RSR Feature Boxing Writer Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett Discusses His Lifelong Passion For The Sweet Science

Exclusive Interview By Chris “Man of Few Words” Benedict

“On the one hand I’m all for free boxing shows on network TV. On the other hand I don’t like the idea of Al Haymon wielding so much power in the boxing marketplace and freezing out other fighters who are contracted with other promoters. But for the time being I’ll take what I can get because boxing had been relegated to the sporting backwaters for too long.”—Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett

To say that Roy Bennett, the man referred to affectionately as “Sharpshooter” here at Ringside Report, knows his stuff when it comes to boxing is an understatement of epic proportion. His opinions and unique insights are shaped by his involvement in prizefighting not only as a continual scholar, but as a former competitor. An amateur boxer as a youth and world traveller in adulthood, Roy possesses wisdom beyond his years and is always striving to learn more, applying that knowledge primarily to the sport he has such an obvious passion for. It was a genuine pleasure for me to get to know him better by way of our discussion and I am certain that RSR readers will all feel the same way.

CB: So, Roy, how extensive was your amateur career and what stopped you from going pro?

I fought in the old 71 kg weight class between the ages of 15 and 17 years old. I had around 15 bouts during that time in the early 1980’s. I managed to win a junior area title along the way but didn’t make it to the national stage. I used to dream about turning pro and winning the British title. The domestic professional championship held a lot of prestige in those days. I wasn’t good enough to be a pro. People don’t realize how hard it is. In those days even as an amateur I remember seeing a kid in the changing room vomiting after a punishing fight. Kids getting dropped and knocked out. I came in slightly overweight once. Had to go down into the boiler room at the venue to skip it off. Took me close to an hour. Suffice to say it’s the hardest game there is. I wouldn’t advise a kid to turn pro unless he was exceptionally talented and could commit 100% to the job.

CB: What circumstances brought you to Asia having grown up in Britain?

I always wanted to see the world. I didn’t want to wait until I was old and retired to do so. As the feeling grew stronger I started to randomly meet people from different walks of life who had done it. They all said the same thing. Don’t wait. Do it while you still can. I was waiting for the perfect opportunity. For the stars to align. To win the lottery, etc. Of course it was never going to happen. Then one day it was taken out of my hands. A car accident.

I’d just climbed out of my car and had walked a few steps away from it when someone in a hell of a rush drove his BMW head first into my Toyota and completely wrote it off. At the time I wanted to knock him out. I was furious. But if I saw him today I’d thank him from the bottom of my heart. That one incident changed my life forever. Long story short, I got the insurance payout and headed straight for the travel agency. I slapped a wad of cash on the agent’s desk and told him, “I want to go round the world and I want to end up somewhere in Asia.” I gave him a route and he gave me a better one. He gave me a book of air tickets and it was done. There was no turning back. I gave up my job and apartment, said my goodbyes and I was off.

CB: Like me, you obviously have a fondness for the Four Kings-Hagler, Leonard, Hearns, and Duran. Is theirs the era that intrigues you the most? What other time periods or fighters are of interest to you?

I do have a great fondness for the Four Kings. Theirs was a great era. But I lived through it. I was there, so to speak. So I hold that up as a gold standard and measure everything else against it. The fact is very few of the active fighters today could have survived in that era. And that’s the truth. But I don’t hold it against them. It’s not their fault. Times have changed so I take today’s boxers on their own merit. I’m crazy about the whole of boxing’s history from the bare knuckles to the present day. But if I had to choose an era to really home in on it would be 1930’s – 1950’s. The sheer level of talent in the game at that time was off the charts and it produced some of the greatest boxers in the history of prizefighting.

Louis, Canzoneri, Armstrong, Ross, Robinson, Pep, Saddler, Zale, Charles, Moore, Marciano, LaMotta, Basillio, Williams, Burley, Walcott, Cerdan, etc were all plying their craft at that time.
Boxing was thriving as a mainstream sport and any newspaper worth its salt had a dedicated boxing writer. Good times.

CB: Where did your love of boxing originate? Can you pinpoint it to a specific fight seen on TV, a book or a magazine article you read?

