Johnny Famechon: from triumph to tragedy

[BoztheMadman]

Johnny Famechon is recognised as one of Australia's greatest boxers ever. Though French-born, he grew up Down Under and became a very popular figure there, especially after he won the WBC featherweight strap. His career as world champion didn't last long however and he hung em up at only 25 years of age. He was a skilled boxer whose main strengths were his defense, speed and durability. He was never stopped in his 67 professional fights and retired with a record of 56 wins, 20 by ko, 5 losses and 6 draws. It was outside the ring his greatest fight would happen however.

 

Born Jean-Pierre Famechon on 28 March 1945 in Paris, he moved to Melbourne, Australia with his parents at the age of 5. He was born in a boxing family, his father and 3 uncles were all boxers. He started his professional career at only 16 years of age in 1961, with no amateur experience. His first fight was a 3-round draw against the 3-0 Sammy Lang in Melbourne. Out of his 67 professional fights, he only fought 16 outside of Melbourne in fact. He went 3-0-2 in his first 5 fights before he experienced his first loss against Roy Spackman by a 6-round decision. He avenged the defeat two fights later with another 6-round decision. He won 12 fights in row including the rubbermatch against Spackman before he got a chance to fight for the regional featherweight title in 1964 and beat Les Dunn by KO10 to win it. He then decisioned Ollie Taylor over 15 rounds to capture the national title as well. He defended it once but then went to Christchurch, New Zealand to fight the undefeated Dion Murphy and lost to him on points after 10 rounds. Murphy would retire undefeated not long after that. He made one more defense of the Aussie title after that with a KO 7 over Max Murphy whom he also lost to on points before that. He then reeled off 15 more wins and 2 draws before he faced the Scot John O'Brien for the Commonwealth title in Melbourne in November '67. He inflicted a cut on the Scot which led the fight to be stopped in the 11th round, thus making him the Commonwealth featherweight champion. He then beat the Japanese Isao Ichihara by decision and had his second fight abroad when he went to Paris to fight Rene Roque-the fight was declared a draw after 10 rounds. In May 1968 he took on Bobby Valdez in what was recognised as a world title fight in Australia after the retirement of Vicente Saldivar. Famechon was the better man for most of the fight and held off the American with his jab, while Valdez had his moments later in the fight but was disqualified in the 13th round for repeated butting. In September he defended his Commonwealth crown with a TKO12 over Scottish-Canadian Billy McGrandle.

 

And then came his chance for greatness: 21 January 1969 he travelled to London to take on the Cuban-Spanish Jose Legra, who had taken the WBC title from the skilled Welshman Harold Winstone and was making his first defense at Royal Albert Hall. Unexpectedly, the 23-yearold Famechon surprised everyone by beating the favorite Legra by a point, the fight being scored by the referee only who had Famechon ahead 74 1/2 to 73 1/4. Famechon was in no hurry to defend his new belt, first having three non-title fights and winning them all on points before taking on arguably the best Japanese fighter of all times, Fighting Harada. The fight was held at Sydney Stadium 28 July '69 and surprisingly, the naturally smaller Harada, the former undisputed bantamweight world champion, put Famechon down in the 2nd, 11th and 14th while Famechon managed to deck him once in the 5th. The legendary Willie Pep was the referee and the lone judge and had the fight at first scored a draw. He then was frightened by the angry Aussie crowd to change the result to a 1-point win for Famechon. After this controversy, WBC mandated a rematch between the two and this time it would take place in Harada's homeland, in Tokyo. It happened on 6 January next year. This time, there would be no doubt who won. Despite getting knocked down by Harada in the 10th, he was ahead on all three scorecards (on one by a landslide) before he produced the greatest win of his career by knocking Harada out of the ring and the fight in the 14th round. He then won a non-title fight in South Africa against the local man Arnold Taylor by UD10 before he faced another legend: Vicente Saldivar himself. Saldivar was making a comeback after 2 years of absence from the ring and had first beaten Jose Legra. He now challenged Famechon and the champion accepted. The fight happened in neutral ground, in Rome, on 9th May. Famechon gave a good account of himself in a close contest that went the 15 round distance, but in the end had to surrender his title as all three judges gave the fight to Saldivar by a close decision.

 

That was his last fight and Famechon retired at only 25, perhaps out of disappointment. In August 1991, he was jogging near Sydney's Warwick Farm racecourse when he was hit by a speeding driver. He was in a coma for 10 days before he awoke to find himself a cripple. While he was unconscious, he had suffered a stroke which left the left side of his body completely paralysed. He had been a divorced father of two when he met his new girlfriend Glenys only a year before the accident. With her help and the help of a world-famous therapist, he recovered his speech ability and later, also started to walk again. Though he never fully returned to his previous state, he had won a major fight. He still lives in Melbourne today with his now wife Glenys and attended the January 2013 Anthony Mundine-Daniel Geale fight as a special guest.

Edited March 26, 2015 by BoztheMadman

[selij]

Re: Johnny Famechon: from triumph to tragedy

 

Good piece Boz. Thanks :thumb:

[BoztheMadman]

Re: Johnny Famechon: from triumph to tragedy

 

Good piece Boz. Thanks :thumb:

 

:thumb: Thanks mate.