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Vic Toweel

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Vic Toweel
Born
Victor Anthony Toweel

(1928-01-12)12 January 1928
Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
Died15 August 2008(2008-08-15) (aged 80)
NationalitySouth African
Statistics
Weight(s)Bantamweight
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Reach69 in (168 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights32
Wins28
Wins by KO14
Losses3
Draws1

Victor "Vic" Anthony Toweel (12 January 1928 – 15 August 2008) was a South African boxer and former undisputed World bantamweight champion. He was the first South African to hold a world title.

Personal

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Victor Anthony Toweel was born on 12 January 1928 in Benoni, South Africa. He was the second eldest of five brothers and the son of Michael Joseph Toweel, who was of Lebanese descent.

Toweel's father, better known as Pappa Mike, taught his sons, Jimmy, Victor, Fraser, Willie and Allan the basic rudiments of boxing and forged a family legacy in a makeshift corrugated iron gymnasium in the backyard of his home in Benoni. All of the Toweel brothers achieved success in the boxing world: Willie won an Olympic bronze medal and fought for a world title, Allan was a top trainer, Maurice an outstanding matchmaker and Jimmy a South African champion.

Toweel was an instinctive boxer who, at his best, flaunted incredible stamina, perfect balance and a blazing work ethic. His greatest asset as a fighter was his ability to throw non-stop batteries of punches without tiring.

Amateur career

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Toweel was a very successful amateur, winning Springbok colours, and compiling an unbelievable record of 188 wins with only two losses - 160 by knock out. He won East Rand, Transvaal and SA junior and senior titles from 1941 to 1948 and was No 1 choice for the 1948 Olympic team. He competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in the bantamweight competition, but was eliminated in the first round by Arnoldo Parés of Argentina in a controversial decision.[citation needed]

Pro career

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Soon after returning from the Olympics, Toweel turned professional. He made his professional debut on 29 January 1949, stopping Johannes Landman in the second round, the same night his brother Jimmy won the national lightweight title. Two wins inside the distance over Herby Andre and Kalla Persson followed.

In his fourth professional fight Toweel won the SA bantamweight title when veteran Jimmy Webster was disqualified in the third round for holding.

In his ninth fight, he became the SA featherweight champion. He captured the British Empire Bantamweight Title, in his 11th fight.

On 31 May 1950, in his 14th fight, at the age of 21, he won the world bantamweight championship.

Fighting using nicknames including "Dynamite," "Benoni's Mighty Mouse," the "Benoni Buzzaw," and the "white Henry Armstrong" for his constant attack fighting style, Toweel beat Word bantamweight champion Manuel Ortiz, who was recognised as one of the greatest bantamweight champions of all time.[1] At that stage, Manuel Ortiz was a veteran of 110 fights whereas Vic had had only fought 13 contests as a professional.

During his reign as a world champion, Toweel had 13 bouts consisting of three successful title defences and 10 successful non-title fights against world rated contenders.

He successfully defended his world title against Danny O'Sullivan (KO 10 round) whom he dropped 14 times, winning him a place in the Guinness Book of Records, for the most knock downs in a world title fight. His second and third title defences were against Luis Romero (won in 15 rounds) and Peter Keenan (won in 15 rounds). A drastically weight-weakened Vic was dethroned by Australian Jimmy Carruthers in his fourth title defence, Toweel losing by a first round knockout.

Carruthers gave Toweel a return match on 21 March 1953 and a crowd of 35,000 saw him holding his own until the sixth round, when he began to fade. He was counted out in the tenth.

Toweel's eyes were giving him trouble and he went to London where a successful operation was performed.

On his return he announced that he would continue fighting as a featherweight. On 11 December 1953 he outpointed British featherweight champion Ronnie Clayton before losing on points to highly regarded Carmelo Costa in New York.

On 6 November 1953 Vic had his last fight, in the welterweight division, when he stopped Harry Walker in the eighth.

After years of battling with his weight and only two months short of his 27th birthday, he decided to hang up his gloves with a professional record was 28-3-1 (14).

Toweel was SA's first and so-far only undisputed world boxing champion.

Life after boxing

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Toweel retired to Australia in the 1980s and died aged 79 in Sydney, Australia, on Friday morning 15 August 2008.


