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March 20th, 1976. John H. Stracey made the 1st defense of his WBC Welterweight Championship against Hedgemon Lewis in Wembley, London.
Prefight records; Stracey 43(35)-3-1, Lewis 53(26)-6-2.
In December 1975, Stracey got off the deck in round 1 and rallied to stop the great albeit faded José “Mantequilla” Nápoles via TKO6 to win the WBC Welterweight Title in Mexico City.
For his 1st defense, he was set to take on Hedgemon Lewis who was also a former opponent of José Nápoles.
Note: Lewis fought Nápoles in world title fights in December 1971 and August 1974. He lost both bouts via UD15 and TKO9 respectively.
Going into the bout, the 30 year old Lewis had top wins over Adolph Pruitt, Ernie Lopez, Johnny Gant, Oscar Albarado & Billy Backus (2x) while the 25 year old Stracey had defeated notable oppositions such as Ernie Lopez, Roger Mentrey & José Nápoles.
In the early goings, Lewis had the upper hand as he started fast with explosive flurries of punches but Stracey eventually found his rhythm with an effective jab coupled with body and head combos to eventually soften up and stop the challenger via TKO10 in one of his career best performances.
The young Englishman successfully retained his WBC Welterweight Championship for the 1st time and improved his professional record to 44(36)-3-1.
Although defeated, Hedgemon Lewis put up a courageous performance as he constantly fought back despite taking tremendous punishment particularly in the last 5 rounds. This would be his last fight, as he retired with a final record of 53(26)-6-2.
Please enjoy this highlight of a Welterweight classic and be sure to SUBSCRIBE for more OLD SCHOOL BOXING goodness!
