John Henry Stracey

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(born 22 September 1950) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1969 to 1978. He is a former welterweight world champion, having held the

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and lineal welterweight titles between 1975 and 1976. At regional level, he held the British and

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welterweight titles between 1973 and 1975, and is ranked by

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as the 8th best British welterweight of all time.

Amateur career

Stracey competed for Great Britain as a lightweight at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

. He was defeated in the Round of 16 by eventual gold medallist Ronnie Harris. Stracey won the 1969 ABA light-welterweight championship.

Professional career

Early career

Stracey began his professional career on 17 September 1969, knocking out Santos Martins in two rounds. Stracey won his first twelve fights, eleven by knockout, but against obscure opposition. Fight number thirteen was against Teddy Cooper, on 19 January 1971. Cooper was not a big name in boxing either, but this fight ended in controversy when Stracey won by a fifth round disqualification. On 5 October 1971 Stracey drew (tied) in ten rounds against Frankie Lewis. Stracey produced five more wins before being matched with Marshall Butler, on 25 May 1972, at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, suffering his first defeat after being outpointed by Butler over eight rounds. He then put a string of four more wins together, before facing

Bobby Arthur Bobby Arthur (25 July 1947 – 27 July 2023) was a British boxer who was national welterweight champion between 1972 and 1973. Career From Coventry, Bobby Arthur had a successful amateur career, including representing England and winning a si ...

for the British welterweight title, on 31 October, at the Royal Albert Hall. He lost the fight with another controversial ending: This time, Stracey found himself disqualified in round seven. Stracey then won five more bouts in a row. In February 1973, Stracey traveled to the United States, were he fought Danny McAloon on the undercard of the first Ali vs. Bugner fight, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, on 14 February. Stracey won the bout via unanimous decision. He then met Bobby Arthur in a rematch on 5 June, this time winning the British title with a fourth-round knockout.Golesworthy, Maurice (1988) ''Encyclopaedia of Boxing'', 8th edition, Robert Hale Limited, , p. 229

Stracey vs. Menetrey

On 27 May 1974, Stracey got his chance at the European welterweight title, fighting

Roger Menetrey Roger Menetrey (born 16 June 1945) is a retired French professional welterweight boxer. On 4 June 1971 he won the European Boxing Union (EBU) title and defended it five times. On 23 June 1973 he unsuccessfully contested the WBC title against Jo ...

at the

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, in Paris, France. Stracey won via eighth-round knockout. On 29 April 1975, he defended his European title against Max Hebeisen, at the Royal Albert Hall, winning via RTD in the sixth round.

Stracey vs. Nápoles

During the 1970s, it was a common practice to give world title shots to boxers that held continental titles. For example, the OPBF (Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation) champion would be given priority over other challengers for world title fights. Stracey was not the exception, and, after winning five more fights in a row (including a win over

Ernie Lopez Ernie "Indian Red" Lopez (September 24, 1945 – October 3, 2009) was an American professional boxer. He twice fought for the world welterweight boxing title, losing title bouts to José Nápoles in 1970 and 1973. He was a missing person from 199 ...

), he received his first world title shot: challenging

welterweight champion José Nápoles, in Nápoles' home-town of Mexico City, Mexico, on 6 December 1975. Stracey was sent down in round one, but he recuperated to close Nápoles' eye and have referee

Octavio Meyran Octavio Meyran Sanchez is a Mexican former boxing referee. During his career Meyran officiated at over twenty-seven world title fights including the No Más fight between Roberto Durán and Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980, Wilfredo Gómez's WBC Feathe ...

stop the fight in the sixth round, Stracey winning the world championship by a technical knockout. The new champion declared, "He ápolescould have knocked me down in every round but I'd have won it anyway". It was Nápoles' last fight.

1976

On 20 March 1976 he retained the title against perennial world title challenger

Hedgemon Lewis Hedgemon Lewis (February 25, 1946 – March 31, 2020) was an American professional boxer and trainer. He held the NYSAC welterweight world title in 1972 and challenged for welterweight world championships on three occasions; the unified WBA, an ...

by a knockout in round ten, but on 22 June, at Wembley, he lost the world title, being knocked out in twelve rounds by California-based Mexican

Carlos Palomino Carlos Palomino (born August 10, 1949) is a Mexican former professional boxer. Palomino is a former World Welterweight Champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Palomino is also an actor who has been featured in several tele ...

. In his next fight, he lost to future world title challenger Dave Boy Green, with a badly damaged eye in round ten. Stracey retired as a winner when he knocked out George Warusfel in nine rounds in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

on 23 May 1978.

Outside the ring

Stracey bought the Three Horseshoes pub in

Briston Briston is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk that contains the hamlet of Briston Common. The village is east north east of the town of Fakenham, west south west of Cromer, north north west of the city ...

, Norfolk, in 1975 and renamed it the John H Stracey. In 2011 the pub reverted to its original name. He also had, at one point, a boxing school in London. John also had a bar in Bournemouth called The Ring Side.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stracey, John H. 1950 births Living people English male boxers Boxers from Greater London People from Bethnal Green Sportspeople from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from North Norfolk (district) Sportspeople from Norfolk Olympic boxers for Great Britain Boxers at the 1968 Summer Olympics England Boxing champions British Boxing Board of Control champions European Boxing Union champions World Boxing Council champions The Ring (magazine) champions Welterweight boxers World welterweight boxing champions