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Looking at his almost
one-hundred tattoos, shaven head
and black mustache, and the fact
that large groups of his fans
often acted rowdy at his fights,
it would be easy to describe
former World Boxing Federation
(WBF) World Cruiserweight
Champion Dave Russell
as a bit of a thug. Too easy!
In fact, British-born Australian
Russell was quite the opposite,
a gentleman in and out of the
ring, in his fighting-days, and
most who knows him in retirement
would likely agree that he still
is. However, that didn't prevent
him from gaining his menacing
nickname: “The Destroyer”.
Russell was born on June 16,
1960 in Newcastle, England, but
moved with his family to
Australia as an infant. He
picked up boxing in his teens,
and represented his home-state,
Victoria, in several national
tournaments before turning
professional at twenty-three.
He started out as a Heavyweight,
beating Leo Moore (10-3-3) by
disqualification in his debut,
and then went on to stop Joe
Mandingo (0-3-1) in seven,
decision Daniel Saylor (6-4)
over eight, and draw against Sam
N'Gata (7-3-1).
In the fall of 1984, Russell
decided to go on a tour of his
birth-country to gain some
international experience. While
in England, he sparred future
WBC World Heavyweight Champion
Frank Bruno, and had three
bouts, out-scoring Frank
Robinson (7-13) and Lee White
(9-14-3), and drawing with John
Westgarth (2-1).
Finishing 1984 with a routine
fourth round TKO of former foe
Joe Mandingo back in Australia,
Russell took a major step up in
class in his first fight of
1985, winning the Australian and
OPBF (Orient Pacific Boxing
Federation) Heavyweight titles
against Steve Aczel (31-7-1),
stopping the Hungarian-born
veteran in six.
Two months later, in a clash of
champions, Russell decisioned
Australian Light Heavyweight
titlist Wally Carr (53-35-9)
over ten rounds, in a fight
where no title was on the line.
Three more wins in 1985 took his
undefeated ledger to 11-0-2 (6).
On March 15, 1986 Russell lost
his Australian and OPBF
Heavyweight titles in an upset
tenth round stoppage to novice
Dean Waters (3-0). Perhaps
persuaded by the fact that he
was always a small heavyweight,
he shortly after decided to move
down to Cruiserweight.
But his first outing in his new
weight class, two months later
in Melbourne, also ended in
tears, as Russell, comfortably
ahead on the scorecards, was
halted in eleven by Zambian
Chisanda Mutti (23-6-2) in a
fight for the Africans
Commonwealth crown.
Russell consequently took some
time off, but went right back in
at the deep end on April 30,
1987, dethroning Australian and
OPBF Cruiserweight Champion
Kevin Wagstaff (20-9-2), another
British-born Aussie, with a
second round demolition at
Festival Hall in Melbourne.
“The
Destroyer” won his next two
bouts as well, but for a period
it would be very much up and
down for him. In July of 1988 he
lost his titles to Apolo Sweet
(6-1), stopped in the ninth
round of a fight where he was
also ahead on the cards.
Two nondescript victories
followed, before a win-less 1990
with set-backs against Frenchman
Jean-Maurice Chanet (18-9) and
American trial-horse Jack
Johnson (10-11-1), whom he had
defeated a year earlier. At this
point it seemed unlikely that
Russell would go much further,
and achieve more than he already
had.
Between 1990 and 1991 he beat
Kevin Berry (8-8) twice, had a
first round technical draw due
to injury with Apolo Sweet
(13-3-2) in a rematch for the
Australian and OPBF
Cruiserweight titles, lost a
decision to Russian Ruslan
Taramov (5-0) in Tokyo, and was
stopped by Derek Angol (24-0) in
London.
His record at the start of 1992
was a mediocre 18-7-3 (12), and
he had gone 7-7-1 in his
previous fifteen fights. But,
amazingly, at thirty-one years
of age, he had a real “Indian
Summer” ahead of him, and the
best was yet to come.
First up was a rubber-match
victory over Jack Jonson (now
14-16-1) in April. In June he
beat undefeated prospect Ted
Cofie (4-0-1) by unanimous
verdict, lining up a fight
against Vivian Schwalger (5-2-1)
for the vacant Australian title
on the last day of July.
In front of 4000 noisy fans at
Knox Basketball Stadium in
Ferntree Gully, Victoria,
Russell dominated the fight from
the start, and eventually broke
down the tough Schwalger to
score a sixth round stoppage and
win the Australian Cruiserweight
title for the second time.
Russell stayed busy with a
routine victory in October,
sharpening his skills before
challenging American WBF World
Cruiserweight Champion Dan
Murphy (37-8-2) on December 11,
back at a packed Knox Basketball
Stadium.
Arguably the most popular
Melbourne boxer of the late
1980´s and early 1990´s, Russell
had plenty of support going into
the biggest fight of his life.
And he didn't waste the
opportunity, out-boxing Murphy
over twelve rounds for a clear
unanimous decision (117-110,
117-110 and a strange score of
120-117).
Unfortunately for Russell, his
reign as world champion would
not be long. Just over four
months after winning the title,
he lost it in his first defense
when British underdog
Johnny Nelson
(21-8-1) stopped him in eleven
one-sided rounds.
Russell decided to retire after
the loss to Nelson, with a
23-8-3 (14) record, and as a
former Australian and OPBF
Heavyweight Champion, OPBF and
two-time Australian
Cruiserweight Champion, and
World Boxing Federation (WBF)
World Cruiserweight Champion.
While active, Russell regularly
visited Victoria prisons to give
boxing exhibitions, sign
autographs and speak with the
inmates to inspire them in a
positive way. In retirement he
has kept in touch with the sport
by volunteering at a local
boxing gym.
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