By Matt Bozet
After a tough few months, Glenn McCrory is smiling again.
‘Caring David’, the inspirational story of how McCrory’s terminally ill brother inspired him to win a world title, looks set to make its way to the big screen.
“We are very close to making it now,” said the former IBF cruiserweight champion, who was recently cleared of any wrongdoing after a lengthy court case.
“I have two days of meetings about the film the other week.
“We need to find a bit more funding and then we’re there. We hope to start filming in February.
McCrory has taken a break from commentary, explaining: “I just need to focus on this for a while.
“It’s been a rocky road down and it’s my way back.”
He has said that ‘Caring David’ is more of a ‘Rocky’ story than ‘Rocky himself’ and it is fair to say that anyone who has read his biography or seen the stage adaptation of his story will appreciate its warmth. must have been touched by
“There had never been a world champion – or even a world title challenger – from the North East before,” said McCrory, who celebrated his 60th birthday.Th Birthday this month.
The biggest reason for me was that the area is football crazy. Unless you’re from here, it’s hard to understand the passion for Newcastle United and Sunderland football clubs. Football overshadows everything.
“The first professional boxing show I went to I was on the bill!
“There were shows in the North East, but they never made the headlines. It was always football, football, football . . .
“I started as a heavyweight – and I was never a heavyweight. It was very tough. I lost a fight and was forgiven when I was 20. It made me want to be more successful. This rough start helped me to be determined.
“But since I wasn’t with a big promoter, it was difficult to go ahead with it.”
McCrory went to the States to defend Mike Tyson and recalled: “I blacked his eye and that got me more publicity than any fight!
“Mike Marley put it on the back page of the New York Post about the big Irishman who beat Mike Tyson. It was an exaggeration – but that was fine by me!”
McCrory returned home and began to advance his career on the right side of the bill.
“Frank Warren was trying to make Andy Straughan, but I beat him, then Chesinda Matthi for the Commonwealth title and TJ,” he said.
“I wasn’t the favorite in any of those fights. I was always against him.
“I got a call from Cedric Kushner and he told me: ‘You’ve got a world title fight – but it’s against him. [Patrick] Lumumba.’
“He had about 300 amateur fights, lost six or seven and the only reason he didn’t get more pro fights was because nobody could fight him.
“I knew he had left Mike Tyson and done a good job.
“He was telling everybody before he fought me that after he beat me and defended the cruiserweight title a few times, he was going after Tyson. That’s how confident he was.
“For a while, we thought the fight was going to be overseas. Then they looked at venues in Newcastle and Whitley Bay ice rinks – and then the local council came forward and said they’d put up some money for the fight. .
“There were no jobs in the area, it was the biggest black spot in Britain, and they thought a big fight in Stanley would take everyone out. That was unheard of. That was in my village where I lived. Wanted a fight in the entertainment center 200 yards away!
The fight was booked for June, 1989 at the Louisa Center in Stanley.
“For the first time, I had a proper training camp,” McCrory said. “I was in great shape – and needed to be.
“[The Sun boxing correspondent] Colin Hart was my biggest fan. He said I had the best left hook since Henry Cooper – and he even said I would lose!
“The headline on the morning of the fight was: ‘Glen is a goner.’
“I then went to see my missus and my baby, kissed them goodbye, put my bag over my shoulder and walked 200 yards up the road to fight for the world title!
“I saw blokes wearing dickies and TV trucks and thought: ‘What’s going on?’ It was then that I began to realize the magnitude of it.
“It was supposed to have a capacity of 1,700 – but I think there were another 1,000. It was jam-packed – and noisy.
Ian Dark commented on the fight for BBC radio and still says it was one of the best atmospheres he has ever experienced.
“My priest came to see me in the dressing room and I was shaking myself. It felt like I was going to the gallows. He was a great favourite.
“The dressing room door opened and the noise hit me! I remember thinking: ‘Hell, they don’t think I’m going to lose!’
“[Coach] Beau [Williford] Told me: ‘Box him, he’s dangerous, he can punch’ – but strategy went out the window!
“The way Lumumba introduced it won my fight.
“He walked into the center of the ring, dropped his hands by his sides and shrugged. He looked very confident. He was saying: ‘This title is mine’ – or so I felt at the time. At that moment I lost my temper, I just thought: ‘I’m going to smash your face.’
“I hit him with a left hook in the first round and he hung onto my leg. If he had gone down, I don’t think he would have gotten up.
“I kept hitting him with left hook after left hook and he kept taking them – and then he started coming back.
By the seventh and eighth rounds, he had recovered. I remember he stepped aside and hit me with two right hands and my eardrum burst. I began to doubt – and the crowd followed me, trying to lift me up.
“I looked at the ropes and my disabled brother David was there. He was supposed to be at home, but there he was in a wheelchair waving his arms around and cheering his brother on. That gave me strength. I Just thought: ‘Come on, dig deep.’
“Around the 10th round, I knew I had him. He had given up, his body was groaning.
“I had some tough times and, if the fight was anywhere else, I could have lost. But in Stanley, that night, I really believe I would have beaten anybody in the world. I had an army behind me and I couldn’t stop myself.
“I went to bed that night knowing I’d proved everyone wrong. Even my family had told me over the years: ‘Don’t get your hopes up, Glenn.’
“I did it, I was world champion – and I never felt the same way about the sport after that.”
McCrory, who lost the belt to Jeff Lampkin in his second defense after a fight with the scales and took on Lennox Lewis at heavyweight, said: “I never thought about what happened after winning the world title.
“I never thought about defending him and if I could have retired after beating Lumumba, I would have. But I was paid £7,500 for the fight – and then I got one of his The part had to be given to his manager and trainer.
“But I had a civic reception and dinner in her honour, an open-top bus tour – and I was mobbed in Middlesbrough. Women kept asking me to sign their breasts – and I had to oblige! She was my people. And I had to keep them happy!
“I’m watching the tape back now. [of the Lumumba fight] And [ITV Sport presenter] Dickie Davis then says: ‘Next week, we’ll be in Las Vegas for the rematch between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns.’
“I laugh when I hear that, but I used to have such company in those days!”
