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“...I
cant help but feel bitter. After
the fights I have had, I should
be financially set up, and it
does my head in...”
Such were the words of former
WBF World Light Welterweight
Champion Wayne Rigby, in
a newspaper interview shortly
after retiring in 2004, only
thirty-one years old but
disillusioned with the financial
part and politics of
professional boxing.
But even if he didn't make the
money he had hoped to make,
Rigby accomplished more than
most. In a twelve-year
professional career, the highs
were many, but set-backs and
disappointments were also a
regular thing, as if often the
case for boxers willing to take
on all comers.
From the boxing tradition-rich
city of Manchester, where he was
born in the summer of 1973, his
crowd-pleasing fighting-style
made him popular with pundits
and fans, who appreciated his
willingness to do things the
hard way.
He turned pro with iconic
manager Mickey Duff, but lost
his debut, on points to Lee Fox
(6-9-1) at the Everton Sports
Centre in February of 1992.
Three years later, a mediocre
6-3 (1) record didn't suggest
that Rigby would eventually
become a championship caliber
boxer.
However, hard work and
determination eventually paid
off! While fights didn't come as
regularly as he would have
preferred, he changed management
a couple of times, six straight
victories between May of 1995
and March of 1997 made him
someone to pay serious attention
to on the British domestic
scene.
Impressive defeats of Hugh
Collins (11-1) and Alan Bosworth
(8-0-1), and taking the Central
Area Lightweight title from
Jimmy Phelan (4-6), landed him a
shot at the vacant British title
against Tanveer Ahmed (18-1-2),
a tricky Southpaw from Glasgow,
in January of 1998.
In the headlining fight of a
show staged at the legendary
York Hall in London, and
televised live by Sky Sports,
Rigby was very much the underdog
going in. With three losses in
fifteen bouts, all against
opponents with unimpressive
records, the Manchester-man
wasn't expected to be able to
handle Ahmed´s skills.
But, as the fight wore on it
became clear that the favorite
had his hands full, that Rigby
had his own ideas, and that an
upset could be in the making.
After twelve tough rounds, Wayne
Rigby was crowned the new
British Champion by a close, but
deserved, 115-114 score from
referee Larry O´Connell.
London-promoter Frank Maloney
quickly arranged a
title-defense, and less than
three months later Rigby
returned to the English capital
and retained his championship by
stopping Matt Brown (10-2) in
eight rounds at the Elephant &
Castle Centre.
In what was supposed to be
something of a home-coming
fight, Rigby lost the British
title on October 17, 1998, at
the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in
Manchester, to the very talented
Bobby Vanzie (11-0-1). The
Bradford boxer was just too
slick and flashy for Rigby, who
was stopped in the tenth round.
He returned with a fourth-round
stoppage of the decent Mark
McGowan (7-4), but then made the
mistake of taking a fight on
short notice against journeyman
Alan Temple (10-10), which he
unexpectedly lost on points
after eight rounds.
Rigby, clearly the better
fighter, knocked Temple down in
the second round, but then ran
out of gas as a result of
inefficient training and
dropping weight too quickly. It
was a damaging loss for him, and
one that could have meant the
end to his hopes of boxing for
meaningful titles again.
At this point it would have been
easy to spiral into becoming a
gate-keeper himself, making
decent pay-days off the back of
being a former British champion.
But Rigby still had ambitions,
and the most significant part of
his career was still ahead of
him.
Eager to get back on track,
Rigby returned in a grudge-match
against Manchester rival Mark
Haslam (8-4-1) three months
later, in December of 1999.
Haslam had proved his durability
by going the distance with then
prospects Gary Hibbert and Colin
Lynes in his two previous
outings, but Rigby stopped him
in three.
In his next fight he got a
chance to win the vacant IBO
Intercontinental Lightweight
title against Polish Olympian
Dariusz Snarski (8-3-1), and did
so convincingly by eighth round
TKO. That led to a hastily
arranged crack at IBO World
Champion Michael Ayers (28-3-1)
on July 1, 2000.
Fighting in his hometown, at the
Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Rigby
was confident going in, but,
while in decent shape, had
little time to prepare for the
style of Ayers. The defending
champion was a heavy favorite,
but he was in for a grueling
night.
Rigby came out all guns blazing
and gave as good as he got in
the first half of the fight. He
was floored in round six, but
hurt and nearly knocked Ayers
out with a left hook in round
eight. Unfortunately the
challenger had nothing left
after that, and was forced to
retire in the tenth.
The fight was such a
barn-burner, receiving several
fight-of-the-year awards, that
the demand for a rematch was
loud and consistent. So, six
months later they did it again,
this time on Ayers´ home turf,
at Wembley Arena in London.
With better time to prepare,
Rigby went the full distance in
the rematch and again it was an
all-out brawl. Ayers won by
close decision (115-113,
115-113, 116-113), but Rigby
made a clear statement that he
was nowhere near finished and
belonged at world level.
Hungry for more, Rigby bounced
back the following July with a
routine third round victory over
Keith Jones (7-52-6). TV
executives liked his style and
acknowledged his popularity,
which didn't hurt his chances of
landing another big fight on
television.
With SKY Sports
broadcasting,
that big fight came sooner
rather than later, as Rigby was
pitted against extremely tough
USA-based
Dominican Antonio “Caña
Seca”
Ramirez
(18-3-6)
for the vacant WBF World Light
Welterweight title on November
26, 2001 at the Wythenshawe
Forum in Manchester.
