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Article: Love affair with men of iron; Merthyr Tydfil's harvest of champion boxers had its seeds in back-breaking labour.(Features)
- Article from:
- Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales)
- Article date:
- August 17, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 MGN Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: MARIO BASINI
I TOOK part in my first boxing tournament as a 10 year-old in Merthyr Tydfil. It was an impromptu affair organised by a local lad, a baby-faced teenager with an impish grin beneath mass of black curls. His passion for the sport already dominated his life.
We had gloves, coats for ring posts, and the organiser doubled as referee. His name was Howard Winstone and in little more than a decade he would be the world featherweight champion.
There were half a dozen bouts with contestants who had been roughly matched for age and ...