By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Award-winning author and boxing writer Grantlee Kieza talks to Fightnews.com® about books he authored and working as a cornerman with Hall of Famer Johnny Lewis for three-time world champion Jeff Fenech, two-time WBC light heavyweight champion Jeff Harding, world heavyweight contender Joe Bugner and also IBF 140 pound champion Lovemore Ndou against Canelo Alvarez in Mexico.

When did you begin your career as a boxing journalist in Brisbane.? What newspaper?

I started working for the Brisbane Telegraph newspaper in February 1980 when I was 17 and began writing about boxing almost immediately. Brisbane staged a lot of big fights in those days at a venue called Festival Hall which was owned by the grandson of the great promoter John Wren. Back in 1907 John Wren promoted Jack Johnson against the Australian heavyweight Bill Lang, who was a star Australian rules footballer for the Richmond club. The following year Johnson beat Tommy Burns for the world heavyweight title. Brisbane’s Festival Hall was a venue that hosted everyone from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to big boxing stars such as Tony Mundine, Hector Thompson, Brian Janssen, Steve Dennis, Neil Pattel, and Frank Ropis – all of them world class boxers of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The great promoter in Brisbane when I started out in journalism was Reg Layton, a tough ex-fighter and soldier who taught unarmed combat during World War II. He also trained a number of star fighters and took Hector Thompson to world title fights against Roberto Duran and Antonio Cervantes. So there were lots of great fights for me to cover as a young guy.

You worked the corner of world light-heavyweight contender Tony Mundine against former world 175 pound challenger Murray Sutherland in Brisbane. Tell me about that experience?

It was an incredible thrill. It was September 1982. Murray Sutherland was a really tough guy from Glasgow who was based in Bay City, Michigan. He ended up as a world super-middleweight champ. He came into the Mundine fight after losses in world light heavyweight title fights against Matthew Saad Muhammad and Michael Spinks. Mundine had fought Carlos Monzon for the world middleweight in 1974 and was eyeing another shot at the light-heavy or cruiserweight crowns. Mundine’s trainer at the time was Charlie Gergen and he asked me to help him in the corner. Mundine had the body of an Adonis while Sutherland was as skinny as a bag of bones. But Sutherland was wiry and hard, and he kept Mundine on the backfoot to win an impressive 10 round decision. I remember Sutherland sparring with a very great Australian amateur named Benny Pike in the lead-up to the fight. He landed some horrific body shots that Benny probably still feels 40 years later.

You moved to Sydney working as the boxing writer for The Daily Telegraph in 1982 and started working as a cornerman for Hall of Fame trainer Johnny Lewis. You worked the corners of Aussie greats Jeff Fenech and Jeff Harding, also former world heavyweight challenger Joe Bugner. Tell me about working with Johnny Lewis?

Meeting Johnny Lewis was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Johnny helped me in my life very much as he did with so many other people in the fight game. I was doing some boxing training at his gym and he asked me to help out in the corner for some of his young fighters including a young amateur boxer named Jeff Fenech and Jeff’s main sparring partner Peter Mitrevski. Jeff went on to win world championships at three different weights and Peter won Australian titles at three different weights. For me as a young guy in his early 20s to be involved with huge fights at the highest level around the world was an experience I’ll never forget. Because of Jeff Fenech’s success other great fighters started coming to our gym at the Newtown Police Youth Club including Jeff Harding and a few years later Kostya Tszyu. Jeff Harding arrived in 1985 as a very raw but tough amateur. Jeff Fenech’s phenomenal success also meant that when Joe Bugner decided on a comeback in Australia in the mid 1980s he hooked up with Johnny Lewis too.

What Jeff Fenech world title bouts did you work in the corner? Fenech is rated one of the best featherweights of all time. Your memories of Fenech?

I gave Jeff the nickname “The Marrickville Mauler” while he was still an amateur fighter. He fought a lot like Rocky Marciano but with more ring smarts. He won his fights with pure aggression but later in his career he became a much more skilful fighter as well, making his opponents miss a lot more than they did early on. His fitness was superhuman. He would just constantly pressure opponents throwing punches non-stop and when they began to tyre trying to match his pace, he would pounce and leave them on the canvas. For a long time in his career he didn’t just beat opponents he wrecked their careers. A lot of the guys he fought were never the same again. I was in his corner from his professional debut in 1984 against a boxer you trained Ray –Bobby Williams – and I was in his corner for his last fight, too, against Azumah Nelson in 2008. I was there for all of his world title wins – when he stopped Satoshi Shingaki for the IBF bantamweight title, when he battered Samart Payakaroon for the WBC super-bantamweight white title and when he out-toughed Victor Callejas for the WBC featherweight title. The incredible thing about Jeff’s career wasn’t just the wins that he put together either, it was that throughout his career he had extremely fragile, brittle hands – he couldn’t even make a proper fist – and he fought with bad asthma. But his relentless determination made him one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu trained in the same gym with Johnny Lewis. Who was the best fighter?

