What The Hell Happened To Fenech?

Sorry W.I'll try and give you some notice next time :good

 

Fenech was aiming to become the youngest fighter to claim 4 titles in 4 weight classes at the time. Azumah is said to have suffered malaria for 6 months prior to the fight, and carried the illness with him. Its not a 'quick recoverery' disease. It strips a persons strength for months.

Fenech fell to pieces prior to the Azumah II fight. He always suffered from flu-like illness before most later bouts. This has been widely attributed to 'roids.

He may have been strong as a bull at Bantam, SBantam and Feather, but he definately felt the sting against less proven fighters than himself. Grove and Holiday both had Fenech in tears on the stool between rounds. Fenech clearly accepted his demise at these higher weights.

It would be fair to say that he'd burnt himself out along the way, as he was not a natural bantam, often dieting to the point of starvation. Shitting his pants in the gym was another factor in the diheurretics abuse.

Perhaps a career at more natural weight may have been beneficial. Either way, he manages to claim 3 world titles... should have been given the nod against Azumah in Vegas to tally 4 belts.

Making a tilt at Holidays belt was a shitful payday. Flogging a dead horse.

Fighting Azumah a second time last year was another joke. Azumah walked away with very little of the revenue. Fenech having this fight was a slap in the face of the Oz Hall of Fame also, having been inducted already. Much the same a Sugar Ray Leonard in the USA. The US HOF spat the dummy when SRL took on Camacho.

Fenechs got a screw loose. Great fighter, average bloke!!!!

 

Interesting post, Flamengo. Fenech also befriended a paraplegic called Conn if I recall, and more or less looked after the guy. Interesting character, Fenech.

 

I am guessing Azumah broke his heart, or the draw broke his heart and he wasn't the same fighter after that.

Fenech claimed he couldn't sleep at night for many years until he fought and beat Nelson. Well now that he did, hopefully he won't feel the need to steal any more watches and can live a normal life now.

 

does any one know the story of when some one slashed him outside a club or somethink it was about 5 years ago

 

People offer a lot of complicated excuses for Fenech's "decline," but I think the matter was always very simply that moved up too much in weight.

He showed his best form at 118-122 IMO. Even at 126, he had lost some of his punching sharpness, but his speed, class, and ferocity was still enough to carry him through some good wins. When he fought Mario Martinez up at 130 (after coming out of retirement) it was obvious he wasn't the same fighter who had stormed through Payakaroon several years earlier; and Martinez had him down and hurt too, as I recall. I think the brutal stoppage loss to Nelson may have softened up his chin as well, but it was a combination of losing his chin and his reflexes that did him in. He wasn't rolling or slipping with punches anymore, he was walking flush into them without flinching.

Note in the Holiday fight he kept jumping back up after being dropped, but he was just a standing target for Holiday's punches.

 

who is that figher in your avater?

 

Lionel Rose buddy.

 

Fenech always maintained that he was never quite the same after the draw decision in the first Nelson bout. He was certainly hard done by, and if he'd got the descision, a 4th title would have put him amongst very exclusive company, and at a very young age (he'd just turned 27).

Though he was unquestionably a great fighter, IMO Fenech was very much emotion driven. The Nelson decision being one example. Another being earlier in his career, when, a couple of years after being ripped off at the 1984 LA Olympics, he exacted 'revenge' on gold medal winner Steve McCrory.

Pity that some of the things that probably made him such a formidable person in the ring have perhaps contributed to making him less of a person in retirement.

 

This is an excellent post.

Fenech is definitely very unsavoury outside the ring. We only know half his story really, and it ain't pretty.

 

Trust me, he's a bad bad arse Russ. Surely you heard about the underworld putting bullets into his house a few years back etc etc. Fenech was and is connected with some bad mofo's. Hell, look whose gym he trained in for the Nelson fight. Fenech was very subdued beside the man.

 

Dont let the Con Spiropolous dribble convince you that Jeff's a wonderful guy. Yes, Con is mentally handicapped... he served a perfect tool for different reasons. Not necessarily compasionate reasons when the dust is wiped off.

 

The ******ed guy he used to look after? **** ive heard stories of Fenech taking him out to eat at restaurants, giving him extremely hot food and looking on with amusement as he burnt his tongue on the food.

Just heard some other stories may be true may not be... Not too bad just things like him carrying on like a dickhead. Pulls up outside a hot dog stand or something like that, jumps infront of everyone in line then when people complain he talks **** "ill fukin fight anyone here rah rah rah".

 

They were just young wannabe gangsta arabs trying to scare Fenech off getting retaliation on them from the incident outside the restaurant in Brighton.