The men in my extended family were brought up following the sport and they would sit down at family gatherings and talk about the old fighters and the great fights they’d seen. My mother had a work colleague whose boyfriend was an Irishman who used to box in his youth. Once when we went to their house for dinner he gave me a pair of his old bag gloves and he showed me a few moves. I was around 10 years old at the time. Boxing was always on the TV or the radio and an aunt on my dad’s side of the family had a framed photo of Muhammad Ali on the wall above her sofa. Through a combination of all of these things I just absorbed it through osmosis. Thereafter training and boxing competitively was a natural progression for me.

CB: What authors, discounting sportswriters, have impacted you the most?

I’m a big fan of George Orwell. Two of his books, The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) and Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) really made a big impression on me when I first read them. Searing social commentary at its finest. James Baldwin was probably the most articulate and erudite civil rights movement figure of them all. His writings are also excellent.

CB: You recently wrote a piece that was very critical of Danny Jacobs. What are your thoughts on his immediate refusal to give a rematch to Sergio Mora, even as he awaited the arrival of a stretcher during Jacobs’ in-ring interview, and calling out Peter Quillin instead?

I’ll answer this one with a question of my own. Who wants to see it? Mora didn’t beat a ranked contender in an eliminator to earn his shot. Mora got his title chance because Jacobs and his people saw him as an easy defense. But it backfired and showed just how vulnerable Jacobs really is. Let’s be honest here. Mora is not known as a big puncher. Although Jacobs has very good skills his chin is a concern. That’s one of the reasons he’s being carefully matched. I’m not sure a fight with Quillin is a big deal even in Brooklyn. Neither fighter seems to have a big fan base. But in answer to your original question I’m fine with Jacobs not wanting to see Mora again. Apart from managing to knock Jacobs down Mora looked terrible. Jacobs should move on. But I know one thing. We won’t be seeing Jacobs fight Gennady Golovkin at any point in the foreseeable future.

CB: The light heavyweight division is undergoing something of a renaissance. However, do you feel Artur Beterbiev, as good as he may be, was being rushed into a showdown with Sergey Kovalev after only 9 fights to his credit?

If the fight was going to happen next for either boxer I’d have said yes. Subsequently Beterbiev’s promoters, Yvon Michel of GYM Promotions, have decided against it and will fight an eliminator against Bernard Hopkins or Erik Skoglund instead. It’s a strange move. Why fight an eliminator to end up facing the guy you were originally offered a fight against in the first place?

Still, I believe Beterbiev isn’t seasoned enough to fight Kovalev yet. I know he beat Kovalev twice in the amateurs but that doesn’t mean anything now. If I’m part of Beterbiev’s management team I’d have got him three or four more fights then gone after Adonis Stevenson. A victory over Stevenson for the WBC trinket would set up a big unification fight with Kovalev in Canada or Russia which would do big numbers in either country. Let’s see how it all plays out.

CB: Do you, as many others, have ambivalent feelings towards Premier Boxing Champions?

Yes. On the one hand I’m all for free boxing shows on network TV. On the other hand I don’t like the idea of Al Haymon wielding so much power in the boxing marketplace and freezing out other fighters who are contracted with other promoters. But for the time being I’ll take what I can get because boxing had been relegated to the sporting backwaters for too long. At least now it has exposure to a much wider audience. That can only be a good thing. To think, before the PBC – CBS deal got inked, that there were a couple of generations of kids who’d never watched boxing on TV before is quite alarming. My oldest boy isn’t yet 3 years old but he knows who Manny Pacquiao is because he’s seen him fight several times on TV. He and his younger brother will grow up with boxing just I did. I had that in mind from the get go. Both of them have middle names after two of the greatest heavyweight champions. Rocco and Louis.

CB: What sorts of activities do you pursue in your leisure time?

I like to read. I’ve got several books lined up to take on holiday with me later this month. Two on boxing and two novels. In between spending time with my family I try to find time to stay fit with a bodyweight fitness routine I do. I train outdoors. No gyms for me. Lastly, I count writing about the sport I love for RSR as a real pleasure.

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