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Former World Boxing Federation
(WBF) World Welterweight
Champion James Hare
was nineteen when he turned
professional, beating Brian
Coleman (7-34-4) on points over
six rounds on the Daniel Jimenez
vs. Drew Docherty undercard in
Mansfield, England on January
20, 1996.
At some point the Englishman was
nicknamed “The Roberttown
Rocket”. While he was born in
Dewsbury, Roberttown became his
home-town, but he claims he has
no idea where the nickname came
from, saying “I was hardly
rocket launched, was I?”
In just over three years Hare
compiled an unbeaten record of
13-0 (5), fighting the common
line of journeymen opponents,
mainly on shows promoted by
Frank Warren, before he was
matched in his first real test
against former British Champion
Mark Winters (13-2) in October
of 1999.
Hare and Winters each won two
rounds and two rounds were
scored even by referee Lee Cook,
making the fight a draw after
six rounds. It was a good
learning fight for Hare, but
also suggested that he needed
more seasoning before stepping
up further in class.
He gained experience in routine
victories over Dean Nicholas
(9-9-1), Mark Ramsey (17-32-6),
Paul Denton (7-21-2) and Jessy
Moreaux (5-11-3), before a more
challenging assignment, a
British title-eliminator against
John Humphrey (9-1) was arranged
for York Hall in London on May
26, 2001.
With
Steve Roberts
defending the WBF World Super
Welterweight title against South
African William Gare as top of
the bill, Hare stopped Humphrey
in seven rounds and showed that
he was starting to find his
groove in the paid ranks.
He followed up with another good
win, beating decent Frenchman
John Ameline (13-3-2) by
shut-out decision, and then a
second victory over Paul Denton
to stay busy before challenging
for the vacant European Union
title on January 28, 2002.
Hare was again on point, winning
all ten rounds on two judges
cards and nine on the third,
putting Ivory Coast-born
Frenchman Money Seka (10-1-1)
firmly in his place to take home
his first professional title in
impressive fashion.
Three months later Hare was
ready to take another step up
the latter, as he dethroned
reigning Commonwealth Champion
Julian Holland (28-2-1),
stopping the Australian in six
rounds. Holland had beaten
highly ranked compatriot Shannan
Taylor to win the title less
than a year earlier.
In the next ten months Hare
continued to climb the world
rankings, as he defended the
Commonwealth crown with
victories over Farai Musiyiwa
(13-2), Earl Foskin (8-1-1) and
Frans Hantindi (8-1-2), stopping
his challengers in eight, one
and one round.
After demolishing Hantindi in
just 25 seconds in February of
2003, it was clear that Hare
needed new challenges and that
he was more than ready to
compete at world level. So next
he was matched with Ukrainian
Roman Dzhuman (16-1) for the
vacant WBF World Welterweight
title.
Hare and Dzhuman, who had
attended the same World Junior
Championships in the amateurs,
Dzhuman capturing silver but
Hare getting eliminated in one
of the early rounds, fought on
June 21, 2003 on a massive bill
in Manchester, promoted by
Matchroom Boxing.
On the same card Mihaly Kotai,
who at the time was managed by
now recently departed WBF
Executive Director Olaf
Schroeder, not affiliated with
the WBF at the time, won the WBF
World Super Welterweight crown,
and Sergio Martinez, Brian Magee
and Michael Brodie emerged
victories in IBO world title
fights.
Televised live on Sky Sports
from the iconic M.E.N. Arena,
Hare put on a masterclass as he
out-boxed the game and gifted
Dzhuman to win by wide unanimous
decision: 120-109, 120-108 and
119-108 on the judges
scorecards.
It is often said that winning a
world title is the “easy part”,
and that remaining champion is
the real challenge. But Hare
didn't have any problems
retaining his belt the following
September, stopping accomplished
South African contender Jan Piet
Bergman (42-4) in the second
round,
scoring six knock-downs along
the way.
Against Bergman, who was
expected to give Hare a much
tougher time than was the actual
case, the WBF World Champion was
the headlining act on another
Sky Sports televised
Matchroom-show, this time in
Huddersfield.
Hare provided real value for
money for fans in the arenas and
TV viewers, so when the Bergman
fight was quickly over he was
soon booked to make his second
title-defense five weeks later,
on October 18 back at the M.E.N.
Arena.
In the opposite corner stood
tough Hungarian Jozsef Matolcsi
(17-3), and this time Hare would
not have such an easy ride. In
an all-out war, with both boxers
hitting the canvas in round
four, Hare eventually prevailed
by tenth round stoppage.
Many felt that it was the best
fight of the night, which is
some statement as the co-main
event between Michael Brodie and
In Jin Chi for the WBC World
Featherweight title is
considered something of a modern
day classic.
The thrilling victory made Hare
more popular than ever, and he
was a clear favorite for his
third title-defense on December
4, 2003 in Huddersfield against
battle-tested but fairly limited
Mexican Cosme “Chino” Rivera
(25-7-2).
Unfortunately for Hare, Rivera,
who had won his last four fights
against good opposition, had his
own ideas. Using every trick in
the book to unsettle Hare, the
Mexican dominated from the start
and was ahead on all scorecards
when he hurt and floored Hare in
the tenth, forcing the
Englishman´s corner to throw in
the towel.
It had been a great, but very
quick run for Hare. In less than
six months he had won the WBF
World title in June, made two
successful defenses and then
lost the title again before the
year was out. Four world
championship fights in such a
shot period, and against good
opponents, is more or less
unheard of.
Hare bounced back in 2004 with
decent victories over Jason
Williams (15-9) and Moise Cherni
(15-3), but he couldn't reclaim
his old form and was stopped in
six rounds by up-and-comer David
Barnes (15-0) in a fight for the
British title in November.
Three routine wins lead to a
loss on points to Robert Lloyd
Taylor (12-4) in November of
2006, which turned out to be the
final fight of James Hare´s ten
year professional career.
European Union, Commonwealth and
WBF World Champion, his final
record stands at 33-3-1 (19).
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