Brendan Ingle and Dean Francis pass away

The UK boxing scene took a serious blow today as legendary trainer Brendan Ingle and former British champion Dean Francis passed away. Ingle, who died of a brain hemorrhage was 77, while Francis died at 44 of cancer.

Ingle’s pupils included Herol Graham, Junior Witter, Johnny Nelson, Clinton Woods, and most notably Naseem Hamed, one of the true superstars of the 90s. The Guardian has a touching obituary, and it’s worth looking back at Sean Ingle’s 2015 piece about Brendan’s work with children.

Francis (34-5-1, 26 KO) fought from 1994 to 2014, winning the BBBofC and Commonwealth light heavyweight titles along the way despite being held back by a shoulder injury suffered in ‘98. He was diagnosed in January of 2017 and given four months to live, but defied the odds to squeeze out another year.

Our thoughts are with their respective friends, families and those touched by their work. Godspeed, lads.