Having come close against Ayers,
Rigby was as motivated as can
be, and entered the fight
well-prepared for another hard
night at the office. Ramirez had
his share of success, but after
a typical Wayne
Rigby-performance Manchester had
a new world champion.
“I
started the first couple of
rounds and I thought “if it
stays like this I’ll be ok”. But
then in the third round he came
out throwing everything at me!
That was a tough fight”,
explains Rigby.
The judges scored the fight
unanimously in his favor,
117-113, 116-113 and 117-113,
clearly pleasing the loud throng
of fans supporting their hero
from ringside. With lessons
learned from his two previous
world championship
opportunities, it was third
time´s a charm for Rigby.
French Champion Sedat Puskullu
(20-9-1) was not considered an
easy first defense for Rigby on
March 9, 2002 in Manchester.
Born in Turkey, Puskullu had won
his last five outings and came
to the United Kingdom to relieve
the Mancunian of his world title
belt less than four months after
he won it.
None of the boxers were
considered big punchers, so
another long, grueling affair
seemed to be on the cards, but
against all expectations it was
over very quickly. Rigby stopped
Puskullu in the opening stanza,
and retained his WBF World Light
Welterweight title in style.
Still fresh from a quick nights
work, Rigby accepted to move
down in weight, to Lightweight,
for a fight only two months
later against another world
class Britt in Colin Dunne
(36-1). Sharing the bill with
the legendary Naseem Hamed, it
turned out to be a disastrous
move.
Rigby explained what happened to
Undisputed Fight Magazine a few
years ago:
“I’d
always wanted to fight Colin
Dunne, for years before we met
in the ring. I was massively up
for the fight and was ready for
us to have a tear up. I got in
superb shape for the fight, I
was already 9st 9lbs (135 lbs)
for several days before the
weigh-in.”
“I
went around to my friend Michael
Brodie’s hotel room and I jumped
on his scales. I was 9st 11lbs
(137 lbs). I said “Mike, your
scales are wrong”. He said “no
they’re not mate, you know what
I’m like with my weight”.
“So,
with the weigh-in the next day,
I put my tracksuit on and headed
for the sauna. I stepped on the
scales at the official weigh-in
and I was 9st 7lbs (133 lbs)! I
was completely weight-drained,
in the fight Dunne must have
thought he’d hit the jackpot. I
couldn’t watch the fight in full
afterwards I knew I’d messed up
and been beaten while weakened.”
Still World Champion at Light
Welterweight, Rigby took some
time off before entering
training camp for his second
title-defense. November 9, 2002
in Altrincham was the date and
place, and again he was featured
on Sky Sports.
The man in the opposite corner,
Gary Ryder (9-0), still only an
up-start but considered a bright
hope for the future, really rose
to the occasion as he took the
WBF title from Rigby by
unanimous decision (116-113,
116-113, 117-113).
“The
Gary Ryder fight really bugged
me”. Rigby told Undisputed Fight
Magazine. “I had fair notice to
the fight and I’d seen Gary
fight a couple of times. He was
a former body-builder but I
thought he looked so beatable, I
thought I’d beat him easily.”
“Anyway,
my trainer Bob Shannon didn’t
get me sparring for the fight. I
was a lot younger back then and
I let him intimidate me, so I
didn’t make a big deal about the
lack of sparring. Three days
before the fight Bob says I have
to spar.”
“I
did twelve rounds back-to-back
with three 11 stone (154 lb)
fighters and they absolutely
beat the shit out of me. I never
got over it by the time I got
into the ring with Ryder. I was
throwing punches and they were
little taps, not full bloodied
shots. Gary must have thought I
was taking the piss hitting him
like that!”
The Gary Rider fight was the
last big one for Wayne Rigby. It
would be eighteen months before
he returned, and he was not what
he used to be. So, at the
Midlands Hotel in Manchester, he
lost on points over ten rounds
to Tony Montana (12-15-3).
Five months after that he
dropped another decision, to
Roger Sampson (8-2), and after
four straight losses, two
against opponents he should have
beaten easily, it was time to
call it a day for Wayne Rigby. A
fine career was over, but
unfortunately a lot of
bitterness remains.
“I
told Ayers after the fight (the
rematch) what I was earning and
he was shocked, he was making
£95,000! My official purse (I
was told) was £15,000, but after
expenses it came to only £8k.
Many years later I saw the
contract and it said my purse
was meant to be £75,000. It made
me think, “how much more money
did I lose over the years?”
“I
was a British champion earning
£3,000 a fight, living in a
little, tiny room. All the
fights I had, I boxed for over
20 years, the titles I won, and
I’m now working twelve-hour
shifts just to make a living. My
managers have a lot to answer
for.”
“Managers
are so tight, they take all the
rewards, none of them care about
the fighters. I’ve got nothing
now; I still have to graft just
to get by. I was a professional
fighter to the core; every fight
I trained so hard for.”
“There
were some fights I suffered
terrible facial damage in and it
really upsets me I’ve nothing to
show for any of it...”
Wayne Rigby´s final record
stands at 20-11 (9), having won
Central Area, British, IBO
Intercontinental and WBF World
titles.
No matter how bitter and
frustrated he turned out to be
at the game, and probably
rightfully so, he did very well
when it comes to
accomplishments.
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