Paul Pender,
Forgotten Champion
By Sam
Dymond
Boxing isn't kind to those who don't make an impact.
It isn't kind to those who make an impact but don't
have the name to enhance that image. Paul Pender, a
1950's and 60's middleweight champion is one such
man whose career has been forgotten in the realms of
time. Ever the thinking mans champion, Pender liked
boxing for the "challenge it provided, mentally and
physically", however did think the sport was
barbaric and needed an overhaul: much as it does
today.
A very amiable man, Pender's career that began as a
young amateur in the 1940's was hampered, and, maybe
even ruined by damage that his brittle hands
accumulated. This may in the end have been
essentially the cause he never went on to achieve
greatness. Pender retired as world champion,
something few boxers before and after can boast
about. He will never be looked at as one of the top
30 middleweights of all time, nor should he be, but
he must be looked at as one of the more talented
fighters of boxing's supposed Golden Age.
As an amateur he won the New England State
Welterweight championship, and in his first two
years as a pro went 20-1-1 with 13 knockouts. His
winning run had been snapped by Norman Hayes, whom
he stopped in a rematch in 7 rounds, then Pender's
career, for a short spell, due to his injured hands,
went into a dark lull. A points loss over ten to Joe
Rindone, was followed by a crowd-pleasing draw in
the rematch, however his next fight saw him get
blown away in 3 rounds by Eugene Hairston. A victory
over Otis Graham saw him get back on track, but
another knockout defeat to Jimmy Beau saw Pender
become disillusioned with boxing, and he didn't
fight again until 1954. He joined the US marines:
his hands hurt too much.
Persistent pain saw him ejected from the marines,
and after a session with the Boston Red Sox
physician, he returned to the ring, decisioning
Larry Villeneuve and Ted Olla, before knocking out
Freddy Mack in 4 in 1955. Pender now really looked
like a title run was on the way, and he was matched
with hot prospect, the rugged albeit crude brawler
Gene Fullmer. He lost a decision, yet his sore hands
hardly allowed him to sting Fullmer with full power.
He was out hustled, yet not one sidedly defeated.
Finally, Pender pulled together a winning run of 15
fights, to take on World Champion Sugar Ray
Robinson. Ray was past his best, and didn't have the
speed anymore that made him unanimously the best
fighter of all time. Pender boxed sharply, and took
a split 15 round decision. Robinson and entourage
claimed hometown decision, but it was plain that
Robinson was slipping, and Pender boxed better.
Pender claimed Ray "was nothing out of the ordinary
as a fighter…he had a large repertoire of punches,
but not much of a jab", and in the rematch did
virtually the same as he did to Robinson the first
time: stayed behind his jab and boxed him. Pender as
he was the first time was awarded another split
decision. His next fight took place in 1961, a world
title defence against rugged English brawler Terry
Downes. He decked Downes early, and sliced up the
brawlers soft skin with jabs and crosses. The ref
jumped in round 7, and Pender had now banked his
first emphatic title defense. His next fight was
against HOF bound Carmen Basilio, and this was
arguably Pender's greatest performance. He hit
Basilio "with every punch in the book, and Carmen
looked like he walked into a nest of angry bees".
Basilio was nothing but a punching bag for the sharp
boxing Pender. Amazingly, Pender dropped Basilio
twice, in the 13th and 15th rounds- the first time
Carmen hit the canvas in his career. "That Pender is
damn quick" claimed a battered Basilio after the
fight, and it enhanced Paul's stature as a
middleweight.
The rematch against Downes took place in London in
1961. Downes displayed fury he had not shown in the
first fight, and Pender looked strangely lethargic.
Downes opened cuts above both of Pender's eyes, and
eventually wore him down, and Pender's manager Al
Lacey threw in the towel at the end of the tenth
round. Pender said after the fight "I don't know if
I would've beaten him…I just don't know".
The Pender - Downes trilogy came to an end in April
of 1962. With the fights squared at one apiece, the
final, and decisive fight was held in Boston. Terry
Downes spoke out before the fight that he thought he
would not receive a fair decision in Boston, as it
turned out the judges ended up giving Downes the
benefit of the doubt in the close rounds. This was
the only fight between the two to go the distance,
which suited Pender much more than the hard charging
Downes. The Londoner set a fast pace early, but an
extremely fit Pender matched his pace, and a drained
Downes had nothing left in the final rounds. The
difference proved to be the straight right hand of
Pender, and short hooks inside which were favored by
the judges over Downes' infighting, and bodywork.
Pender walked away with a well deserved decision.
The hometown boxer won every one of the bouts
between the two. That fight would end up being the
only fight of the year for Pender.
The Downes fight took place on April 7 1962. On
November 9th of the same year, The New York Boxing
Commission stripped Pender of his title for not
defending the title against their number one
challenger Dick Tiger. The NYC Commission went on to
establish Dick Tiger as their world champion. Pender
was a fighter in, and out of the ring, and he
promptly sued the NYC commission in December of
1962. The NY appellate court directed the NYC
Commission to reinstate Pender as Champ on March 6th
of 1963.
After protracted contract negotiations with various
top middleweights that amounted to nothing, Pender
decided to retire on May 7, 1963. In the end, Pender
had won his last fight in, and out of the ring.
Pender never lost his title, and retired the
middleweight champion of the world. There is a
perception that Pender avoided a fight with Dick
Tiger, which he, and his team of handlers vehemently
deny. In a 1963 interview for Boxing Illustrated,
his manager John Cronin explained that, "His
retirement was predicated upon two reasons. One -
The inability of promoter Sam Silverman to obtain
television rights for a fight with Joey Giardello.
Two - The, rather impossible, situation in securing
a match with Dick Tiger to resolve the title
dispute, even though Pender stated he would fight
Tiger in Nigeria." Other fights with Laszlo Papp,
Gene Fullmer, and Joey Giambra, also, fell through.
It all became too frustrating for Pender who decided
to walk away from the game as a champion. After the
negotiations turned up nothing, Pender said, "I
fight for money, I retired after the meeting with my
lawyer because there were no lucrative matches from
then on because Gillette gave up television at the
time."
Obviously Pender, now in a 24 hour supervisory
hospital, will never be remembered as one of the all
time greats, yet as I said earlier, nor should he
be. But even by beating Sugar Ray Robinson, boxing
didn't see Pender fit to be one whose legacy will
survive the passage of time and memory. Pender's
skills will live on in those who were privileged
enough to watch him box, and realise that he would
probably have held his own in any era, had it not
been for debilitating hand injuries which hindered
what may have been …