Johnny Lewis had no hesitation in saying that Jeff was the better fighter pound for pound, and that what Jeff did in boxing, I don’t know if we’ll ever see equalled again. Jeff only had 28 amateur fights and half of those were in local amateur boxing clubs around Sydney, yet he still won a medal at the World Cup and with fairer judging could have won the Olympic gold medal in 1984. As it was, he knocked out the gold medallist, Steve McCrory, two years later to retain his world bantamweight title. When Kostya turned pro, Kostya already had something like 300 amateur fights against the best in the world, other Russians, Cubans, Americans and East Germans. Jeff trained with such intensity; he would do more work in an hour in the gym than Kostya would do in two. He would fight or spar anyone – even trade punches with another of Johnny’s world champs, Jeff Harding, who was 20 kilograms heavier – whereas Kostya wouldn’t move out of his division [junior-welterweight]. Jeff could fight all night and never get tired, and Jeff Harding was like that, too. Kostya had a tendency to tire and sometimes he tired early. Kostya was very fortunate that he had a great punch in both hands.

What Jeff Harding fights did you work? Harding is rated one of Australia’s best big men in the history of the sport.

When he was at his best Jeff Harding was impossible to hurt. I was in his corner for all of his early wins over some very good opponents including Tommy Roberts, Emanuel Otti, Apollo Sweet and Doug Sam, some good Americans Dean Moore and Don Lee, and the Argentinian Nestor Giovannini. You were the referee for the Don Lee fight, Ray, and you would remember it was a war. I was in Atlantic City in 1989 when Harding scored one of the most exhilarating victories ever by an Australian boxer when he climbed off the canvas to stop Dennis Andres in the last round to win the WBC light heavyweight title. It was one of the most exciting fights of all time. Bob Arum was the promoter but Donald Trump was one of his partners in the promotion. Who knew at the time that Trump would end up as President of the United States?

Joe Bugner made a comeback under Johnny Lewis and beat heavyweights James Tillis, David Bey and Greg Page before challenging Frank Bruno. Did you work those fights? How good was Joe?

Joe was in his mid 30s when he relocated to Sydney from his home in Hollywood and he decided he needed more cash to fund his lifestyle. Earlier in his career he had twice gone the distance with Muhammed Ali and given Joe Frazier the fight of his life over 12 rounds in London. He fought other greats as a young guy, too, beating the likes of Jimmy Ellis, Henry Cooper, Richard Dunn and Chuck Wepner, and going toe to toe with Ron Lyle in an epic heavyweight stoush. I was in Joe’s corner when he beat Greg Page, the former world heavyweight champ in Sydney. Page was trained by Richie Giachetti, who also trained Larry Holmes. Page was very confident he would beat Joe, who was 37 at the time, but Joe turned back the clock and battered Page with his big left hand. Joe had learned a lot as Muhammad Ali’s sparring partner for many years, and two of the main things he learned were showmanship – how to sell a fight – and how to throw a very fast accurate left jab. I was also in Joe’s corner when he took on Frank Bruno before almost 40,000 people at White Hart Lane in London with the winner to fight Mike Tyson. What a thrill it was to be in centre ring that night. The actor Bruce Willis was ringside with his wife Demi Moore, and Bruce predicted Joe would win because in his words he’d once seen Bugner hit Ali with the force of a ‘Pontiac’. Bruno proved too young and tough, but even pushing 38 and with limited preparation, Joe still gave a really wholehearted, gallant performance. I have to say it was one of the joys of my life to be involved with “Aussie Joe”. Such a gentleman, so courageous – such a good, decent man.

You traveled to Mexico to work the corner of former IBF champion Lovemore Ndou when he challenged Saul Canelo Alvarez. Lovemore pushed the Mexican great the full 12 rounds. Tell me about that experience.?

