Saw this interesting Johnny Owen documentary on youtube earlier about his life and career. Its a real tragedy how it all ended for him. He was a good person and a very good fighter with a lot of heart. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2XuN934ksA[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbJnjjvooTw&feature=related[/ame]
Great footage in that documentary. Extremely sad story. Possibly the saddest boxing story out there because he sacrificed so much and was so loved. I read the book about his life - The Big If.. its an amazing book. The knockdowns in the Pintor fight were all devastating knockdowns. They shook him to his boots but he got up every time. I think they could have stopped it after the second knockdown to be honest. It was clear the tide was firmly in Pintors favour. He took a very bad knockdown on the last one. What was Owens level? Was he a McCullough type fighter? - i.e, probably one of the best at domestic level and could give world champs a real good go but ultimately outclassed at the higher level? It would be great to see current boxers publically paying respect to boxers of the past like Owen. Like maybe even having "Owen" on the back of their trunks or something.
Well, considering that he was only 24 at the time of the Pintor tragedy and took the fight before he was ready, it's hard to say. Juan Rodriguez and Paul Ferreri had both challenged the great Carlos Zarate for the world title prior to facing Johnny, so his status as Euro and Commonwealth champion was well justified. It has to be remembered that Pintor was an outstanding champion, the kind that a fighter of Owen's style and experience was always going to struggle against: insanely strong, fit and durable with excellent schooling and a hard, debilitating punch, yet despite all of this, Owen was giving him absolute murder (and beating him imo) until the 9th round. It was his lack of punch and experience combined with Pintor's many virtues that undid him, though I think it's become common knowledge that the unusual composition of Johnny's jaw and skull, unknown at the time, meant that a fatal punch could have been landed at any point in his career. If no such deformity existed and he had lived to develop and mature further, who knows what he could have done? Myself, I think had the look of a potential champion about him despite his fragile build and humble personality. Any article, video or anything about him always gives me a lump in the throat and I've only watched the Pintor fight in it's entireity once. The book is amazing as you said, as are the interviews with Pintor, Gardiner and Johnny's dad.
