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BORN A
MASON, MADE A MASON
By Paul Hooley, MBE, JP, PAGDC |
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Last year the world of boxing said farewell to two former British
Heavyweight title holders. Both men had risen from humble
backgrounds on South London housing estates to become national
champions in the most physically demanding of all sports. They wore
their crowns with dignity and became examples to be admired in and
out of the ring. Yet whilst one died peacefully at home of natural
causes after a full and happy family life that had seen him become a
much loved ‘national treasure’ with lasting fame, fortune, celebrity
status and honours from the Queen, the other, a Freemason, died
alone in tragic circumstances after years of hardship following his
struggle to make a living outside of boxing.
Henry Cooper, who died on May 21st, was born in 1934 and grew up in
Bellingham. He, his twin
George and another brother, Bernard, became professional boxers
following their periods of
National Service. In a career spanning 14 years ‘our ‘enry’, as he
became affectionately known, had
55 professional fights winning 40 and drawing one, collecting an
unequalled three Lonsdale Belts
along the way. His most memorable moment came in a 1963 fight that
he eventually lost. Cooper
floored Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) with a punch that almost
changed the history of
boxing. Ali later confided it was the hardest punch he ever took
adding ‘He hit me so hard my
ancestors in Africa felt it’. Cooper later added the European and
Commonwealth crowns to his British
title but failed in his attempt to become world champion. Following
retirement in 1968 he became
even more popular through his work on radio and television and he
was twice voted BBC Sports
Personality of the Year. In 2000 he became the first boxer to be
knighted having previously been
awarded an OBE. A devoted family man he never got over the deaths of
Albina his beloved wife of
47 years in 2008 and his twin George two years later.
Gary Mason never achieved the same level of recognition and
adulation in the ring as Henry Cooper, nor did he enjoy anything
like the wealth, fame or happiness of his illustrious predecessor.
Yet
his record stands alongside the very best and few can match the
levels of kindness and generosity regularly demonstrated by this
‘gentle giant’.
Born in 1962 Gary, one of a family of 10 children, was brought up
in Clapham. On leaving school he tried his hand at various jobs,
including night club bouncer, before turning to boxing. Known for
his courage, his iron chin and his ferocious punching power he won
his first professional fight in 1984 and five years later became
British champion. In total he had 38 fights in his ten year career
of
which he won 37 – 34 of them by knockouts. His win over former
Olympic champion Tyrell Biggs propelled him to number 4 in the
WBC rankings and to the brink of a possible title fight with world
champion Mike Tyson. Like
Henry Cooper, Mason will be best remembered however for the one
fight he lost, against Lennox
Lewis, which had a devastating effect on his life. The judges had
Mason ahead on points when the
referee was forced to stop the fight in the 7th round in favour of
Lewis – Gary had sustained a
second detached retina. In that moment he not only lost a fight, a
title and a crack at the world
champion, but also his career. After failed attempts as a
commentator, promoter, retailer and a
professional rugby player Gary began a long downward spiral that saw
him divorced, distanced
from his teenage son and in debt. His character was such that he
remained cheerful and optimistic
and he was often seen signing autographs as he stood in the queue
outside his local Job Centre. In
stark contrast Lennox Lewis, who on retirement said ‘of all my
opponents Gary Mason hit the hardest’,
went on to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion amassing
a wealth estimated to
be £70 million.
Not so well remembered by the general public outside London, Gary
remained close to his many
friends in boxing and in his church, All Saints Carshalton, where he
was a sidesman and regularly
read the lessons. It was through his connections at All Saints that
he founded what is now known
as the Gary Mason Rhythmical Empowerment Charitable Foundation*, a
‘not-for-profit’ charity
which teaches African djembe drum music to people of all ages,
colours and creeds with an
emphasises on encouraging the disabled and those with special needs.
Gary’s other great interest
was Freemasonry. He was initiated into Chelsea Lodge No. 3098 in
1999 and passed and raised the
following year. He later joined Pride of Surrey Lodge No 9167, in
which he advanced to the
position of Junior Deacon, and he was also a member of Surrey
Council No 88 Royal and Select – a
degree open to those who are both Royal Arch and Mark Masons.
Integrity, decency, dignity, charm, modesty, unassuming, are all
words regularly mentioned alongside
his name. It is generally accepted too that he was a worthy, if
underrated,
heavyweight champion who was gracious in victory and philosophical
in his one defeat, about
which he later said ‘I don’t regret a thing or envy anybody – nobody
said it was going to be easy’. A
cheerful extrovert with a personality to match his size and his
heart Gary was a loveable character
with an infectious laugh and a genuine desire to help humanity.
This was never more evident than in an incident related by
writer/broadcaster Steve Bunce.
Knowing of Mason’s financial difficulties the boxing fraternity had
presented him with a cheque for
£10,000 collected at a gala event held in his honour. Shortly
afterwards Gary was in tears at the
bedside of his comatose friend Michael Watson, who following a fight
with Chris Eubank was left
brain damaged for life. Mason passed the £10,000 to Michael’s mother
‘His family needs that more
than me’ he told her. Bunce only released this information after
Gary’s death saying ‘He refused every
effort by me to make the donation public.'
Gary Mason was killed in the early hours of January 6th 2011. He had
been hit by a white van whilst
out cycling as part of a regime to get fit for a charity event he
had promised to fulfil. He died at the
scene which was near to where he had been living alone in a flat,
poor and penniless – so impoverished
was he that it seemed he might have to suffer the indignity of a
pauper’s funeral. That
wasn’t going to happen once his situation, which through pride he
had kept to himself, became
known by the boxing fraternity, his church and his Brethren in
Freemasonry. As Chelsea Lodge
Secretary Tony Chaperlin, Gary’s proposer into the Craft and long
term friend said ‘We made sure he
had a good send off’. Lennox Lewis, his stable mate Frank Bruno and
Michael Watson were amongst
the 1,000 mourners who attended the funeral of a man who was born a
Mason, was made a Mason
and who, as is the hope of every Mason, lived respected and died
regretted.
Footnote: In February of this year, 13 months after the tragic
event, the Coroner at an inquest in
Croydon declared Gary’s death to have been an accident – this in
spite of strong evidence of driver
error. Following the hearing Gary’s sister, Paulette Stewart, paid a
moving tribute to the popular
boxer and indicated the family would be taking civil action against
the driver of the white van,
adding ‘It was clear he was driving at excessive speed, cut the
corner of the junction [where Gary was killed]
and failed an eye test on the morning of the collision’.
*Further information about the Gary Mason Foundation can be found
at:
www.gary-mason-charity.org
Defining moments: Left – Cassius
Clay (Muhammad Ali) on the floor after feeling the full force of
‘enry’s ammer’. Right – Lennox Lewis (black shorts) ends the career
of a heretofore unbeaten Gary Mason
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