Courageous Carruthers Calls It Quits

By Tom Podmore.

Boxing is a sport where the statistics often don’t paint the full picture

Put it this way: a fighter could have a flawless, glossy-looking ledger and be seen as a prospect, yet that may not be the case.

Conversely, a boxer with a patchy record is often dismissed as nothing more than a journeyman.

Again, that may not be the case.

Looking for a prime example of the latter? Step forward Terry Carruthers, the ex-Midlands Area and British Masters champion and Prizefighter finalist who has announced that he’s retiring from the sport he’s served so well at just 28.

Though he was set to box for the British Masters Bronze title against Matchroom Sport-promoted Ryan Aston in Dudley next month, the always-entertaining Brummie, after some recent soul-searching, decided that, coupled with trouble making the 11st weight he feels he’s strongest at, family has to come first in his life.

I’m sure that’ll come as a relief to his girlfriend and his two small children.

On the surface, an up-and-down 15-17-6 [1] professional tab doesn’t make for pleasant reading – and, as mentioned earlier on, many less-clued-up people would think Terry wasn’t capable of competing. That’s incorrect.

A paid fighter since 2005, when he turned over with legendary Second City fight figure Nobby Nobbs, Carruthers lost a close one against Andy Cosnett on one of Pat Cowdell’s then-four-a-year Monday night shows.

He then drew against then-unbeaten Jon ‘Boy’ Whiteman, stopped future Midlands Area boss Darren Gethin on a cut, before meeting debut opponent Cosnett at the Holiday Inn again.

I was there on that Monday night and thought that Carruthers, then with hair, had done more than enough to take his tally to 2-1-1. As it was, Derby official Paul Thomas marked the six-twos all-square at 58 apiece and, instead, Terry’s record read 1-1-2.

Another draw followed, against Scotsman Paul Burns, before losing twice inside the opening stanza – to Brighton-based Aussie Justin Murphy and future British title challenger Barrie Jones, a skilled southpaw.

Sandwiched in-between those blow-outs, though, was a win over capable and then-touted Stoke light-middleweight Danny Johnston. That performance illustrated Carruthers’ un-tapped potential, with his cleaner, sharper blows and decent footwork piling-up the points for a victory that looked wider for me than the 59-58 tally handed down.

Yet the showing that got my attention was the following year, in February 2007. Brought in as a last-minute replacement to meet Pat Cowdell-trained Sean McKervey, a Coventry-based portsider who had two wins and a draw in three and would later go on to take Midlands Area and Masters crowns, Carruthers was fantastic.

Let’s get this straight from the off: the Lea Bank warrior dominated the six-rounder. The records show that Terry O’Connor marked it 58-56, yet it was much wider than that. McKervey, as ever, was brave and tough but had no answer to Terry’s speed, accurate-punching and polish.

However, that was the last boxing would see of Carruthers until November 2009, when he re-appeared with Errol Johnson training and managing him – and the Second City scrapper came back with the bit well and truly between his teeth.

A draw with Yorkshire first-timer Neil Beevers looked close, but a four-round domination over Trevor Crewe, dubbed ‘Wrecking Crewe’ and touted by Boxing News as a serious prospect, showed that, if matched correctly, this was man who could put the defeats of the past behind him.

Crewe’s two victories had both come inside the scheduled distance – and the well-built Wearsider went eagerly and expectantly searching for stoppage three. He didn’t find it. Instead, Carruthers absorbed the hammer-fisted blows, fought back harder, and didn’t drop a single session over the four. Crewe hasn’t boxed since.

A couple of defeats and a couple of wins followed for the one-time doorman, but a draw with Liam Smith, who is currently the British and Commonwealth champion at 11st and whose only blemish is that fight with Carruthers, raised his stock further.

He pushed Brian Rose, another man to have held the Lonsdale Belt at light-middleweight and who’s set to fight for the WBO world title in the summer, all the way over six – and Jon Pegg, who was to handle Terry later on, told me that Steve Wood admitted that the decision could have so easily have gone the other way.

Again, there were downs - a couple of stoppage defeats to Joe Selkirk and Kris Carslaw, robberies against Kreshnik Qato, and points defeats against Liam Cameron and Steve O’Meara [both close but deserved] – but better days were just around the corner.

He captured his first professional title with a ten-round victory over capable Black Country-based Kevin McCauley in 2012 and then, two months later on the undercard of Carl Froch’s stoppage win over Lucian Bute in Nottingham, beat-up and dropped [twice] avoided ex-English champion Adnan Amar on the way to a resounding 60-53 scoreline.

Despite being two divisions heavier, Chris Eubank Jr, undefeated in four, was offered to the blood-and-guts Brummie next – and the offer was quickly accepted, in spite of it being five days before they were due to see action. A decent pay-day and exposure on Channel 5, Terry didn’t hesitate.

"I've seen all of his fights and he's alright," admitted Terry in the run-up to the six-rounder with the eldest son of enigmatic former two-weight world champion of the same name. "But he's had everything his own way, which he won't against me."

He was right – and the much-touted prospect was given a 59-57 nod after 18 minutes in which the underdog met him in the middle and pushed him all the way.

Arguably, he gave Eubank the toughest test [both up to and since] of his short professional career, which has been high on statements that have put fans, promoters and fighters backs-up alike.

Though that fight was on terrestrial television, he’s probably best-remembered for his fearless and all-heart showing on Sky Sports’ Prizefighter, the three-threes knockout tournament where he reached the final. He gave everything he had in every fight to get there, including a scalp of Nav Mansouri in the semi, and was stopped on his feet in the final by stylist Nigerian Larry Ekundayo – totally exhausted but with a new fan-base.

The heavily-tattooed Midlander was hoping for more exposure following his brave showings – and there was even talk of him meeting Brian Rose again, this time for the Blackpool-based, Birmingham-born boxer’s British title. It never happened.

Disappointingly for Terry fights became increasingly hard to come by and he was forced to take one in Denmark against Torben Keller, which he lost via decision over eight.

He won the Midlands Area title in October with a superb showing of skill to win over ten against capable Steve Spence, but lost it two months later in heart-breaking fashion in a Birmingham vs Black Country showdown against former British welterweight title challenger Jason Welborn.

Carruthers, leading on all scorecards [two margins of 68-66 and one of 69-65] in a fight that doubled as an eliminator for the Lonsdale Belt at light-middle, was stopped on cuts in the eighth.

Since then, he’s only boxed once – a ten-round points defeat to bigger and heavier Nick Blackwell in the West Country – and admitted that he wasn’t big enough to compete with a fighter who gave Billy-Joe Saunders an excellent argument for the British title.

But he can look back proudly, as can his family, on an exciting career that doesn’t begin to tell the full story when browsing the oft-misleading figures on BoxRec.

There’s a lesson there for many.