John Richard Owens (7 January 1956 – 4 November 1980) was a Welsh professional boxer who fought under the name Johnny Owen. His seemingly fragile appearance earned him many epithets, including the "Merthyr Matchstick" and the "Bionic Bantam". He began boxing at the age of eight and undertook a long amateur career, competing in more than 120 fights and representing Wales in competitions. He turned professional in September 1976 at the age of 20, winning his debut bout against George Sutton. Owen beat Sutton again in his sixth professional fight to win his first title, the vacant bantamweight title in the Welsh Area.
Owen challenged for the British bantamweight title in his tenth professional fight in 1977. He defeated champion Paddy Maguire in the eleventh round to win the title, becoming the first Welshman in more than 60 years to hold the belt. Owen recorded five further victories, including a defence of his British title against Wayne Evans, before meeting Paul Ferreri for the Commonwealth bantamweight title. He defeated the experienced Australian on points to claim the Commonwealth title and challenged Juan Francisco Rodríguez for the European title four months later. The fight in Almería, Spain, was shrouded in controversy and Owen suffered his first defeat in a highly contentious decision.
Owen went on to win seven consecutive bouts within a year to rechallenge Rodríguez in February 1980. He avenged his earlier defeat by beating Rodríguez on points to win the European title. He challenged World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Lupe Pintor for his world bantamweight title on 19 September 1980, losing the contest by way of a twelfth round knockout after being knocked down for the third time. Owen left the ring on a stretcher and never regained consciousness. He fell into a coma and died six weeks later in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 24.
Owen possessed a professional career record of 25 wins (11 by knockout), 1 draw and 2 defeats. His only career losses came against Rodríguez and Pintor. He remains revered in the South Wales Valleys where he was raised, particularly in his hometown of Merthyr Tydfil where a statue commemorating his life and career was unveiled in 2002.
Early life
Johnny Owen was born John Richard Owens at Gwaunfarren Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil on 7 January 1956, the fourth of eight children to working-class parents Dick and Edith Owens (née Hale). He had four brothers, Phillip, Vivian, Kelvin and Dilwyn, and three sisters, Marilyn, Susan and Shereen. The Owens family hailed from Llanidloes but moved south, settling in the village of Penwaunfawr, on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil. His paternal grandmother worked in the local mines while his grandfather Will worked in an ironworks and was an amateur boxer. His mother was born in Merthyr Tydfil, although her family hailed from Lydney in Gloucestershire, where her father had worked as a farmer. His mother's side of the family were of Irish ancestry. Both sets of Owen's ancestors had moved to the South Wales Valleys in search of work with increased steel, iron and coal production attracting workers from all over Britain. Owen's parents settled in a rented council house in Heol Bryn Selu on Gellideg housing estate in Merthyr. By the age of seven, he was doing the family's weekly shop and his father later recalled that, when the family was infected by a flu virus, Owen "fed us soup and made sure we all had our medicine. He looked after us."
Amateur career
Owen began to box at the age of eight, idolising fellow Merthyr-born boxer Jimmy Wilde. Along with his siblings Vivian and Kelvin, in the spring of 1962, he joined the Merthyr Amateur Boxing Club housed in a small hut on nearby Plymouth Street. Broadbent describes how, by age ten, Owen developed "some rudimentary ring craft and already had the boundless energy that would be his signature... His punches were light but his effort huge." Owen and the other members of his club travelled the country, competing against youth clubs from Wales and England. Each year culminated in the Welsh amateur championships, a junior event which stipulated that a fighter must have gained each year they entered. Martyn Galleozzie, who trained alongside Owen, noted how Owen struggled to achieve the weight increase each year and was fed cakes and biscuits on the journey to try and make weight. Galleozzie also stated how his mother once sewed lead into the lining of Owen's shorts to make weight.
Owen joined Hoover Amateur Boxing Club soon after, where he trained with Idris Sutton and modelled his fighting style on Eddie Thomas. Owen was a quiet, reserved, friendly character outside the ring and often needed to be coaxed into fighting full force. In his youth, he suffered a loss to future WBC flyweight champion Charlie Magri in a bout in Gurnos. Owen attended Georgetown Secondary Modern School until the age of 16 when he left to take up a role as a machine operator in a local Suko nuts and bolts manufacturing factory. His exertions in the factory, coupled with his frequent runs in the hills of the South Wales Valleys with his brother Kelvin, led Owen to develop renowned levels of speed and stamina. His job however caused him health issues as the swarf from the factory led to Owen developing infections on occasion. A septic finger injury led to a lacklustre defeat to George Sutton in the 1975 Welsh Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) Championships after Owen refused to pull out of the fight.
