Where do you rank Joe Savage?

Well he had a good name for a fighter.

 

The Cooper fight was one of the worst decisions in boxing history.

 

Cooper didn't manage a clean blow. When Joe went down it was a slip.

 

He sort of fell awkwardly.

 

I remember reading about that fella before the Cooper fight. He really fancied his chances. Talk about a reality check! Maybe they just threw him in with old Bert too early. If he was going now I'm sure with a good promoter he could of got a ranking and maybe a title shot. He could been a contender but no one was looking out for him.

 

I remember an article in "Boxing Weekly" a good number of years ago, where Savage had gone to the States to take part in a tough-man completion, or something on those lines, and while he was at ringside watching Tony Tubbs and Bonecrusher Smith engage in a spirited sparring session, he suddenly remembered an old knee injury that had suddenly flared up on him. He packed his bag, and home he came.
So the article said, anyway.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhH--zvzUns

For those who have not seen it.

 

I probably read that article as well. He even made the tabloids, I'm sure of it. !5 minutes of fame.

 

Wonder how he'd of got on against Butterbean :think

 

That would have been a "classic"

 

might of went something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S652hvQaWfY

 

It was the 1993 "People's Champion" tournament, that Tubbs eventually won, down in Mississippi or somewhere like that.

Yes, Tubbs and Smith were sparring ahead of the tournament and Joe Savage, who claimed to be "bareknuckle champion of England", was watching.
I heard Smith actually said to him "Look Joe, this is what we do for a living. It's none of that street cr*p."
Savage left town.

 

I remember your last line being told him too. ^^^^^^

I have never met him, but by all accounts he's a friendly and quietly spoken man outside of fighting. He owns/used to own a s c rap metal business not a million miles from me in Walsall in the West Midlands.

 

I remember him appearing on a Midlands regional current affairs type program which used to be hosted by Nicky Campbell on a Friday night. He came across as quite jovial and intelligent.