Chris Finnegan
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Chris Finnegan
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
(5 June 1944 – 2 March 2009) was a British professional
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
of
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born in
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,
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,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.Chris Finnegan
sports-reference


Early life

Finnegan was one of eight children; his father was from
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and his mother from
Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Finnegan always wore a
Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
and a
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on his boxing trunks to signify his joint heritage. Finnegan was introduced to boxing at a young age by his elder brother Terence. His younger brother
Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...
also boxed professionally, winning the
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and
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middleweight titles, and fighting such opponents as
Marvin Hagler Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight divisi ...
and
Alan Minter Alan Sydney Minter (17 August 19519 September 2020) was a British professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1981. He held the undisputed middleweight title in 1980, having previously held the British middleweight title from 1975 to 1976, and ...
.


Amateur career

Juggling his amateur boxing career with his work as a
hod carrier A brick hod is a three-sided box for carrying bricks or other building materials, often mortar. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder. A hod is usually long enough to accept 4 bricks on their side. However, by arranging the br ...
, Finnegan was the 1966 ABA middleweight champion, but he considered retiring from the sport after John Turpin, the man he had beaten in the ABA finals, was chosen ahead of him to represent England at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. Finnegan competed at the 1967
European Amateur Boxing Championships The European Amateur Boxing Championships is the highest competition for boxing amateurs in Europe, organised by the continent's governing body EUBC, which stands for the ''European Boxing Confederation''. The first edition of the tournament to ...
in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, where he lost on points to Jan Hejduk of
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. Finnegan almost missed out on making 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 ...
team after sustaining an eye injury which prevented him taking the ABA championships.Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Boxing: Middleweight". In ''The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition''. London: Aurum Press, Limited. pp.449–50. His disappointment about not making the team resulted in a two-week
drinking Drinking is the act of ingesting water or other liquids into the body through the mouth, proboscis, or elsewhere. Humans drink by swallowing, completed by peristalsis in the esophagus. The physiological processes of drinking vary widely among o ...
binge. Finnegan's trainer at his Hayes boxing club, Dick Gunn, rescued the boxer from his binge by securing a box-off which Finnegan won. One final obstacle almost prevented Finnegan's participation in the games: £70 owed in National Insurance Stamps, for which he had to appear before a magistrate. When the presiding magistrate heard that Finnegan was due to represent Britain at the Olympics he was given a reprieve, and wished luck in his bid to win a gold medal. When the Games were over, the debt was eventually paid by the British boxing promoter
Harry Levene Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
. Fighting in the
middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...
division, Finnegan's first opponent at the Olympics was little-known Titus Simba of
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
; Finnegan was knocked down in the first round, but climbed off the canvas to win the decision. In the quarter-finals Finnegan guaranteed himself at least a bronze medal by out-pointing the Yugoslav
Mate Parlov Mate Parlov (16 November 1948 – 29 July 2008) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian boxer and Olympic gold medalist who was European and World Champion as an amateur and as a professional. Background Mate Parlov was born in Split, the youngest of four ...
, who would win gold at the 1972 Olympics and later hold the WBC light-heavyweight championship. In the semi-final, Finnegan won a 4–1 decision over the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
Al Jones despite receiving two standing eight-counts. Finnegan's final opponent was Aleksei Kiselyov of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Finnegan won by a 3–2 verdict, the
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
,
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and
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n judges voting for him, and the
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and
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n for Kiselyov. Finnegan was the last British boxer to win an Olympic gold medal until
Audley Harrison Audley Hugh Harrison, (born 26 October 1971) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. As an amateur he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division and be ...
in
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. For his success Finnegan was awarded an
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
in the
New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
, which was presented to him by the Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
on 12 February 1969. In a famous television interview conducted moments after winning gold, Finnegan's wife back in Britain, Cheryl, remarked: "Fuckin' 'ell, you 'aven't fuckin' gone and done it, 'ave you?", to which Finnegan replied: "Yes, ol' lady, I fuckin' have." When asked of his future plans, Finnegan quipped that he intended "to go home and increase the family." Finnegan's biggest problem after his gold medal victory was producing enough
urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excretion, excreted from the body through the urethra. Cel ...
for the doping test. It would take several glasses of
water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
, three or four pints of
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
, encouragement from others, and a victory meal before Finnegan finally had enough urine to produce for the doping test which he finally got at 1:40 AM CST. The test proved negative. Finnegan wrote an
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
entitled ''Finnegan: Self-Portrait of a Fighting Man'' about his boxing career, including his gold medal win at
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
which he referred to as a "golden rivet".


