Boxing Brothers - The Finnegans

In the first part of a series looking at sibling fighters, Jon Briggs winds back the clock to look at two true tough guys - the Finnegan brothers...

During the 1970’s the Finnegan brothers were a force to be reckoned with on the European boxing scene, also at times mixing it with the worlds finest fighters.

Chris (left) and Kevin (right) Finnegan were both born in Buckinghamshire.

They were two of eight children born into an Anglo-Irish family; their father was from Liverpool and their mother from Northern Ireland. They were introduced into boxing by their older brother Terence. The brothers spent their professional careers under the tutelage of maverick and well respected trainer Freddie Hill who was based at the Lavender Hill gym in south London; Freddie was whipping the lads into good shape and giving them the tools the required to be successful.

It was said that the huge respect the brothers held for each other was often put to one side as they took part in brutal sparring sessions against each other. After a hard day’s training you wouldn’t be surprised to see the three of them sinking a few pints of Guinness in the pub below the gym. The amount of time they spent together meant the guys formed a very close relationship with their trainer.

While the 1970’s world scene was packed to the rafters with superstar fighters like Muhammad Ali, Carlos Monzon and Roberto Duran, the Finnegan brothers, Christopher and Kevin were picking up their fair share of titles at home in London. It all started in Mexico 1968 when Chris was crowned Olympic middleweight champion. The next Englishman to win an Olympic gold after Chris was Audley Harrison. On his path to the gold medal he scored a 5-0 win over Yugoslav Mate Parlov who would go on to win the gold medal in West Germany 1972 and won the WBC world light-heavyweight in 1978. The quality of the opposition he beat made winning the gold medal even sweeter for Chris.

In a famous television interview conducted moments after winning gold, Finnegan's wife back in Britain, Cheryl, remarked "Fuckin' ell, you 'aven't fuckin gone and done it, ‘ave you?", to which Finnegan replied "Yes, ol' lady, I fuckin' have!”

When asked of his future plans, Finnegan joked that he intended "to go home and increase the size of the family!” This was his platform into the pro game. After turning pro in December 1968, Chris won 13 of his 14 fights including a win over future world-beating trainer Brendan Ingle. It wasn’t long before he was presented his first belt, Chris won the Southern area light-heavyweight title in 1970 with a ninth round knockout against unbeaten Ray Brittle.

In his 15th fight Chris got the big break he was looking for. He was drafted in at late notice to fight for the European title against holder Tom Bogs in Copenhagen. He didn’t get the result he was looking for and dropped a 15 round decision to the Dane. In a very unusual scorecard - the referee who was scoring the fight had it four rounds to Bogs and eleven even! More success came in early 1971 when Chris beat Eddie Avoth for the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles. In a gruelling fight Chris got the win by way of 15th round stoppage.

While Chris was picking up titles and enjoying his success, his younger brother Kevin was building up his own record, after turning pro late in 1970 had had racked up a respectable record of 8-1. Kevin was a very talented artist who had a lot of his work on show in galleries around London and you would also find his work put up in the gym where the lads trained. He did say that once he had earned enough money from boxing he would like to paint full time but sadly he did not achieve his financial goal.

Kevin kept on winning and finally got his chance to win his first belt in January 1973. Like his brother his first title was the southern area title. He won this with a razor close decision over unbeaten Pat McCann. His next two fights totalling 30 rounds were huge for Kevin; he won back to back titles in 1974 firstly picking up the British and Commonwealth strap against Bunny Sterling and then the European belt versus the very good and experienced Frenchman Jean Claude Bouttier. These victories opened up the door to fights that would cement Kevin’s name in the history books.

Now back to Chris. In May 1971 he got another shot at the European title. This time he had to travel to Berlin to face holder Conny Velensek. After 15 rounds the fight was scored a draw. Nine months later Chris’ team got their man a rematch against Velensek, this time the fight would be staged back in the UK in Nottingham. Chris won the fight this time a round with the judges all favouring Chris by quite a wide margin. He defended the Euro belt again with a KO win in 1972, then came the long awaited world title shot.

The WBC and WBA light-heavyweight world champion Bob Foster came to London to give Chris his well deserved opportunity. Foster was a solid champion. He had shared the ring with Joe Frazier and his next fight after Chris was against Muhammad Ali. In a fight that was awarded “Fight of the Year 1972” by Ring magazine and lasted 14 rounds finishing with Chris Finnegan being stopped. He went into the fight as a heavy underdog but gave a very good account of himself. He was stopped by one of Foster's trademark right hand bombs. After the fight Foster did say that Finnegan was the best fighter he had faced during his light-heavyweight championship reign.

Chris fought Liverpool legend John Conteh for the British Commonwealth and Euro titles in 1973 and 1974. Chris lost on both occasions, their first bout went the distance and in their second fight Chris was stopped on cuts in the sixth round.

You could say Kevin will be remembered for his notable losses. In November 1975 Kevin and Alan Minter contested the vacant British middleweight title. Kevin lost the fight on points after 15 competitive rounds. Minter, who went on to be crowned undisputed middleweight champion of the world would fight Kevin again in 1976 and 1977. After spending 45 rounds in the ring together, Kevin and Minter became good friends later in life. Alan Minter was quoted recently saying “Kevin Finnegan was the toughest man I ever fought.”

In 1978 Kevin travelled over the pond to face American great “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler. They fought twice in the space of two months. Hagler stopped Kevin in rounds seven and nine of their two fights. Finnegan was stopped on his feet both times but was bleeding so badly from facial damage the fights had to be halted. As a credit to Kevin’s strength and heart he showed in the ring, Hagler said Kevin was one of the toughest men he ever faced.

These high profile defeats would not be the end of Kevin’s career and he went onto reclaim the British and European titles again in 1979 and 1980 respectively. Kevin would retire in 1980 after losing his European belt on points in Italy versus Matteo Salvemini. His record stands at 35 wins (13 early) 11 loses and 1 draw.

Kevin bought a farm for his retirement and wanted to concentrate on his painting. This did not quite go to plan. Drink was a major part of Kevin’s life in retirement and after his marriage failed he ended up in Spain running a bar.

“I got through a grand a week boozing and had a great time doing it but unfortunately I can’t remember half of it.”

In his later years Kevin led somewhat of a reclusive life. He was found dead at his home in Hillingdon in 2008 aged 60 after neighbours alerted the authorities he had not been seen for a few days.

Retirement came a lot earlier for Chris; his last fight was in 1975 where he avenged an earlier loss against Johnny Frankham to win the Lonsdale belt out right. Finnegan retired shortly after having surgery on detached retina. Chris fell on hard times financially after his fighting days were over, though he did keep in contact with his boxing peers by making regular visits to the London Ex-Boxers' Association meetings.

Chris retired with a record of 29 wins (16 early) 7 loses and 1 draw. Sadly Chris died in hospital in 2009 aged 64 after suffering from pneumonia