At the age of 18, Owen met Maurice O'Sullivan for the 1974 Welsh ABA youth title in O'Sullivan's hometown of Cardiff after reaching the final of the tournament on 4 April. Despite Owen and his father being convinced of his victory, the judges awarded the fight to O'Sullivan who himself offered the trophy to Owen, although he refused to accept it.
Owen represented Wales at amateur level several times; his performance in a 1974 tournament between Wales and Scotland drew praise in the local press. After defeating John Raeside in the second round during their bout in Pontypool, he was described as reducing his opponent "to helplessness with a non-stop two-fisted assault" and was chosen as the most impressive fighter in the two teams on the night. Owen became well known for his seemingly small, thin frame as he grew older; he was chosen to represent Wales in a contest against Sweden in February 1975 and was greeted with jeers and laughter when he removed his robe. The nickname "Matchstick Man" was coined at the event as Owen comfortably stopped his opponent in the second round. Having initially boxed as a featherweight, Owen began fighting in the heavier bantamweight class soon after and won his first bout at the weight against Englishman Allan Smith of the Metropolitan Police Amateur Boxing Club. His physique attracted further attention in November 1975; while representing Wales against an army team, a doctor initially refused to pass him fit to fight believing him to be too frail to box. After his father intervened, the fight went ahead and Owen won on points. Owen's initial aspirations were low, Kelvin stated how Owen had turned professional with the ultimate aim of claiming a British title or a Lonsdale Belt. Nonetheless, Owen was driven to turn professional by a desire to support his family and escape his relatively poor upbringing. One of his former youth coaches stated his belief that Owen understood he could "fight and make money for his family. He wanted to buy them a house but, really, ... the reason he boxed was because he had to." His victory earned him his first professional purse of £125 (around £920 in 2021). The decision to fight an already established opponent proved astute as victory immediately saw Owen's standing rise in the boxing community. His second fight was against Northern Irishman Neil McLaughlin in his opponent's home nation during the height of The Troubles. The card suffered several interruptions: there were angry outbursts when British soldiers entered the arena, a bomb threat was phoned in against the site and, during Owen's bout, the lights failed for several minutes. The fight ended in a controversial draw. Owen finished his first year as a professional by comfortably defeating Englishman Ian Murray in Tonypandy. He knocked Murray down twice before the referee stopped the fight in the seventh round. with the bout regarded as an eliminator for the British title. The fight was an even contest in the early rounds until Owen rocked Sutton in the fifth with a right hook. Owen's stamina gave him a distinct advantage as the fight wore on and he emerged victorious with a 99–97 points victory to become Welsh bantamweight champion.
British bantamweight title
Owen's championship win resulted in him becoming a possible challenger for the British bantamweight champion Paddy Maguire. To move into contention, Owen was booked to fight Scottish bantamweight champion Johnny Kellie at the Albany Hotel in Glasgow. It was widely believed that the winner would be booked as Maguire's next opponent. During the fight Owen became infuriated with Kellie's tactics as his opponent relied on holding to waste time, when Owen was gaining the advantage, and he believed the referee was not penalising Kellie for it. Further issues were raised when Owen lost his gumshield and the referee forced him to continue without it. Owen was spurred on by these irritations and knocked Kellie down twice in quick succession before the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round. Further disappointment followed as Maguire took a fight against Franco Zurlo in September of the same year, leaving Owen with an offer of a second rematch against George Sutton on only three days' notice. The fight took place at Midland Social Club in Solihull and Sutton proved a sterner test than most had anticipated in the early rounds, landing a
strong punch to Owen's jaw that wobbled him. Owen was able to recover and won the fight on points.
Despite Owen's victories, it still seemed likely that he would be forced to wait for a match with Maguire. However, when the official challenger Wayne Evans declined the opportunity to fight Maguire, stating that he needed more experience, Owen stepped in and the fight was scheduled for November 1977 at the National Sporting Club in London. Owen edged the early rounds of the fight as his longer reach caused Maguire problems and the champion was warned on more than one occasion for use of the head and low blows. Already ahead on points, Owen dominated the eighth round and nearly knocked down Maguire. Such was Owen's dominance, Maguire's promoter Mickey Duff threatened to end the fight.
