The 6th of January marks the anniversary of Garry's passing . Eleven years have passed hard to believe I know. Any memories of thoughts on Garry would be interesting. RIP champ.
Gary made his debut against my old gym mate, Al Malcolm, who rocked and cut him in the first round. In my opinion, we never saw the best of Mason due to the primacy of Frank Bruno in the Terry Lawless stable.
Whenever I think of Gary, I just remember that back when I was a Lennox fan from the Olympics, the British people just loved Gary Mason, similar to how they loved Bruno. Lennox had to beat him, and take the baton from him. Gary was not that level of talent, but he was a guy the fans got behind and identified with, and in the end, that is what boxing and all sports are all about. Gary was honest and tough...just like the British people themselves.
Mason was the Chisora of that era, a tough gatekeeper who always came to fight. Gone but not forgotten.
I remember Gary coming up like Frank was a very likeable dude outside of the ring. I was rooting for him against Lennox who was just a bigger better boxer at the end of the day. RIP Champ.