1968 Olympic results

Chris Finnegan won an Olympic gold medal while representing Great Britain as a middleweight boxer in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Here are his results: * Round of 32: Defeated Titus Simba (
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) by decision, 5–0 * Round of 16: Defeated
Ewald Wichert Ewald Wichert (born 26 May 1940) is a German boxer. He competed in the men's middleweight event at the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympi ...
(
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) by decision, 3–2 * Quarterfinal: Defeated
Mate Parlov Mate Parlov (16 November 1948 – 29 July 2008) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian boxer and Olympic gold medalist who was European and World Champion as an amateur and as a professional. Background Mate Parlov was born in Split, the youngest of four ...
(
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
) by decision, 5–0 * Semifinal: Defeated Alfred Jones (
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) by decision, 4–1 * Final: Defeated Aleksei Kiselyov (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
) by decision, 3–2 (won gold medal)


Professional career

The story of an unemployed labourer winning a gold medal for Britain at the Olympics had led to the Finnegans being inundated with small donations of money from well-wishers in the UK. Finnegan had considered turning professional even before the Olympics, but his money troubles meant that he was "more or less forced to". To manage him he hired Sam Burns, who had guided
Terry Downes Terry Downes, BEM (9 May 1936 – 6 October 2017) was a British middleweight boxer, occasional film actor, and businessman. He was nicknamed the "Paddington Express" for his aggressive fighting style. At the time of his death, Downes was Brita ...
to the
world middleweight championship In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
in 1962. Now trained by Freddie Hill, he made his professional debut on 9 December 1968, defeating Mike Fleetham in three rounds. Finnegan won 13 of his first 14 fights, his sole loss a cut-eye stoppage against Danny Ashie. Among his early opponents were Brendan Ingle, who would later go on to be a successful boxing trainer, and Harry Scott, then the number-one ranked British middleweight contender. In his 15th fight, Finnegan was matched with reigning
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
middleweight champion
Tom Bogs Tom Bogs (born 21 November 1944) is a retired Denmark, Danish middleweight Boxing, boxer. Bogs was born to :da:Poul Bogs Larsen, Poul Bogs, the 1947-1950 Danish champion in shot put. His younger sister :da:Maibritt Bogs, Maibritt held the nationa ...
in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, as a late replacement for the injured Mark Rowe. Finnegan dropped a close 15-round decision, in which the referee and sole judge Herbert Tomser scored four rounds to Bogs and eleven even. Five months later, in January 1971, Finnegan stopped
Eddie Avoth Eddie Avoth (born 2 May 1945) is a former boxer and actor. He was British and Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion, with a record of 44 wins (20 by knockout) from 53 fights. History Avoth was born in Cardiff, Wales. He was a produ ...
in the 15th round to win the
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and
British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
light-heavyweight titles. In May 1971, Finnegan travelled to
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to challenge for the European light-heavyweight title, held by
Conny Velensek Conny is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Men * Conny Andersson (footballer) (born 1945), Swedish former footballer * Conny Andersson (racing driver) (born 1939), Swedish former racing driver * Conny Joh ...
of
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. The fight was scored a draw, although several
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
and
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reporters at ringside felt that Finnegan deserved to win. After a win over
Roger Rouse Roger Rouse (June 3, 1934 – March 7, 1999) was an American boxer. He competed in the men's middleweight event at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was one of the top collegiate boxers while attending Idaho State University, and later as a pr ...
, who had previously fought both
Dick Tiger Dick Tiger (born Richard Ihetu; August 14, 1929 – December 14, 1971) was a Nigerian-born professional boxer who held the undisputed middleweight and light-heavyweight championships. Tiger emigrated to Liverpool, England to pursue his b ...
and Bob Foster for the world light-heavyweight title, Finnegan and Velensek met again, this time at the Nottingham Ice Rink. Finnegan won a unanimous 15-round decision to take the title. Finnegan was named ''
Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...
s
progress of the year '' The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and gave an award for Progress of the Year from 1953 to 1988. It is given to a boxer who had made significant progress during the preceding year, or had otherwise made the most impressive jump from c ...