Owen's victory brought him a new found level of fame to which the young fighter was unaccustomed. On his return to Merthyr the day after the fight, he met with the town's mayor and two parties were held in his honour in local clubs. He was named Welsh Boxer of the Year for 1977 and finished fourth in voting for the 1977 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year. Owen returned to the ring in January 1978 in a non-title fight against Scottish boxer Alan Oag, defeating his opponent in the eighth round. A month later, Owen fought Antonio Medina at Marton Country Club near Newcastle and was surprised early on when his opponent emerged as a southpaw, the first time he had faced a fighter using the stance in his career. Owen's team had neglected to research their opponent ahead of the bout and the initial surprise caught Owen off-guard. Even so, he emerged victorious on points. Owen was the stronger of the pair in the opening four rounds and Evans was hampered by a knuckle injury that had plagued his career. In the fifth round, Evans caught Owen with a punch that ruptured his eardrum and caused bleeding from the ear. Despite being almost unable to hear on one side, Owen took control of the fight after the fifth round and wore Evans down, eventually knocking him down in the ninth. Evans made it back to his feet for the end of the round but the start of the tenth saw Owen continue his assault, stopping Evans early in the round to successfully defend his title. The possibility of Owen competing for either the Commonwealth or European bantamweight titles was being raised and he received an offer of between £2000–2500 to fight the reigning Commonwealth champion, Ghanaian Sulley Shittu, in his opponent's home country. Shittu, however, was stripped of the title by the Commonwealth Championship Committee soon after having failed to meet a challenger in the required time. Australian Paul Ferreri, who had lost the belt to Shittu in January 1977, stated his willingness to contest the vacant Commonwealth title with Owen, offering the Welshman £4,000, on the stipulation that the fight be held in his home country. Owen rejected the offer over the distance and fears that partisan Australian judges could make the fight unwinnable. He instead met Englishman Wally Angliss, stopping him in the third round after Angliss had suffered a deep cut above his left eye.
Eager for the fight to go ahead, Ferreri dropped his request for the fight to be based in Australia and accepted a bout with Owen in Ebbw Vale on 2 November 1978. A former holder of the Commonwealth title, he entered the fight with nearly 70 professional bouts to Owen's 16 and had never been beaten by a British fighter.
European bantamweight title challenge
thumb|upright|[[Juan Francisco Rodríguez, whom Owen fought twice for the European bantamweight title|alt=A headshot of a boxer wearing a red vest.]]
Owen's victory led him to challenge for the division's European title, held by Juan Francisco Rodríguez of Spain. The fight was originally scheduled for the end of 1978 but Rodríguez withdrew from the bout due to a case of flu, and it was rearranged for three months later. It was Owen's eighteenth contest and his first overseas, taking place in the champion's hometown of Almería. The fight was preceded by a series of allegations of foul play by Owen's camp. He was promised the use of the same training facilities as the champion in the afternoons, once Rodríguez had finished his sessions. In practice, however, Owen and his team often found themselves waiting at the gym for Rodríguez to finish his training, taking up hours of Owen's sessions. At the weigh-in, Owen was marginally overweight, prompting a last minute training session involving running up and down the hotel stairs until he hit the limit. Rodríguez also exceeded the weight limit by a larger margin, more than could be lost in the allowed time. Owen and his team returned to the hotel with the intent of returning to Britain, believing the fight would be called off. However, Owen's manager Dai Gardiner returned to announce that the Spanish officials had passed Rodríguez fit to fight despite having weighed in overweight. Owen decided to go ahead with the bout, eager not to return to Britain empty-handed.
