he lost a disputed decision in the quarterfinals to a Yugoslav veteran. His very first pro fight was scheduled for 10 rounds.

Dubbed the Marrickville Mauler, Fenech won the IBF world bantamweight title in his seventh pro bout with a ninth-round stoppage of Satashi Shingaki. He went on to capture world titles in two higher weight classes. Among his victims were Jerome Coffee and Steve McCrory, both undefeated when he fought them, and Mexico’s legendary Carlos Zarate whose career was winding down. But Fenech would be best remembered for a fight he didn’t win, a controversial draw in his first meeting with Azumah Nelson.

They fought on June 28, 1991, outdoors at the Mirage in Las Vegas in the chief undercard bout to the rematch between Mike Tyson and Razor Ruddock. At stake was Nelson’s world super featherweight title.

The fight was a corker. At the final bell, the crowd accorded the gladiators a standing ovation. Moments later, when the decision was announced as a draw, allowing Nelson to keep his title, there was outrage. Loud booing erupted from all corners of the arena. Fenech was more marked-up, but virtually everyone thought that he was robbed. The Associated Press correspondent wrote that most of his colleagues on press row had Fenech winning nine rounds.

Azumah Nelson was controlled by Don King. The result, it was argued, was precisely what King wanted as it commanded a lucrative rematch. The cynics speculated that King got to Puerto Rican judge Miguel Donate who scored it 116-112 for Nelson. The other arbiters, local men, had it 115-113 for Fenech (Jerry Roth) and 114-114 (Dave Moretti).

Compounding the controversy, the start of round 10 was delayed for at least 30 seconds while Nelson’s cornermen searched for his lost mouthguard (the videotape  appeared to indicate that one of the cornermen had pocketed it). In their futile quest to have the verdict overturned, the Australian Boxing Commission argued that referee Joe Cortez erred by not deducting a point from Nelson for this “irregularity.”

The inevitable rematch came to fruition on March 1, 1992 at Melbourne’s historic Princes Park. Azumah Nelson took charge from the get-go, knocking Fenech down in the first, second, and eighth rounds en route to an eighth-round stoppage.

Nelson, the great Ghanaian, nicknamed the Professor, had lost only twice in 36 starts, those coming at the hands of all-time greats Salvador Sanchez and Pernell Whitaker, but yet the result was such a shocker that it was named Upset of the Year by The Ring magazine.

Fenech had four more fights before retiring in 1996 after suffering a second-round stoppage at the hands IBF lightweight titlist Phillip Holiday, a fellow Aussie. He left the sport with a record of 28-3-1 with 21 KOs.

In retirement, Fenech became one of Australia’s most prominent boxing trainers. In 2005, he trained Mike Tyson for Tyson’s ill-fated comeback fight with Kevin McBride, the final fight of Iron Mike’s career. Fenech and Tyson (pictured) had a long friendship that predated their appearance on the same card at the Mirage in 1991. In the ring, both were seek-and-destroy fighters which likely enhanced their bond.

Twelve years after his bout with Holiday, Fenech returned to the ring in Melbourne for a third meeting with Azumah Nelson. By then, both fighters were ensconced in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, having entered the Hall in their first year of eligibility. At age 49, the Ghanaian was the older man by five years and had been inactive for a decade, but yet he opened a small favorite.

Fenech-Nelson III was disparaged by serious boxing fans, but yet attracted considerable buzz. As a prelude to it, Fenech appeared in a reality show on Australian television titled “Jeff Fenech: I Love Youse All.” His co-star, as it were, was his wife Suzee, a Mamie Van Doren look-alike from the neck down (and I just dated myself).

The rubber match was a “happening” in Australia. According to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, the crowd included a huge array of sports stars, celebrities, and underworld figures. (Fenech is pals with certain individuals in all three communities.) In a competitive, albeit predictably uneventful, fight, Fenech finally got the best of his great rival, winning a majority decision to even their series at 1-1-1.

Today (Monday), Jeff’s spirits were lifted by a call from Mike Tyson who wished him a speedy recovery. We here at The Sweet Science echo that sentiment.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel  

To comment on this story in The Fight Forum CLICK HERE