Johnny Owen

John Richard Owens (7 January 1956 – 4 November 1980) was a Welsh professional boxer who fought under the name Johnny Owen.

His seemingly fragile appearance earned him many epithets, including the "Merthyr Matchstick" and the "Bionic Bantam".

He began boxing at the age of eight and undertook a long amateur career, competing in more than 120 fights and representing Wales in competitions.

Johnny Owen was born John Richard Owens at Gwaunfarren Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil on 7 January 1956, the fourth of eight children to working-class parents Dick and Edith Owens (née Hale).

He had four brothers, Phillip, Vivian, Kelvin and Dilwyn, and three sisters, Marilyn, Susan and Shereen.

The Owens family hailed from Llanidloes but moved south, settling in the village of Penwaunfawr, on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil.

His paternal grandmother worked in the local mines while his grandfather Will worked in an ironworks and was an amateur boxer.

His mother was born in Merthyr Tydfil, although her family hailed from Lydney in Gloucestershire, where her father had worked as a farmer.

His mother's side of the family were of Irish ancestry.

Both sets of Owen's ancestors had moved to the South Wales Valleys in search of work with increased steel, iron and coal production attracting workers from all over Britain.

Owen's parents settled in a rented council house in Heol Bryn Selu on Gellideg housing estate in Merthyr.

Along with his siblings Vivian and Kelvin, in the spring of 1962, he joined the Merthyr Amateur Boxing Club housed in a small hut on nearby Plymouth Street.

Broadbent describes how, by age ten, Owen developed "some rudimentary ring craft and already had the boundless energy that would be his signature... His punches were light but his effort huge."

Owen and the other members of his club travelled the country, competing against youth clubs from Wales and England.

Each year culminated in the Welsh amateur championships, a junior event which stipulated that a fighter must have gained 7 lbs each year they entered.

Martyn Galleozzie, who trained alongside Owen, noted how Owen struggled to achieve the weight increase each year and was fed cakes and biscuits on the journey to try and make weight.

Galleozzie also stated how his mother once sewed lead into the lining of Owen's shorts to make weight.

He turned professional in September 1976 at the age of 20, winning his debut bout against George Sutton.

Owen beat Sutton again in his sixth professional fight to win his first title, the vacant bantamweight title in the Welsh Area.

Owen challenged for the British bantamweight title in his tenth professional fight in 1977.

He defeated champion Paddy Maguire in the eleventh round to win the title, becoming the first Welshman in more than 60 years to hold the belt.

Owen recorded five further victories, including a defence of his British title against Wayne Evans, before meeting Paul Ferreri for the Commonwealth bantamweight title.

He defeated the experienced Australian on points to claim the Commonwealth title and challenged Juan Francisco Rodríguez for the European title four months later.

The fight in Almería, Spain, was shrouded in controversy and Owen suffered his first defeat in a highly contentious decision.

Owen went on to win seven consecutive bouts within a year to rechallenge Rodríguez in February 1980.

He avenged his earlier defeat by beating Rodríguez on points to win the European title.

He challenged World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Lupe Pintor for his world bantamweight title on 19 September 1980, losing the contest by way of a twelfth round knockout after being knocked down for the third time.

Owen left the ring on a stretcher and never regained consciousness.

He fell into a coma and died seven weeks later in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 24.

Owen possessed a professional career record of 25 wins (11 by knockout), 1 draw and 2 defeats.

His only career losses came against Rodríguez and Pintor.

He remains revered in the South Wales Valleys where he was raised, particularly in his hometown of Merthyr Tydfil where a statue commemorating his life and career was unveiled in 2002.

In his 2006 biography of Owen, Rick Broadbent described an adolescent Owen as "a sensitive, quiet soul, he was deeply in tune with the moods and needs of those close to him."

Owen attended the local school, Gellideg Juniors.

A mild-mannered child, he was described by his teachers as a "quiet, hardworking, and very good-natured and well-behaved pupil".

By the age of seven, he was doing the family's weekly shop and his father later recalled that, when the family was infected by a flu virus, Owen "fed us soup and made sure we all had our medicine. He looked after us."

Owen's father worked as a miner for 13 years but eventually secured a job as a moulder at a boot-making factory owned by Dunlop.

His wife had suffered complications during the birth of the couple's seventh child and her health deteriorated so much that she was hospitalised for an extended period.

Owen's father nearly placed his children into care to continue working but reversed his decision after receiving assurances that he would not lose his job.

Owen began to box at the age of eight, idolising fellow Merthyr-born boxer Jimmy Wilde.