for 1971 and was now being touted as a challenger to reigning world light-heavyweight champion Bob Foster; he was at ringside for Foster's fight with
Vicente Rondon Vicente is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer"). Vicente may refer to: Location *São Vicente, Cap ...
and introduced to the crowd after the fight. Finnegan made his first defence of the European title four months later against Jan Lubbers 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 ...
, and won by an eighth-round knockout. The world title fight with Foster was arranged for 26 September 1972, to take place at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
. Finnegan was considered a heavy underdog against Foster, whose previous two opponents, contenders Rondon and
Mike Quarry Michael Wayne Quarry (March 4, 1951 – June 11, 2006) was an American light heavyweight boxer. He had a record of 63–13–6 including 17 knockouts during his career. Mike bested such fighters as Jimmy Dupree. Mike Quarry was born in Bakers ...
, had lasted a combined total of six rounds before being knocked out by him. However, Finnegan proved more competitive than expected, finally being stopped by Foster in the 14th round of a gruelling contest. Afterwards, Foster commented that Finnegan had been the best-equipped of all his previous title challengers. The bout was selected as "
Fight of the Year Fight of the Year is an award given to the boxing match considered to be the best fight that year. It is awarded by a variety of different institutions. It may refer to: * ''The Ring'' magazine Fight of the Year – awarded by ''The Ring'' magazi ...
" by ''
Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...
''. Six weeks after the Foster fight, Finnegan faced Rüdiger Schmidtke at Wembley, having been ordered by the
European Boxing Union The European Boxing Union (EBU), formerly known as the International Boxing Union (IBU), is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the most-prestigious continental title in Europe, th ...
to defend his European title against him or risk being stripped of it. Finnegan lost by a 12th-round TKO after sustaining a bad cut on his nose. He remained inactive for four months, before successfully defending his British and Commonwealth titles against Roy John, winning a 15-round decision at Wembley. Finnegan's next defence of his British and Commonwealth belts was against new European champion and emerging British light-heavyweight contender
John Conteh John Anthony Conteh, (born 27 May 1951) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1978, and regionally the European, British and Commonwealth titles between 1 ...
; Finnegan lost a 15-round decision. He then won a ten-round decision over
Mike Quarry Michael Wayne Quarry (March 4, 1951 – June 11, 2006) was an American light heavyweight boxer. He had a record of 63–13–6 including 17 knockouts during his career. Mike bested such fighters as Jimmy Dupree. Mike Quarry was born in Bakers ...
, before facing Conteh again. This time Finnegan was stopped on cuts after six rounds. Finnegan then dropped a decision against
Johnny Frankham Johnny Frankham (born 6 June 1948) is an English former professional boxer who was the British light-heavyweight champion in 1975. Frankham is a Romany Gypsy. Frankham won the Amateur Boxing Association England Boxing, known until 2013 as ...
for the British light-heavyweight title, before avenging that loss to win the
Lonsdale Belt The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, introduced the prize on behalf of the National Sporting Club (NSC), inten ...
outright. That proved to be his final fight, as Finnegan retired from boxing in 1975 after undergoing surgery to repair a
detached retina Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...
. His final record stood at 29–7–1.


Death

Finnegan died at the age of 64 after several weeks in
Hillingdon Hospital Hillingdon Hospital is an NHS hospital in Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon, Greater London. It is one of two hospitals run by the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the other being Mount Vernon Hospital. History The hospitals has its origi ...
suffering from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
.


See also

*
List of British light-heavyweight boxing champions List of British light-heavyweight boxing champions is a table showing the boxers who have won the British light-heavyweight title. The title has been sanctioned by the National Sporting Club since 1891, and later by its replacement British Boxin ...


Sources

*


References


External links

* * ''
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obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnegan, Chris 1944 births 2009 deaths Boxers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Deaths from pneumonia in England English male boxers English people of Irish descent Light-heavyweight boxers Middleweight boxers Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic boxers of Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain England Boxing champions Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics