By Matt Bozeat
“I WAS finishing off pie and chips and was feeling bloated when the ‘phone went,” remembered Steve Robinson.
“(Coach) Ronnie (Rush) said: ‘You’ve got a big fight in two days’ and I told him I wouldn’t be ready. I didn’t think I would have enough time. But Ronnie talked me into it. He knew I was naturally fit and said: ‘You can outbox this guy. You can beat him.’”
The guy Robinson would fight was John Davison and at stake was the vacant WBO featherweight title. The belt had been stripped from Ruben Palacios after the Colombian failed an HIV test, leaving promoters Matchroom with only 48 hours to find a replacement.
Robinson, a 24-year-old southpaw from Cardiff, was coming off a points loss in Paris, leaving his record 13-9-1, but he fought to win.
John Ingle remembered being in Europe with a group of British fighters, including Robinson. “The others were there for the cash,” said Ingle. “They were staying in the bar until the early hours and getting up late, while Steve was up early, every day, going for runs and watching his weight.
“He was never a journeyman.”
Robinson gave up his £52 a week job as a storeman at Debenham’s to focus fully on boxing, a bold move for a young father. The gamble paid off.
“I had seen John before and had another look at the tapes,” he said. “After that, I was confident I could beat him. He was a come-forward fighter and knew that would suit me down to the ground. We worked him out.
“I knew I had the skills to beat him. I didn’t have too much time to think about it and maybe that helped.”
Robinson shed six pounds to make 126lbs – “I had a couple of runs and it came off easily enough” – and then set about silencing a hostile crowd at the Northumbria Centre in Washington.
North East fans had roared Davison on to win minor belts, but they didn’t rattle Robinson. “I was very composed,” said Robinson. “I didn’t let the crowd get to me. I was nervous inside, but boxed the right fight. I had to keep moving. He kept trying to get me to the body. I won the early rounds. I was picking him off.”
By the halfway point, Robinson had surely boxed his way into a points lead before Davison found an extra gear.
“He started getting to me,” remembered the Welshman, who lost six of his first 11 pro fights. “He rattled me with body shots, and I got cramps in my calves. Ronnie was stepping on my toes in between rounds.
“I couldn’t move that well, but I told myself: ‘I have to keep going.’ I had a young family – Luke was two years-old – and I was so determined to win it.”
After the 10th, Robinson’s corner screamed at him: “Do you want to be champion of the world?” and he responded.
He had Davison under fire in the closing moments of the 11th and produced a grandstand finish to the fight, slamming several clean shots off the Geordie hero’s jaw in the final minute to leave him groggy and send his gum shield spinning to the canvas.
Robinson had pulled it off, winning a split points decision. “It all happened so quickly,” he said. “I had to pinch myself.”