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.
