Paul Hodkinson

[Max]

A Liverpool Featherweight who won the WBC featherweight title.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=5117

Can;t find no pics though.

[A.D.Williams]

Good fighter was Paul Hodkinson, but he used to suffer terrible eye injuries!

[Max]

Never seen none of his fights either.

[Max]

Going to buy a 15 fight DVD of Hoko for a tenner off some DVd site!

[A.D.Williams]

Going to buy a 15 fight DVD of Hoko for a tenner off some DVd site!

Very nice indeed, Max.

[sidburyman]

Hoko was a classy fighter - really aggressive and a hard puncher. First tilt at a world title ended in failure when Marcos Villasana bust Hoko's face up until he simply couldnt see the punches coming. Villasana didn't have the same success in the rematch though, with Hoko landing the world title when he outboxed the Mexican.

Hoko should have gone on to have a longer and more lucrative reign as world champ. He made a few succesful defences, including one easy one over the shopworn former Barry McGuigan conquerer Steve Cruz in Belfast, but his time at the top was terminated by Goyo Vargas, who stopped him in the later rounds. Vargas was a class act though, so it was no disgrace to lose that fight. A years break before he stepped back into the ring with Steve Robinson was perhaps too long, as he appeared to have underestimated the tough Welshman, again being stopped in the later rounds.

Depite these later reverses, I was suprised at the time that Hoko never stepped back in the ring to give it one more go. He was still young and had something left to offer. Perhaps he no longer had the appetite for the game.

[Max]

Probably because of inactivity to why he lost to Robinson.

Vargas lost his next fight after beating Paul.

Heard on boxrec's forum that Paul's now a cab driver in Liverpool.

[baron10]

my mate was his sparing partner when he was on the england squad . he should be posting on here soon just got him registered

[gilly10]

Yeah, I sparred with him in his "Kirkby ABC" gym, where the under 19`s squad were training a couple of times. Very good fighter he was, very quick, lovely boxing skills, but one who could mix it up well, with deadly body-punching!! Does anyone know of a Richie Wenton also?? He was another scouse world champ, who I fought three times!???

[Max]

Not heard of Wenton no.

Found this but It says he wasn't a world champ just a title challenger.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=003271

[scouserdave]

Gilly, I trained there for about a year in the early 70s. If I was a couple of years older, I could have claimed I sparred with John Conteh. Dropped out because I was more into martial arts, as well as shooting off down south. If any of the old farts are still around, I was Woodsy from Canny Farm.

[sidburyman]

Does anyone know of a Richie Wenton also?? He was another scouse world champ, who I fought three times!???

I saw Richie Wenton fight Paul Lloyd in Chester in '95 - another class Liverpool boxer was Wenton, with the emphasis on boxer more than puncher (when compared to Hoko anyway). He had a right war with Lloyd though, stopping him in round 3 or 4 if memory serves. He somehow got a shot at Marco Antonio Barrera for the vacant WBO super-bantam title and got stopped. It seems Wenton could have made a little more of his career, but spells of inactivity seemed to harm his chances a little. He based himself down in Devon for a bit, as I remeber I saw a feature about him on South West local news when I was in a hotel down in Devon.

[Max]

Gilly, I trained there for about a year in the early 70s. If I was a couple of years older, I could have claimed I sparred with John Conteh. Dropped out because I was more into martial arts, as well as shooting off down south. If any of the old farts are still around, I was Woodsy from Canny Farm.

I got a signed Conteh photo.

My dad knows Conteh's brother and has met John In the past.

[gilly10]

Did you also know his carreer may have suffered a bit when a fighter died after a bout with Richie? That was tragic mate, I think the kids name was Bradley Stone? I fought Richie as an amateur, we had 3 fights actually. He had a younger brother as well, who was a schoolboy ABA champ called Nigel, he was a good fighter too!

[sidburyman]

Did you also know his carreer may have suffered a bit when a fighter died after a bout with Richie? That was tragic mate, I think the kids name was Bradley Stone?

Yeah it was Bradley Stone from Canning Town that died. Terrible night that. Wenton took a long time to get over it. He actually quit in the ring in his next fight after Stone, turning away and saying that he saw Stone on front of him all night and couldnt bring himself to fire back against the other guy.