Glenn McCrory

[BoztheMadman]

The first Brit to win a world cruiserweight title, Glenn McCrory has since become a recognizable face on TV and one of the best known British boxers in retirement, despite not having a very long or coveted career, in comparison to people like Lennox Lewis, Johnny Nelson or Barry McGuigan. McCrory stands 6'4 and was thus a very big cruiserweight, especially for his time, and also always powerfully built. He has also fought as a heavyweight and faced Lewis there, but proved to be too chinny and was easily taken out in 2 rounds. His fighting nickname was "Gentleman". This is the story of Glenn McCrory (just had to put that in, because it rhymes! :haha:).

 

Born 23 September 1964 in Annfield Plain, a village in County Durham in Northeast England, McCrory started as a pro in February 1984, aged 19. In his first fight, he beat Barry Ellis by TKO1, despite Ellis weighing 7.5 kilos or 16.5 pounds more and having a record of 3-0. He won his first 13 fights, scoring 4 knockouts (most fights were either 6 or 8 rounders) before being upset against John Westgarth, a 6'5 heavyweight, in a fight where McCrory weighed 208 and Westgarth 209. McCrory was knocked out early in the 4th round, 3 September 1985 in Gateshead. He won one fight before losing to the talented Welshman Rudi Pika, who would retire undefeated soon thereafter, 77 1/2-79 on points on 9 April 1986 in Royal Albert Hall. Only 9 days later, he faced the huge Swede Anders Eklund, in a fight in Randers, Denmark and lost by the scores of 75-79 twice and 74-79. Eklund was two inches taller and usually weighed between 245 and 255. 1986 would prove to be a terrible year for McCrory, as he also lost to Dave Garside by TKO7 in his next fight and then was knocked out in 2 by Jamaican-English Hughroy Currie. Realizing he was too chinny to be a heavyweight, he wisely chose to fight at cruiserweight from there on. 1987 would prove to be a much better year and he first stopped Andy Straughn by TKO10 in an eliminator for the British title and then beat the Zambian Chisanda Mutti on points to win the Commonwealth cruiser title, 4 September at Gateshead Leisure Centre. On 21 January next year, he defended this title and won the British one as well by decisioning Tee Jay, a Ghanaian based in London, over 12 rounds. He then defended both titles against Lou Gent, who would oddly enough later go on to fight as a super middleweight. McCrory stopped him by a corner retirement after 8 rounds, 22 April '88.

 

After scoring a few more victories in non-title fights, such as stopping Ron Lee Warrior by TKO5, he was matched up against Patrick Lumumba for the vacant IBF title, 3 June 1989 at Louisa Centre in Stanley, Durham County. Cheered on by his home crowd, McCrory produced his greatest victory when he bested the Don King-promoted Lumumba over 12 rounds, in the end winning by 116-111, 118-111 and 118-110. He made his first defense 21 October that year, against South African Siza Makathini, who was mostly a heavyweight. The fight was staged by the Eston Sports Academy in Middlesbrough and after being ahead comfortably on scorecards, McCrory knocked out Makathini in round 11. His second defense was against Ray Lampkin, a former light heavy fringe-contender, who had a record of 33-13-1 and was expected to lose. It was 22 March 1990 at Gateshead Leisure Centre when McCrory lost his title in a shocking upset. In round 3, Lampkin hit him with a short left to the liver and McCrory collapsed to the canvas in pain, unable to beat the count. The crowd that gathered to support their champion was speechless as this was an unexpected upset. Following the shocking loss, McCrory took an 11-month layoff and came back as a heavyweight in February 1991, winning an easy fight by KO2. He then signed to fight Lennox Lewis, who back then was still a star on the rise. Lewis weighed in at 231 and McCrory 221. Lewis had an inch height advantage and 3 inches reach advantage. The fight happened 30 September at the Royal Albert Hall. British and Commonwealth titles were on the line. Lewis opened aggressively and started pummeling McCrory from the start, while McCrory held and clinched a lot. Lewis was however infamous for holding and hitting and he did that here as well. About midway through the first round, Lewis landed a right uppercut that seemed to wobble McCrory, who then started to do rope-a-dope. The 6'4 Durham man only landed one left hook and was an easy target for Lewis, who then put him down with a right uppercut in the second round. McCrory got up and then started throwing combinations, but it was too late and he was down again from a right cross before the fight ended at 1:30 of the round. This fight pretty much spelled the end of his career as a heavyweight, but he came back as a cruiserweight and managed to land another IBF-title fight, this time against Alfred Cole, 16 July 1993, in Moscow of all places. McCrory was down twice in round 6 and lost convincingly by UD in the end. That was his final fight and he retired at the age of 29 and with a record of 30 wins with 12 ko's, 8 losses and 1 draw.

 

In retirement, he became a boxing commentator and worked for Sky alonside Ian Darke. He has also acted on television and stage. He also gained a professional trainer's license and opened a gym in the Newbiggin area in Northumberland. Following a drunk-driving incident in 2016, he stopped working for Sky as a commentator, but has since stayed away from incidents. His most famous hobby is mountain climbing and he has climbed Kilimanjaro and now has plans to climb Mount Everest!