Who are some of the great Australian boxers that most casual fans aren't aware of , they may have had the skill to go all the way but didn't do it for different reasons. My first 2 are Cliff Samardin, great boxer 24 wins 0 losses (14KO), beat Lovemore N'dou and was retired by the time he was 23. Shane Knox, 1984 Olympian with Jeff Fenech and Renarto Cornett. 16 wins 0 losses (10KO). Fenech reckons his sparring sessions with Shane Knox were harder than any of his fights, retired by the age of 26
Ray McGrady, turned pro at 15 and retired by 19, beat Hector Thompson over 10 rounds when he was 16 and Hector was 22. Also beat Kahu Mahanga in New Zealand over 10 rounds when he was 17 and Mahanga was 26. Didn't have the greatest record, but could only imagine what he would have been able to achieve today if he was looked after and with all the regional pathways to title shots.
drop your ages a bit. pro at 14, retired at 18. fought australias best in 39 fights, from welter to light heavy.... drank hard, fought hard. died young. look his record up of the blokes he fought, their records, and the age he was when he fought them..... related to the mcgrady footballers....
we seem to get eras in aussie boxing in cycles. weve had no one scince the fenech era. wow, we had 10 blokes of world class. before that was the 70's, we had a simmilar number of gooduns. the 50s were also a great era. so by that reconing, we're due for some good fighters.
Craig Petersen, Heavyweight who turned pro at 16. Fought the likes of Herbie Hide, Jimmy Thunder, Bert Cooper and Chris Byrd. died way too young in America.