Most underrated British fighter.

I remember that fight, but we have to take it for what it was.

The point that should be remembered, that Haye Mac, was the fight that everybody wanted at the time.

Haye basically delayed his step up to heavyweight, at a time when he was already struggling to make weight, because of the demand for it.

This fight probably helped to sell him as a credible threat to Klitschko!

 

Steve Robinson had an amazing turn around late in his career that had him not only winning the world title but also defending it against pretty good opponents.
Boza Edwards had so many great fights and nobody ever talks about him.
Kirkland Laing- if not for Colin Jones and lack of discipline he could have gone so much further.
Colin Jones- Nice tight defense and an amazing punch. Very underrated.
Jim Mcdonnell= tough contender who was worldclass for awhile. Also a top amateur boxer. Fought Azhuma hard and went out on his shield.

 

Excellent choices. McDonnell even beat golden boy Mcguigan. Retired him.

Steve Robinson was supposed to lose every time but he just kept winning! Very undervalued these days.

How about Robin Reid? He took Calzaghe to the wire, won the WBC title in Italy and made a couple of defences too.

Talking about WBC champs Glen Catley never gets a mention. If only he got all the decisions he deserved he would have some resume!

 

He got robbed vs Richie Woodhall, even Woodhall said in post fight interview that Catley deserved it. Fair play to Woodhall for being honest. Also lets forget when Catley lost the belt to Thobela, in which its highly suspect that Thobela may have used loaded gloves.

 

Also Boza Edwards was involved in some of the best fights ever to involve a UK fighter, including The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" for Chacon II.

 

I remember their British Title fight Mike. Devon, ahead by a mile, face planted.

 

Too often Don is remembered for his losses to Jimmy Slade and Randy Turpin as a light-heavy, for his pudgy physique as a heavyweight, and for his kayo losses to Marciano and in his two bouts afterward.

Cockell was most impressive during his 10-fight winning streak leading up to the Marciano fight. This was the period after his doctor told him his physique was naturally bulky and he should give up trying to make the light-heavy limit and let nature take its course. At this point, his career took off and he was able to concentrate on improving his craft instead of worrying about making weight.

After winning the British heavyweight title from Johnny Williams in May 1952, Don began to seek out world-class heavyweights. Of these fights, the three bouts with Harry Matthews and the one against Roland LaStarza stand out. The British Archive has an eight-minute version of the LaStarza match and the complete Cockell-Matthews II bout in London. The first and third Cockell-Matthews fights in Seattle were not filmed. Both LaStarza and Matthews were good boxers and Don won all four contests.

In their first fight on August 7, 1953 in Seattle, Matthews outboxed Cockell for eight rounds and was on his way to a decisive victory until the ninth when Don sent Harry to the canvas three times. Matthews rebounded to win the 10th, but Cockell was awarded a disputed split decision by the officials. Regardless of the controversy, Don was astute enough to study Harry’s style in the first eight rounds and capitalize on what he learned when the opportunity came after Matthews tired late in the bout.

Cockell fought LaStarza in London on March 30, 1954. By all accounts, it was a close fight. Not surprisingly, British journalists favored Don while the two New York reporters present (Barney Nagler and W. C. Heinz) favored LaStarza. Ring Magazine correspondent Johnny Sharpe and the AP and UP scribes each supported the referee’s decision in favor of Cockell. Since the film is incomplete, it is difficult to second guess these opinions, but a few things stand out about Cockell, namely his surprising mobility, hand speed and judgment of distance. Several times the camera caught Don deftly slipping LaStarza’s best right-hand bombs by a quick step back or shifting of the head and upper body.

Asked later by a correspondent his opinion of American fighters, Cockell said, “Matthews is the best fighter I have ever met. I fought one other American fighter of note, Roland LaStarza, and there’s no comparison. Matthews would kill LaStarza. Matthews is a much finer boxer, and I told our English pressmen after the LaStarza fight that Matthews was far superior. No question about it.”

Don’s admiration of Harry was borne out during their return bout in London on June 1, 1954. In the film, Cockell adopts the same mannerisms as Matthews, almost to the point where they seem to be facing mirror images of themselves. Both are wary, and there is not much to choose between them. Only in the fifth and 10th rounds did either fighter come to the fore. Don cornered Matthews in the fifth with a sustained attack that wobbled his knees. In the final round, Harry drove forward with a vicious attack to the body, shook Cockell up with a right to the jaw, and continued to stalk him until the end of the round. As it turned out, the slight superiority of Don’s offensive outburst compared with that of Matthews determined the fight’s outcome. An informal poll showed that a majority of newsmen had Cockell winning the fight by a fraction of a point, the closest possible margin under the British system.