The fight was held in the town's bullring in front of a capacity crowd and Owen entered the arena to loud jeers. The first round was relatively uneventful as both fighters settled. When Owen returned to his corner, his father was infuriated after smelling wintergreen oil on Owen. Believing the substance came from Rodríguez's gloves, he approached the referee who ignored Dick Owens' complaints. The British Boxing Board of Control's (BBBofC) representative at the fight, Harry Vines, attempted to approach Owen's team to find out what was causing commotion and found himself being pushed and shoved by members of the crowd before Spanish police ordered him to return to his seat. Rodríguez used several underhand manoeuvres against Owen, including illegal use of the head and elbows and attempted to screw his thumb into Owen's eye, eventually receiving an official warning from the referee in the twelfth round after being reprimanded on several occasions. At the start of the tenth round, Owen returned to the middle of the ring but was forced to wait as Rodríguez took several extra minutes to leave his corner before standing to taunt his opponent in front of the home crowd. Rodríguez was awarded the victory on points in a decision that Steve Bunce later declared: "In what has been regarded as a 'home-town decision travesty', Rodríguez was awarded a fight he had so obviously lost." The Dictionary of Welsh Biography went further and described the decision as "an insult to the good name of boxing". The Welsh Area Boxing Council held an investigation into the fight, during which Vines described the incident as "the worst decision he'd ever experienced". However, the council had no power over Spanish promoters and there was no alternative for Owen other than to accept the loss, although the BBBofC did refund Owen the money that been deducted from his paycheck. Owen was eager to impress in the fight as victory would also see him achieve a lifelong ambition of retaining a Lonsdale Belt, which became the permanent property of a fighter once they had completed three successful defences. From the first round he dominated Smith, whose trainer eventually threw in the towel during the twelfth round. By now, Owen had set his sights on a rematch with Rodríguez for the European title. He met Neil McLaughlin for a fourth time on 17 September 1979 at the Albany Hotel in Glasgow and recorded a comfortable 100–95 points victory to secure his 20th professional win. Garcia provided little competition for Owen with the referee stopping the fight in the fifth round. Although he provided a challenge for Owen, Vasquez ultimately lost to the Welshman on points. Two weeks later Owen fought fellow Welshman Glyn Davies at the National Sporting Club. Davies was described as a "tough old pro" who had fought over 40 times professionally but he lasted only five rounds before the referee stopped the fight in Owen's favour. After the bout, Davies remarked: "I have been beaten by the next world champion." Owen decided to invest some of his earnings by purchasing a shop on Galon Uchaf housing estate in his hometown of Merthyr. The venue was filled to capacity, with more than 1,800 spectators. The fight started slowly and Rodríguez restricted the early pace of the opening rounds by holding Owen on the blindside of the referee. Rodríguez continued a defensive, counter-punching style and caught Owen several times as the Welshman continually advanced, attempting to push the pace between the fifth and eighth rounds. Owen did cause damage to his opponent after trapping him on the ropes during the sixth. In its report of the fight, The Times described fighting Owen as like "trying to beat a carpet, so resilient is he... the carpet ends up by giving you a dusting."
Ranked as the number four bantamweight in the world by the WBC, Owen was offered a lucrative title fight against Pintor by promoter Mickey Duff. Owen stated that, should he win the fight, his plan was to defend the belt three times before retiring to Merthyr. Pintor had edged a highly controversial split decision over stablemate and long-time champion Carlos Zárate to win his world bantamweight title in June 1978. Zárate retired in disgust following the decision, but Pintor proved to be an able successor and had defended his title twice heading into the fight. Owen arrived in Los Angeles a week before the fight to acclimatise to the humidity. Both Owen and Pintor would go for early morning runs in the local area and would sometimes pass in a nearby park without acknowledging each other. Both fighters trained at the gym facilities in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Owen found the press intrusion from the Mexican reporters difficult to deal with; he was hounded everywhere during the day and his motel room phone rang so often that Dai Gardiner requested the motel block any incoming calls. Eventually, Owen snapped and threatened to disrupt the fight schedule unless action was taken. The fight promoter promptly intervened and the press backed off.
The bout was held at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, on 19 September 1980. The arena had a capacity of 10,000 but estimates have put the crowd at well beyond that. The crowd was predominantly Mexican, with Pintor receiving fervent support. While some Welsh fans had travelled to support Owen they were said to be "outnumbered 100 to 1 at least". Owen was considered the underdog with odds on his victory being offered at 6–1 before the fight,
Pintor looked to take control of the fight and was the stronger through rounds six to eight, although he did receive cuts to both eyes. By this stage in the fight most observers judged the fight to be evenly poised, with some even giving Owen a slight lead. Pintor began to fight more aggressively in the ninth round and his approach paid off when he caught Owen with a punch that knocked the Welshman down for the first time in his professional career. Owen got to his feet quickly and assured the referee that he was fine but the momentum of the fight moved in the champion's direction and from the tenth round Pintor was in the ascendency. An exhausted Owen battled on through the eleventh round and referee Marty Denkin approached Owen's corner to end the fight but was told he was fine to continue. Owen returned for the twelfth and was knocked down a second time but again got to his feet. With 25 seconds remaining in the round, Pintor caught Owen with a strong right hand to the head and Owen crumpled to the floor. Owen was loaded onto a stretcher and carried out of the arena before being taken to California Hospital Medical Center. He was taken into surgery, where doctors removed a blood clot from his brain after a three-hour operation. Owen's mother arrived in the United States a day later. The neurosurgeon in charge of Owen revealed how they had discovered that Owen possessed both an unusually delicate skull and a strong jaw. As a result, Pintor's punch had inadvertently pushed Owen's jawbone through his skull and into his brain, causing irreparable damage. Owen underwent a second operation soon after to relieve pressure on his brain but soon contracted pneumonia. Once this had cleared, a third surgery was required but Owen remained unconscious. Although his doctor believed his condition was improving, a second bout of pneumonia on 4 November ultimately ended his life at 24 years old with his parents by his bedside.
