In the aftermath of Kerry Hopes upset win for the European Middleweight title im interested in any local journeymen who have pulled off at least one big upset win. My choice has to be a former Super feather weight Journeyman in Miguel Mathews from my hometown of Ystradgynlais (listed as Ystalyfrea on Boxrec but the two towns are conjoined) At the end of his career his record was 15 (4) - 84 (8) - 11 = 110 Miguel was very active in his 9 year career having fought at least 9 times a year (17 times in 96) and was only stopped 8 times in 84 losses ( one of which came against Prince Naseem Hamed ) But it wasnt til 1997 in Mathews 105th fight where he came across a young Scott Harrison who came into the ring with a 3-0 record. The bout was inevitably stopped in the 4th round due to cuts allegedly caused by an accidental head clash in favour of the welshman. Harrison of course went onto recover after a draw in his next fight to win the WBO Featherweight championship only losing again via Split Decision and vacated the belt (next won by Juan Manuel Marquez) due to depression and alcohol related problems Mathews despite having only won 15 of his professional bouts will always be one of my main inspirations as he showed the spirit of a true fighter. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLmJsf2pd-g[/ame] This content is protected
