Boxing News — January 11, 2018

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net JANUARY 11, 2018 lBOXING NEWSl 31

PROBABLY the least known of this famous 10. Although Spanish,
Carrasco turned pro in Italy in 1962, and after losing to Aldo Pravisani
two years later, he was a modest 11-1-1. From there he went on to
notch 83 wins, before being held to a draw by Joe Tetteh in 1970.
He continued his unbeaten run with nine more victories, including a
triumph over Mando Ramos in 1971 for the vacant WBC lightweight
title. It was a fight that saw Carrasco dropped four times, before
winning on a DQ. His streak came to an end in 1972 when he lost a
split decision to Ramos. He collected wins over top-level European
fighters in Rene Roque, Borge Krogh for the European title, Pravisani,
Kid Tano, Valerio Nunez , Miguel Velazquez, Olli Maki and Tetteh.

2 PEDRO CARRASCO

92-0-1, Huelva, Spain

KNOWN as “The Ghost with the Hammer in his Hand”, due to the 99

inside-schedule wins he scored in his career. Wilde had his first pro

fight in January 1911, and packed 28 bouts into his first 12 months of

activity. He was unbeaten until 1915, losing to Scot Tancy Lee in a clash

for the British and European flyweight titles. This was also recognised

as a world title contest by the now-defunct International Boxing Union.

Wilde had already won recognition as champion by some bodies at

world and domestic level at 94, 98 and 112lbs. There was such a wide

weight differential in the Lee fight that Wilde weighed in fully clothed.

He claimed victories over top-class fighters such as Joe Symonds and

Sid Smith, before his loss to Lee.

1 JIMMY WILDE

93-0-2, Tylorstown, Wales

TO SUMMARISE

The times they are a-changin’

ACCORDING to BoxRec, there are approximately 21,000 active

professional boxers in the world, and while that seems plenty, the

level of activity is miles away from that of the last century. Back

in the early 1900s to the late 1950s, there was a different level

of motive and opportunity. Events such as two world wars and

economic depression meant that for much of that time even the

‘affluent’ world saw hardship and financial necessity pushing people

into boxing. The rewards were low, but that also meant that boxing

shows were not expensive entertainment. Promoting as often as

possible and paying as little as possible was the strategy and, in

turn, presented the need and the opportunity for boxers at all levels

to fight often.

Today it is almost unheard of for a world-rated fighter to compete

10 times in a year, but when Sugar Ray Robinson won the welter

crown in December 1946, it was in his 16th fight of that year.

He continued a high level of activity, such that when he lost his

middleweight belt to Randy Turpin it was in his seventh bout in two

months. We will never see that level of activity again, nor will we see

unbeaten runs the size of those on the previous pages – many of

which were plotted through the most dangerous waters imaginable.

BUSY AS CAN BE:

The amount of

fights Robinson

used to engage

in each year is

truly astonishing