As his nickname suggests
Steve Robinson's story is of
fairytale proportions. With a none too impressive record of 13 wins 9
defeats and one draw in 23 fights there was nothing to suggest that Steve
Robinson would ever attain World Champion status. A dedicated and
committed boxer he might have been, but a World Champion ? No one epitomizes
the phrase 'if a chance comes along you should grab it with
both hands ' more than this young Welshman.
In April 1993 the World Featherweight Champion, Ruben
Palacios of
Colombia, was scheduled to defend his title in the U.K.
against the Englishman, John Davison. However, the champion failed a HIV
test during the week of the scheduled fight, leading to his title being
immediately stripped from him. This placed the
promoters into turmoil, there were only two days to go to the fight
and another opponent to face Davison, for the now vacant title, had
to be found and quickly. Frantic phone calls were made until
eventually Steve was contacted and accepted the once in a lifetime
chance to fight for the World Title. Of his last
seven fights Robinson had won 4 and lost 3, could he become a World
Champion and an accomplished one at that ? YES, he could.
In
an enthralling encounter where fortunes swayed to and fro Robinson
proved his mettle by taking the title on a points decision against his
more experienced and proven opponent. Davison had tried all he could to
dispose of his gritty opponent, but try as he did Robinson kept coming
at him scoring all the while. With only two days notice Steve Robinson
had achieved his dream, he was the new WBO World Featherweight Champion
! Not only did he become World Champion but he proved he was a worthy
champion with 7 successful defences of his title.
From his
humble beginnings working in a storeroom in Cardiff, without
question Steve Robinson had proved himself truly World class.
In September 1995 Steve accepted a World Title challenge from Prince Naseem Hamed which
was to end
his reign after two glorious years. The new sensation in British boxing,
Hamed totally dominated the fight; he was simply too fast, too
unorthodox and hit too hard for brave Robinson who was ko'd in eight
rounds. The Cinderella Man was never to aspire to such heights
again. A challenge for the European title, in
1997, also ended in defeat. Steve then put together a string of 9 wins and
1 draw in his next ten fights before challenging for the European title
again. This time he was successful with a points win over John Jo Irwin, and became the new European
Featherweight Champion. Unfortunately, six months later Steve lost his European crown,
in his first defense, to Istvan
Kovacs and a subsequent challenge for World honors, against Cassius Baloyi, also ended in
defeat.
Another
challenge for the European featherweight title, in May 2001, was to
end in disappointment with a defeat over 12 rounds against Spaniard,
Manuel Calvo, in Madrid. At the end of the year Steve turned his
attention to the British & Commonwealth titles but was to suffer
his worst defeat in a title challenge when he lost, TKO'd 3rd, to
Scott Harrison.
Steve Robinson, former Featherweight Champion of
the World, decided to retire after suffering his sixth loss in a
row. He made the announcement following his points defeat, over 8
rounds, to Steve Conway, in Huddersfield, on Saturday night (April
27th 2002). Steve had moved up to super-featherweight for the
fight and had been confident that he could do well at the new weight
declaring that he felt stronger with the few extra pounds. However,
with Conway taking the decision Steve wisely decided that it was
time to go. Steve said afterward, "I don't want to end
it this way but there you are - it's happened." I've seen the
great heights and I've some fantastic memories but I've beaten
better men than Steve Conway and I just think it's time to call it a
day."
As with most boxers the Cardiff fighter probably stayed on
longer than he ought to have, but Steve Robinson has done Wales
proud and been a great ambassador for the country proving
himself to be a great fighter and gentleman, always behaving
with dignity wherever he went. He will, of course, always be
best remembered for coming from nowhere, with just two days
notice, to take the vacant World crown with a points decision
over the much fancied John Davison, back in 1993. He then went
on to prove that he was indeed a worthy champion with 7
successful defences of his title during his two-and -a-half year
reign.
|
|