Owen's body was returned to Wales where he was held in Merthyr Parish Church. The coffin was kept in a public area and thousands of visitors attended the church to pay tribute to Owen. His funeral ceremony was held at High Street Baptist Church. The church held around 1,000 people while around 4,000 waited outside where the ceremony was broadcast through loudspeakers. He was buried in Pant Cemetery in Merthyr on 11 November. Hundreds of floral tributes were sent on the day, including from Muhammad Ali and singer Tom Jones. The Secretary of State for Wales, Nicholas Edwards, sent a telegram to Owen's family in which he proclaimed "All Wales is saddened to hear of Johnny Owen's death". Pintor was devastated by the death of Owen and contemplated retiring from boxing. The Owens family held no malice towards Pintor and absolved him of any blame for Owen's death. They sent him messages of support after the fight and encouraged the Mexican fighter to continue boxing.
The WBC claimed that Owen had been insured for $50,000, but this later proved to be false as the payments were capped at $25,000 that would first be put towards medical expenses. The cost of Owen's treatment was $94,000, more than three times the insurance payout. The remaining medical bills were paid by a public appeal that raised $128,000 for Owen, with his family donating the remaining money to charity. In his will, Owen left £45,189 to his family, having earned less than £7,000 for his title fight with Pintor after expenses.
Fighting style
Owen was renowned for his dedication to boxing, training relentlessly and often doing more work than his trainers asked of him. His dedication was such that he never drank alcohol and it is widely believed that he abstained from romantic relationships. This led to Hugh McIlvanney of The Observer labelling Owen as "The Virgin Soldier" in 1979. Owen's training involved running considerable distances, between on normal days, His reliance on his ability to outlast fighters sometimes led to weak points during the early rounds of fights. Srikumar Sen of The Times noted "Owen is a slow starter and can be caught early".
Although he did not possess devastating knockout power, Owen was noted for his "fast accurate punching".
Owen was also praised for his sportsmanship towards other fighters. Idris Sutton, who trained Owen from an early age, described him as "a real gentleman. I never saw him throw a foul punch or do anything dirty... If he saw his opponent slipping, he would stand back and give him a chance to get up. He... would never look to take advantage of an accident. And if you beat him fair and square he'd be the first to shake your hand." Lupe Pintor later described his admiration of Owen, remarking that he "was very honorable because he had determination, not only the determination of winning but representing a society, his people, that's the greatest thing I admired about him, his will, his hunger, that's something that made him very special."
Legacy
A year after his death, a pub in Merthyr named The Matchstick Man opened. The following year, a plaque was unveiled at Prince Charles Hospital after some of the money donated to charity by Owen's family had been given to the establishment. A community centre, named the Johnny Owen Centre, was built on the Gurnos Estate in Merthyr shortly following his death in 1980. The building was demolished in 2018 after the owner, Merthyr Valley Homes, deemed it to be too costly to modernise. In 2002, a statue of Owen was erected in his hometown Merthyr at a cost of £40,000. His family attended the ceremony during which the statue was unveiled by Pintor, who travelled from his home country to attend. The same year, Dick Owens travelled to Mexico to meet with Pintor as part of the BBC Four documentary Johnny Owen: The Long Journey in which the two men met for the first time since 1980. The documentary won two BAFTA awards for best documentary drama and best direction in the Welsh production category.
Historian Martin Johnes has argued that Owen was an "emblematic figure who represented both the ideals of Welsh working-class communities and their suffering and courage in the face of adversity and tragedy".