MARCH 1965 Ratings

[silverking]

Originally Posted by Il Duce

Roger Rischer was an American, California Heavyweight.
Good counter-puncher.

In April 1965, he got beaten by Thad Spencer, and then in his next fight
he set some kind of United Kingdom record for American Heavyweights,
by getting KO'd in 0:50 seconds by Brian London.

I recall this fight as it was shown live on UK TV. London stormed out of his corner & completely blitzed Rischer, dropping him 3 times.Rischer was completely shell shocked.

London was very much an 'on top' fighter who blew hot & cold. If he thought he could beat his opponent he usually did.At other times he went into a shell & just folded up.

Rischer was a useful heavy, not good enough to beat the top men of the division, his best win being the upset over a very lacklustre Cooper, though not a great puncher he floored Cooper twice. The normally popular Cooper was booed out of the ring on this occasion.

The knockout by London more or less put paid to any ambitions he may have had. After the fight he bemoaned the fact that he was "a couple of fights from a title shot & then this guy London came charging at me".

[Il Duce]

Originally Posted by silverking

I recall this fight as it was shown live on UK TV. London stormed out of his corner & completely blitzed Rischer, dropping him 3 times.Rischer was completely shell shocked.

London was very much an 'on top' fighter who blew hot & cold. If he thought he could beat his opponent he usually did.At other times he went into a shell & just folded up.

Rischer was a useful heavy, not good enough to beat the top men of the division, his best win being the upset over a very lacklustre Cooper, though not a great puncher he floored Cooper twice. The normally popular Cooper was booed out of the ring on this occasion.

The knockout by London more or less put paid to any ambitions he may have had. After the fight he bemoaned the fact that he was "a couple of fights from a title shot & then this guy London came charging at me".

S-king,

Nice follow-up,,,,,,,,Roger Rischer was blitzed by 'Blackpool Brian'.
Rischer was a decent fighter, who was, up to that time, a pretty
good defensive wizard and had a pretty hard chin.......
Roger,, a cool veteran with 12+ years experience too.

[Il Duce]

Other notables rated from #26 and up,,,,,,,,


* Lee Williams.......15-1-1 (14 KO's)
* Bob Foster.........18-3-0 (14 KO's)
* Johnny Prescott..26-5-3 (11 KO's)
* Sonny Banks......18-6-0 (14 KO's)
* Leotis Martin......12-1-0 (6 KO's)
* Lee Carr.............6-1-0 (3 KO's)
* Tony Doyle.........8-1-0 (6 KO's)
* Chip Johnson.......9-5-1 (7 KO's)

[johnmaff36]

Originally Posted by Il Duce

Roger Rischer was an American, California Heavyweight.
Good counter-puncher.

In April 1965, he got beaten by Thad Spencer, and then in his next fight
he set some kind of United Kingdom record for American Heavyweights,
by getting KO'd in 0:50 seconds by Brian London.

Billy walker KO'd cornelius perry in about 10seconds, that was amateurs of course but it made Walker

[Il Duce]

Anything on Johnny Prescott,,,,,,,,seemed to be going in the right direction...

And Billy Walker,,,,,a possible foe for Sonny Liston, after he lost the title.....?

[johnmaff36]

Originally Posted by Il Duce

Anything on Johnny Prescott,,,,,,,,seemed to be going in the right direction...

And Billy Walker,,,,,a possible foe for Sonny Liston, after he lost the title.....?

Funnily enough i just finished a book about boxing characters old and new. Yeah , billy had a colourful career and made himself a lot of money, and he never even won a british title. Retired quite youngish for a heavywieght, he was only 29 or 30yr old. Coincidently, for recent threads ive been reading, his last win was a KO of Thad Spencer. He also KO'd Floyd Pattersons brother Ray, who in turn had beaten Prescott previously.

Him and his brother george invested their money wisely (until some big crash a few years back, if i remember) and they ended up producing movies (Brent Walker)like 'The Stud' and 'The Bitch' with joan collins. Safe to say Orson Welles wasnt losing sleep.

There was a claim Billy Walker made in this book, that i was thinking about asking on here to see how authentic it was. He was fighting a guy (forget who) on a howard winstone undercard in london in 1967, and he said it was a night of 2 firsts.
1. It was the first time a boxer could wear white shorts in the ring and
2. It was the first time a fighter could have a member of his family in the corner, his brother george doing cornerman.

He wasnt clear on this but i suspect he means a british ring as im sure ive seen plenty fighters wearing white shorts, but is he correct on the sibling claim??

[johnmaff36]

Oh yeah, i forgot to say. Liston was a guest at his fight against Prescott and Walker didnt speak too highly of him. He said he was great with the punters, got in the ring and took his bow and happily chatted to everyone and anyone. But he reckons Liston trained in his gym for a while and was a bit of an asshole sometimes, his main thing being to slap or flick or hit a persons crotch after calling them over to speak - thats what he claims anyway.

Having said that, i know a family had Liston stay with them in belfast and they couldnt speak highly enough about him. Their word is good enough for me , no harm to Mr Walker

[Il Duce]

I would say Sonny circled the wagons on his behavior.
And he hit everyone of the degrees on the 360 dial.

If had a little drink in him, watch out.
Though I met him in 1962, in the Catskills of New York, and to us kids, he
was one 'cool cat'.
His group of friends always called him 'T.C.', for Top Cat.

Little known fact, Sonny was really the first 'rock-n-roll' champion.
He loved 'The Shadows' and Gene Vincent.

[johnmaff36]

Originally Posted by Il Duce

I would say Sonny circled the wagons on his behavior.
And he hit everyone of the degrees on the 360 dial.

If had a little drink in him, watch out.
Though I met him in 1962, in the Catskills of New York, and to us kids, he
was one 'cool cat'.
His group of friends always called him 'T.C.', for Top Cat.

Little known fact, Sonny was really the first 'rock-n-roll' champion.
He loved 'The Shadows' and Gene Vincent.

When i first read your opening line, i took it he was sleeping with the pop group/soul sisters. Dont think ernie terrell woulda been too happy

Have you any info on Walkers claims that i asked ya?

[johnmaff36]

bump

[DamonD]

I was going to say "Who's Roger Rischer?", but you guys already covered that. Nice!

[Bokaj]

Originally Posted by Jorodz

damn...i think it was ingemar johansson that said london would have trouble beating his sister

Well, London actually laid Ingo out cold in the last round of their fight. He was only saved by the bell. That was the last thing that happened in Ingo's pro career.

[Il Duce]

IRS,

Lee Williams (Francis L. Williams) was Sonny Liston's sparring partner in
November 1964, at White Cliffs, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

A murderous puncher, with power in both hands. He could have been something
special, but personal issues outside the ring was his downfall.

Was 15-1-1 (14 KO's) in early 1965. He was from Massachusetts.
He was the 1957 National AAU Heavyweight Champion.
Fought as a Pro from 1957 thru 1960.
Got in trouble, and came back in 1964, at age 28.
Won 6 in a row (all by Knock-outs), and got a job as Sonny's sparring spartner.

[Il Duce]

Roger Rischer,

Was the surprise fighter of the year in 1964.
California Heavyweight Champion.

He was involved in a wild fight versus Willie Ray Richarson, a 'groin kicking affair'.

[groove]

wow great ali interview vid - haven't seen that before. said he would retire. interesting.