Professional boxing record

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32 fights 28 wins 3 losses
By knockout 14 2
By decision 13 1
By disqualification 1 0
Draws 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
32 Win 28–3–1 Union of South Africa Harry Walker RTD 6 (10) Nov 6, 1954 Union of South Africa Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
31 Loss 27–3–1 United States Carmelo Costa UD 10 Jul 26, 1954 United States Eastern Parkway Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
30 Win 27–2–1 United Kingdom Ronnie Clayton PTS 10 Dec 12, 1953 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
29 Loss 26–2–1 Australia Jimmy Carruthers KO 10 (15) Mar 21, 1953 Union of South Africa Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa For NBA, NYSAC, Commonwealth British Empire, and The Ring bantamweight titles
28 Loss 26–1–1 Australia Jimmy Carruthers KO 1 (15) Nov 15, 1952 Union of South Africa Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Lost NBA, NYSAC, Commonwealth British Empire, and The Ring bantamweight titles
27 Win 26–0–1 France Georges Mousse PTS 10 Aug 16, 1952 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
26 Draw 25–0–1 France Georges Mousse PTS 10 Jul 19, 1952 Southern Rhodesia Raylton Sports Ground, Harare (Salisbury), Zimbabwe
25 Win 25–0 France Theo Medina TKO 7 (10) May 31, 1952 Union of South Africa Olympia Ice Rink, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
24 Win 24–0 Union of South Africa Tony Lombard RTD 8 (12) Mar 24, 1952 Union of South Africa Van Riebeeck Stadium, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa Retained South African featherweight title
23 Win 23–0 United Kingdom Peter Keenan PTS 15 Jan 26, 1952 Union of South Africa Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Retained NBA, NYSAC, Commonwealth British Empire, and The Ring bantamweight titles
22 Win 22–0 Spain Luis Romero PTS 15 Nov 17, 1951 Union of South Africa Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Retained NBA, NYSAC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
21 Win 21–0 France Georges Mousse PTS 10 Nov 2, 1951 Union of South Africa Davies Stadium, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa
20 Win 20–0 United Kingdom Bobby Boland KO 1 (10) Sep 1, 1951 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
19 Win 19–0 United Kingdom Jim Kenny RTD 7 (10) Jun 30, 1951 Union of South Africa Olympia Ice Rink, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
18 Win 18–0 Union of South Africa Fanie van Graan KO 2 (12) Jun 16, 1951 Union of South Africa Olympia Ice Rink, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Retained South African featherweight title
17 Win 17–0 United Kingdom Danny O'Sullivan TKO 10 (15) Dec 2, 1950 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Retained NBA, NYSAC, Commonwealth British Empire, and The Ring bantamweight titles
16 Win 16–0 United Kingdom Bunty Doran TKO 9 (10) Nov 3, 1950 Union of South Africa Beach Tennis Courts, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
15 Win 15–0 Italy Alvaro Nuvoloni PTS 10 Oct 21, 1950 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
14 Win 14–0 United States Manuel Ortiz PTS 15 May 31, 1950 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Won NBA, NYSAC, and The Ring bantamweight title
13 Win 13–0 Canada Fernando Gagnon PTS 15 Apr 8, 1950 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Retained Commonwealth British Empire bantamweight title
12 Win 12–0 United Kingdom Jackie Paterson PTS 10 Dec 17, 1949 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
11 Win 11–0 United Kingdom Stan Rowan PTS 15 Nov 12, 1949 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Won Commonwealth British Empire bantamweight title
10 Win 10–0 Union of South Africa Tony Lombard PTS 12 Sep 30, 1949 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Retained South African featherweight title
9 Win 9–0 Union of South Africa Tony Lombard PTS 12 Aug 6, 1949 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Won vacant South African featherweight title
8 Win 8–0 Union of South Africa Plasie Fourie KO 1 (6) Jun 30, 1949 Union of South Africa Town Hall, Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa
7 Win 7–0 Union of South Africa Jackie Johnson TKO 4 (10) Jun 27, 1949 Union of South Africa Palladium Theatre, Springs, Gauteng, South Africa
6 Win 6–0 Union of South Africa Johnny Holt PTS 6 Jun 8, 1949 Union of South Africa Beach Tennis Courts, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
5 Win 5–0 Union of South Africa Jackie Johnson TKO 1 (6) May 12, 1949 Union of South Africa Plaza Theatre, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
4 Win 4–0 Union of South Africa Jimmy Webster DQ 3 (12) Mar 26, 1949 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Won South African bantamweight title
3 Win 3–0 Union of South Africa Kalla Persson KO 1 (6) Mar 10, 1949 Union of South Africa Town Hall, Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa
2 Win 2–0 Union of South Africa Herbie Andre TKO 2 (6) Feb 26, 1949 Union of South Africa City Hall, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
1 Win 1–0 Union of South Africa Johannes Landman KO 2 (4) Jan 29, 1949 Union of South Africa Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Vic Toweel - Lineal Bantamweight Champion". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.
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Achievements
Preceded by World Bantamweight Champion
31 May 1950 – 15 November 1952
Succeeded by