Former world champion boxer Jeff Fenech will be the guest speaker at the 31st SP Sports Awards in Papua New Guinea, on May 27th, 2023
Fenech, nicknamed the "Marrickville Mauler," achieved an impressive feat by winning titles in three weight divisions within just 20 fights over a span of 3 and a half years.
Fenech won his first world title in the IBF bantamweight division in 1985, with a one-sided, ninth-round TKO over Satoshi Shingaki of Thailand. He defended the bantamweight crown three times, including a rematch win over Shingaki and a 14th-round TKO over Olympic champion Steve McCrory of the United States.
He won his second title in the WBC super-bantamweight division in 1987, by steadily wearing down champion Samart Payakaroon and securing a fourth-round TKO. In 1988, Fenech moved up to the featherweight division and captured his third world title by defeating Victor Callejas for the vacant WBC featherweight crown with a 10th-round TKO, becoming the first undefeated fighter to win titles in three divisions.
Fenech had to retire briefly due to injuries to his brittle hands but returned to the ring after surgery. He challenged WBC super featherweight champion Azumah Nelson of Ghana in 1991 and seemed to dominate the fight, but it was declared a draw. Fenech attempted two more comebacks but retired for good in 1996.
Last year, more than 30 years after being controversially denied the super-featherweight belt, Fenech was awarded the strap retrospectively at a World Boxing Council convention in Acapulco, Mexico. Fenech now sits among an elite group of boxers who have won world titles in four weight divisions. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Moderns category in 2003 and became the fourth person to be elevated to Legend status in 2013.