Matthews’ comments prior to his third fight with Cockell in Seattle on August 7, 1954, provide additional evidence that Don’s experience with Harry was a major reason for the Brit’s improvement: "He looks awkward and slow, but actually he's as fast and shifty a big man as I ever fought. It's almost impossible to hit him with the three or four good successive punches that you need to dump him. I might add that he is no donkey, either. In the fight in London, I found him coming back at me with some of the same counters I had used against him (in our first fight) in Seattle."

In the third fight, Cockell showed continued improvement to the point where he took charge of the bout almost from the beginning. Matthews claimed to have strained his back in the third round, but even at that point, Don had already demonstrated that the night was going to be his by taking charge in the second and third rounds. Matthews hung on until the eighth round when he was unable to continue because of a partial paralysis in his leg apparently due to a nerve irritation in his back.

Cockell likely never could have defeated Marciano under the best of circumstances, but in San Francisco he was dealing with a stacked deck. In addition to enduring ridicule daily in the press about his weight and overall suitability as a challenger, the promoters refused to honor promises about his training quarters, the size of the ring, and the weight of the gloves. Once the fight began, the referee failed to issue warnings to Rocky for butting, punching below the belt, hitting after the bell, and striking Don while he was down. Writing on the bout’s eve as a special correspondent for the Seattle Times, Jack Hurley wrote that Don “has put on a bold front, but his defeatist attitude shows behind his false mask. As he surveys his surroundings, he certainly knows that almost nothing is in his favor.”

I personally discount the importance of Cockell’s two defeats after the Marciano fight in assessing Don’s abilities as a fighter. Undoubtedly, his disappointment carried over and affected his performance in those two fights. When he fought Valdes he weighed 13 pounds more than he did against Marciano. He obviously had given his all against Rocky and was in no frame of mind to start over.

My only point is this: if people want to judge Cockell’s ability as a fighter, they should judge him on the basis of his accomplishments during the prime years of his career and not the years before and after.

 

Mathews was unranked for each of his fights with Cockel.

Lastarza was basically ruined by Marciano ,after that prolonged beating he lost his next 4 fights,beat 2 journeymen whose records were;
4-14-0
5-12-1 split dec
Lost to a ham and egger who was19-5-1
Beat 2 more who were
9-6-0
6-23-3
Then lost to another nobody who was16-18-4
Lastarza a career protected fighter ,was severely diminished after Marciano and never a factor at world level again and Cockell only beat him on a split dec.


Why should we discount Cockell being stopped by a middleweight he had12 lbs on?
Why should we discount him being ko'd by Slade?
Being beaten twice by Aaron Wilson 12-3-0 and 14-3-0?
10 straight wins and only 2 were over ranked men Lastarza who was washed up and Johnny Williams and why he was ranked is a mystery.but, as Steve Compton has stated Fleischer included European fights in his rankings for monetary reasons.

Cockell was Euro level imo,and as such certainly not underated ,if fact rather the opposite.

 

Hi Mike i love all of your stories and was wondering did you ever see a live fight featuring Wally Swift Jnr? Just asking because he is one of my all time favourites, his fights were always exciting

 

Well, funny you should ask, saw him lose a 8 round decision to And Till at the York Hall in 89, Swift was a good boxer and quite tough, but Till was his bogeyman, they fought twice more, with Till winning both and stopping Swift in a title fight, had me many a good evenings boxing at York Hall, close by was a pub The White Hart run by Eddy Wright ( Mark wright's grandad ) he had the best looking barmaids in all of Bethnal Green, and way back in the early 70s copped for cute blonde Christine, and we dated for a year or so, good looks, nice legs, and cheap pints, what's not to like, her best friend ( no i didn't ) went out with a local boxer Billy Taylor, who fought in the Olympics and had a brief go at the pros.
stay safe Noel.

 

Thanks Mike saw all three of his fights v Till they were crackers but as you say Till was his bogeyman much to my annoyance.Happy New Year to you and your family

 

Same to mate, look forward to many more posts and stories come next year.
stay safe buddy.

 

I
You asked my opinion and I gave it. I gave up a long time ago trying to convince those of us, like you and me, whose minds cannot be changed. I think the Matthews' quotation demonstrates that Cockell was an intelligent fighter was still learning all the way up until the Marciano fight. That fight took the starch out of Cockell and for all intents and purposes ended his career as a motivated fighter. My response to your email was for the benefit of those who may not have known about the progress Cockell was capable of making up until the Marciano fight. Apparently, you already knew all about this, so I apologize for wasting your time.

 

My mind can be changed and often is .It's been changed regarding;
Cerdan
Carpentier
Thil
Berg
Welsh
Fullmer
Just by debating with posters here.
Cockell had 76 fights when he fought 48 fight Marciano how much more was there for him to learn about the game?
You haven't wasted my time I like your posts,so no apologies necessary.

 

Excellent post. Some very good info.