By Miles Templeton
A PARTICULARLY colourful fighter to come out of Liverpool during the 1970s was Greg Evans. Active between 1976 and 1982, Greg won 10 and lost 10 at light-heavyweight. The division was, of course, dominated by fellow-Liverpudlian and WBC champion, John Conteh, and with Pat Thompson and Francis Hands also from the city and boxing at the same weight, Merseyside certainly packed a punch at light-heavyweight during this time.
Greg was the 1976 ABA champion at the weight, a feat he achieved on the back of only 22 amateur contests. When he turned pro in September 1976, he did so on a big show at the Empire Pool, Wembley. Joe Bugner demolished Richard Dunn in one round at the top of the bill and with Dave Boy Green, Jim Watt, Vernon Sollas and John L Gardner also on view, Greg had plenty to look up to. He duly outscored seasoned Manchester veteran, Terry Armstrong, over six rounds to get his own pro career up and running.
Greg only ever boxed one man with a losing record throughout his entire career, a far cry from the situation for up-and-coming prospects today. In his third bout he was surprised by Bob Pollard, losing out in a tight eight-rounder, but he soon showed an entirely different approach when he blasted out Warley hard man Brian Huckfield in one round at Liverpool Stadium, his first contest in his native city and, surprisingly for a five-bout novice at such a prestigious venue, at the top of the bill.
He followed this with an eight-round decision over Roy Gumbs at Wembley, with Dave Boy Green losing his world title challenge to Carlos Palomino as the headliner. What great cards there were during this era, with most of the big ones taking place on a Tuesday night, [i]the[i] night for boxing in those days.
In November 1977 Evans was surprisingly beaten by Vernon Scott and the loss was a bad one, a five-round knockout. After beating Harry White, the 11th-rated challenger, Greg was then picked to fight Rab Affleck in a British title eliminator. I well remember Rab as a banger and he showed that very clearly in September 1978 when he took Evans apart, stopping him in only two minutes and nine seconds of the first round.
With three losses from only 10 bouts and with Evans hanging around the lower orders of the British top 10, it looked like he was at a crossroads. He had not lived up to expectations and he needed a big win. Under the headline “Billy blitzed”, BN reported on exactly that, the biggest win of his career just seven weeks later, when he took out Billy Knight, one hell of a fighter, in less than three minutes. The report states that “for two minutes Knight outboxed Evans easily, showing his undoubted skills. Then Evans caught Knight with a left hook to the head and followed up quickly with a right to the jaw. Knight crumpled to the canvas and could only rise up unsteadily at six.” Evans then tore into him, and referee Frank Parkes stepped in with Knight glassy-eyed and reeling.
Greg’s rollercoaster career then took a downward turn to complete the year. After stopping Harry White in a return contest, he came badly unstuck against Roy Gumbs in another. Boxing for the first time in a peek-a-boo style he traded freely with the Willesden fighter, with one, and then the other, gaining ascendancy before Evans ran out of steam. He was finally stopped, in a defenceless state, in the sixth. Bad losses to Johnny Waldron and Tom Collins, in a Central Area light-heavyweight title bout, were to follow and things didn’t improve after his final victory, in 1981, over Rupert Christie. Greg lost his last three and then bowed out after a short but very entertaining career in which he mixed with some hard men at a time when there were no easy rides.
