A Boxing Memory: Steve Robinson

A Boxing Memory: Steve Robinson

Steve Robinson ended his career with six straight defeats. After turning professional in 1989 with little fanfare, Robinson lost nine times in his first four years as an aspiring underappreciated pro. Life on the road. Life in the away corner didn’t treat him well. But that isn’t the full story. It’s not how it started. Or even how it ended. It’s what happened on either side of those unflattering statistics. That is the story of Steve Robinson. The Cinderella Man moniker had been used before. But the Cardiff native could have retired it. A quite remarkable story.

It is a story that has been told a million times. It could be in a film. In time, it might be. The WBO featherweight champion Ruben Palacio was due to defend his title against John Davison in 1993. But just days away from the fight, Palacio tested positive for HIV and was stripped of his WBO bauble. In panic mode, in a last-minute attempt to save the show, the call went out for a new opponent for Davison. The unheralded Robinson answered. A meal of pie and chips at the in-laws had just been devoured. The Welshman had two days to make the featherweight limit. An unlikely and unexpected opportunity was now his. He wasn’t about to waste it.

A career that started in a leisure centre in Cardiff in 1989 with a wafer-thin decision over Alan Roberts was about to go on a completely different trajectory.

Two months earlier, Robinson had travelled to Paris and lost to Mehdi Labdouni. Robinson thought he had won. Not for the first time, or the last, he felt like a victim. A world title opportunity looked like a thing of fantasy. Robinson barely had a winning record. More journeyman than a potential champion of the world, it seemed. But his story and his life were about to change.

Robinson worked and sweated off the excess. He made weight. And became a world champion. After twelve hard, close rounds at the Northumbria Centre, Washington, Robinson finally got the rub of the green. The decision was split. Robinson edged it. What started with pie and chips just 48 hours earlier and ended with Robinson on top of the world. Literally.

There were seven successful title defences. Robinson wasn’t expected to win many of those fights. If any. In many ways, Robinson was still the opponent. But the likes of Duke McKenzie, Paul Hodkinson, Colin McMillan, and others were all expected to end the reign of Robinson. They all failed. Former world champions and can’t miss fighters, all found that Robinson wasn’t what they expected.

But in 1995, Robinson found another golden boy a little too much for him. A Prince who would soon be a King. Prince Naseem Hamed headed to a Cardiff Arms Park that was filled with boos. And not of the pantomime variety. Hamed didn’t care. It just added to the theatre. His theatre.

Robinson had voiced his frustrations about the fight. He felt he was rushed into the fight and wanted more time to prepare. But Hamed was brilliant on that September night. An almost flawless performance on his coronation night. Robinson was brave. But ultimately, Hamed was simply too good for him. It ended in the 8th. After over two years in the hot seat, Robinson was now an ex-champion.

There were mixed fortunes for Robinson as he tried to get back what was lost. A defeat to Billy Hardy with the European title on the line in a fight that saw the former WBO champion battling an upset stomach pushed Robinson down the pecking order somewhat. But in 1999, Hardy took on the Spaniard Manuel Calvo on his home turf in another crack at European honours, and this time Robinson found life on the road a little more rewarding. Robinson won another close fight on the cards. Incidentally, Calvo was the light fighter to ever share a ring with Prince Naseem Hamed. Another story for another day.

But hopes of another world title run for Robinson didn’t quite materialise. Despite a couple of defences of his European title, the end was coming. Despite Robinson throwing everything at trying to salvage his career.

Robinson finished his career with those six straight defeats, including a return with Calvo with the vacant European title on the line. A belt Robinson had lost in Hungary to Istvan Kovacs in 2000. A 3rd round stoppage at the hands of Scott Harrison followed the defeat to Calvo. In 2002, Robinson had his final ring walk. Steve Conway beat him on points over eight rounds in Huddersfield. Robinson then called time on his thirteen-year career. His career had ended the way it had started. An unglamorous setting for a fighter who was always swimming against the tide. But a fighter who simply refused to drown.

I always say we should remember the prime and forget the decline. That line probably fits the career of Steve Robinson better than most. That glorious two-year period of his career is what we should remember. Odds were defied on multiple occasions. A story of perseverance. Cinderella Man indeed.