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Article: `When Ingle went down, my stomach sort of flipped. I found myself reliving Johnny's tragedy in Los Angeles all over again' As yet another boxer fights for his life, Mike Lewis talks to Dick Owen, whose son died after he was knocked out in a world title fight 20 years ago
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- December 24, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2000 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Perhaps it was a premonition, or simply a father's deep-rooted
concern for the wellbeing of his beloved son. Whatever the cause,
hours before Johnny Owen's fatal last fight in Los Angeles 20 years
ago, Dick Owen was gripped by a terrible fear that made him hug the
boy to his chest for the first time since he was a baby.
"It was in the early hours when I popped my head around Johnny's
hotel room door and was surprised to find him lying awake there in
the darkness," recalls Owen senior, now 74, as he watches a light
drizzle drift over the hills above Merthyr Tydfil.
"For some reason I can't explain, I suddenly flung my arms around
him and pulled him tight towards me just like I used to when he ...