10. Johnny Owen

By Sean Davies

The Matchstick Man's story is dominated by its tragic end - the frail-looking Welshman was beaten to death in a Los Angeles ring by Mexico's Lupe Pintor.

Johnny Owen is a legend in his home town of Merthyr Tydfil

Owen was no defenceless boy, though.

The Merthyr man had earned his shot at the WBC bantamweight title with 25 wins from 26 professional fights, his only defeat a highly controversial points loss to Juan Francisco Rodriguez in Spain that he later avenged in Wales.

He had been boxing since he was 10-years old and, despite his appearance, Owen had a remarkable work-rate and could trade with the best in the division.

His perpetual motion work-rate had won him the British, Commonwealth and European titles, taking the painfully shy, hugely popular 24-year-old from headline shows at Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre to LA's intimidating 10,000-seat Olympic Auditorium.

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Controversy still surrounds the decision to take Owen to a venue where he would face not just Pintor, but the full fury of the Mexican's fervent Latin American support.

Some still argue that the title shot could have been secured in Wales and that he was given insufficient time to prepare in the heat of southern California, but Owen had trained as mercilessly as ever and eagerly awaited his shot at glory.

Taking no heed of the ridiculing of his skeletal frame from the US media, Owen stunned the home crowd with a thrilling start, and bewildered Pintor with his tireless, peppering punching.

Johnny probably shouldn't have fought me because his style was more like an Olympic boxer Lupe Pintor

In the fifth round he threw 148 shots and had already cut the man known as "Guadalupe" over both eyes.

But Pintor's bull-like strength was evident, and, although he had landed few punches, the Mexican had opened a cut in his opponent's mouth that left Owen swallowing large amounts of blood.

"Johnny probably shouldn't have fought me because his style was more like an Olympic boxer," Pintor would later say.

"He was scoring points, not with hard shots, but they were fast and there were lots of them.

"For him to have someone in front of him who was capable of hitting him with hard shots over 15 rounds in a world championship bout, that was going to tell.

"Keeping up that rhythm - that endless rhythm - was going to wear him down in the later rounds."

Pintor came to Merthyr to unveil a statue to Owen

By the seventh, distance began to open up between the boxers, leaving Owen more exposed to his opponent's long, dangerous shots.

He was caught in the ninth and put down for the first time in his career, but it was a snap knock down and he was quickly back in the fray.

By the 12th Owen's punch resistance was gone and he was dropped by a fierce, straight right.

He bravely got back to his feet, but collapsed horrifically from a huge right uppercut - and never recovered consciousness.

Owen was stretchered out through a rabid auditorium, the Welsh entourage having urine thrown at them and their pockets picked as they left the ring.

He was taken to taken to California Hospital, the Merthyr Express organising a campaign that quickly raised the funds to send his mother Edith to join his father Dick at his bedside.

He underwent an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain.

Hopes fluctuated over a harrowing two months, before pneumonia finally claimed the life of the much-loved Matchstick Man.

It was later found that he had an unusually fragile skull and thick jaw, meaning that the fatal blow could have come at any time in his career.

Plentiful tributes have been paid to Owen the man.

His inclusion in this list recognises the worth of Owen the boxer.

*For more on Johnny Owen, see Rick Broadbent's excellent book "The Big If: The Life and Death of Johnny Owen" (Macmillan, London, 2006)

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