Wow. What a man Lovemore Ndou is. He was Floyd Mayweather’s sparring partner for a long time and Miguel Cotto says Lovemore gave him the hardest fight of his life, tougher even than his battles with Mayweather, Canelo and Pacquiao. While a professional boxer and supporting a large family, Lovemore also studied law part time and earned multiple degrees. He is now a highly regarded lawyer in Sydney. He was a terrific fighter, too. I had been in Las Vegas watching Michael Katsidis drop Juan Manuel Marquez before losing by a stoppage in 2010, when Lovemore invited me to come down to Veracruz to go in the corner for the Canelo fight alongside his trainer Harold Volbrecht, and Lovemore’s brother Roy. Lovemore was close to 40 at the time and Canelo was 20 and much physically bigger than Lovemore. The fight was at an old baseball stadium in Veracruz and there was a crowd of about 10,000. The only people there that night cheering for Lovemore were in his corner. Canelo was too young and strong but Lovemore gave him a great fight and despite suffering a busted eardrum made the bout very competitive for all 12 rounds. Oscar De La Hoya, who promoted the show, came rushing over to Lovemore’s corner at the end of the bell to say that while Azumah Nelson and Ike Quartey were regarded as all-time great African fighters, Lovemore Ndou deserved the same recognition. It was a tremendous experience for me and one that I’ll never forget.

You’ve authored many books including some on boxing?

I’ve written 22 books, most of them these days on Australian history on subjects such as Hudson Fysh, the World War 1 pilot who started a little airline called Qantas in 1920 and turned it into a global aviation giant.

I wrote Jeff Fenech’s biography in 1988 and Jeff Horn’s in 2017, following his win over Manny Pacquiao in Brisbane. I’ve also written three histories of Australian boxing. One of the books became the subject for a great documentary produced by Graham McNeice called “That’s Boxing” and I was very fortunate to interview many of Australia’s greatest ever fighters for it – from Vic Patrick and Fred Henneberry in the 1930s and 1940s all the way to more modern guys such as Lester Ellis and Barry Michael. I even interviewed a lady named Rita Tollis who, as a girl, was at the funeral of our legendary middleweight Les Darcy way back in 1917. I have a new book coming out this year.

You were inducted into the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame and also awarded the Order of Australia Medal in recognition for your services to boxing. Tell me about receiving this recognition?

I’m immensely proud of both those awards and I couldn’t have achieved wither of them without the support of so many people over the years. I’d like to thank Johnny Lewis and you too, Ray, for all that you’ve done for me. I tell people that I learned just about everything I know about boxing from both Johnny Lewis and Ray Wheatley.

You have a new book on Australian boxing coming out in July 2023. Please give details. How can it be purchased?

It’s called “Knockout: Great Australian Boxing Stories” and it is published by HarperCollins/ABC Books. It will be in most bookstores and will also be available online from suppliers such as Amazon, and as an audiobook from Audible. It’s a collection of my favorite boxing stories from fights that I’ve covered and fighters I’ve met around the world and others whose lives I’ve researched going back to the early colonial days of prizefighting in Australia. It includes all the modern Aussie stars such as George Kambosos, Tim Tszyu, Jai Opetaia and Ebanie Bridges. One of my favorite stories comes from when I sat beside Jeff Horn’s grandfather in his corner on that incredible day when Jeff beat Manny Pacquiao – a kid who was bullied at school a few years earlier and went on to conquer one of the most savage sluggers of all time. I include the time I tussled with Mike Tyson in a locker room at the MCI Centre in Washington and when Joe Bugner slugged it out with none other than Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. I’ve dedicated the book to my mate Angelo Di Carlo who has helped so many boxers in Australia for many, many years. He took Mark Flanagan to world cruiserweight title fights and he now has Demsey (Demsey not Dempsey) McKean and Liam Paro on the verge of world title fights.

Have you got any final comments for Fightnews.com® readers?

I owe the fight game a great deal. What an incredibly, lucky life I’ve had to experience all the things I’ve done in boxing. I include a story in the book, Ray, about the day you and I had lunch with Max Schmeling. What an honor it was to shake the hand of a man who knocked out Joe Louis and later on stood up defiantly to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. I’d like to thank Fightnews.com® for their support and for providing such a great news platform for fight fans. I’ve had a blessed life; a wonderful family, and I’ve met so many great people as a result of one day wandering into a boxing gym when I was a kid.

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