Happy Birthday to Jeff Fenech, the Marrickville Mauler. The Australian great was born on May 28, 1964, and as such turns 49 today.
It’s been two decades since we saw Fenech tearing through the lower divisions, although he actually last fought just in 2008 – an odd match against Azumah Nelson in which he took home a decision, and evened out their series in the process. Of course, the fight didn’t mean much at their ages, and in the junior middleweight division.
Fenech’s best work of course came at the bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight divisions. When he left those weight classes, he held an undefeated 23-0 ledger, with 18 knockout victories and championships in all three of his stops. After winning two bouts at lightweight, Nelson fought him to a draw, and two fights later, knocked him out.
Within his next four fights, in a period of about four years since the Nelson defeat, Calvin Grove and Philip Holliday would each hand him knockout defeats as well, before Fenech hung up the gloves… only to return for the third Nelson fight some 12 years later.
Supporters of Fenech tout him as one of the most ferocious and dangerous fighters in the divisions he campaigned in, deservedly so. Happy birthday to Jeff Fenech, a fan favorite for many boxing aficionados of the ’80s and early ’90s.
Thanks to FamousBirthdays.com for the info on today’s famous boxing birthday.
