Johnny Famechon


Jean-Pierre Famechon was an Australian featherweight boxer.
Famechon was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Moderns category and was the third to be elevated to Legend status in 2012.

Early life and boxing career

Famechon was born in Paris, France. He and his mother, father and younger brother moved from Paris to Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia a suburb of Melbourne, in 1950 when he was five. The family then moved to Middle Park another suburb of Melbourne. His mother Antoinette and younger brother Christian moved to Paris a couple of years later; John and his father Andre then moved to Richmond.
Famechon attended Salesian College (Rupertswood) and later Essendon Technical School. He met his wife Elise, and they married at St Brigid's Church in Mordialloc in 1970. They moved to Aspendale and later Frankston and had their first child Paul in 1972, and daughter Danielle in 1974.
Famechon came from a boxing family. His father Andre won the French lightweight championship. His uncle Ray Famechon was a European Boxing Union Champion twice, French featherweight champion and fought for the World Featherweight Title. Another uncle was French flyweight champion Emile. Other uncles Alfred and Lucien were also professional boxers.
Famechon never fought as an amateur and turned professional at age 16. He was trained by Ambrose Palmer throughout his professional career. Over his twenty-year career Famechon developed a reputation for being a skilled boxer whose strength was his defence. His career record was 56 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses.
His first major win was over Les Dunn to become Victorian Featherweight champion in 1964, then he was Commonwealth featherweight champion in 1967 after defeating the Scot John O'Brien. He became Lineal and WBC featherweight champion on 21 January 1969 after he defeated the Cuban José Legrá on points at the Albert Hall in London.
Famechon defended his WBC featherweight title against Fighting Harada of Japan and won in a controversial points decision. In the rematch for the world title, against Harada in Japan six months later, Famechon decisively won by knocking out Harada in the fourteenth round.
He defended his WBC title on 9 May 1970 in Rome to Mexican Vicente Saldivar and after losing the fight in a close points decision, he retired soon afterwards.

Boxing style

Famechon was known for his hit and don't get hit style of boxing. His defense is often compared to that of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Famechon's style, like Mayweather's Crab style, consisted of a low lead hand and a high rear hand. The key difference being that Famechon held his rear hand in a cross guard position with the glove open to catch punches. Famechon's defense also included ducking and slipping punches.
Famechon's offensive relied heavily on the use of the lead left hand. Famechon's style was developed by his trainer and is the topic of a book co-written by Famechon titled, The Method: Fammo's Tribute to the King - Ambrose Palmer.

Later life

Famechon received the Keys To The City in 1969 on his return to Australia after his World Title win against Jose Legra in London.
Famechon was the first Melburnian to become King of Moomba in 1970 when appointed by the Moomba Festival festival committee.
In 1971, he and long time friend Frank Quill, wrote his autobiography, Fammo.
Famechon was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 1997. He also was inducted to the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003 and to the Frankston Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2013 the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame elevated him to Legend status.
In 1991 he was badly injured when hit by a car outside Sydney's Warwick Farm racecourse, which resulted in horrific injuries and sustained an acquired brain injury and a stroke. In December 1993 Famechon commenced a new complex brain-based multi-movement therapy rehabilitation program that resulted in his return to a near normal life some 10–12 weeks after the therapy began.
Famechon now has a bronze statue in his home town of Frankston and is only the third Australian boxer to be honoured in this way after Les Darcy and Lionel Rose.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for significant service to boxing at the elite level.
Famechon died in Melbourne on 4 August 2022 at the age of 77.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
67LossVicente SaldívarUD159 May 1970PalaEur, Rome, ItalyLost WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
66Win56–4–6Arnold TaylorPTS1011 Apr 1970Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
65Win55–4–6Fighting HaradaKO14, 1:096 Jan 1970Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
64Win54–4–6Pete GonzalezKO3 9 Dec 1969Royal Albert Hall, London, England
63Win53–4–6Miguel HerreraPTS1011 Nov 1969Royal Albert Hall, London, England
62Win52–4–6Fighting HaradaPTS1528 Jul 1969Sydney Stadium, Sydney, AustraliaRetained WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
61Win51–4–6Jimmy AndersonPTS1020 May 1969Royal Albert Hall, London, England
60Win50–4–6Giovanni GirgentiPTS1021 Apr 1969Hilton Hotel Mayfair, London, England
59Win49–4–6José JiménezPTS1021 Mar 1969Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
58Win48–4–6José LegráPTS1521 Jan 1969Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandWon WBC and vacant The Ring featherweight titles
57Win47–4–6Nevio CarbiPTS1018 Oct 1968Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
56Win46–4–6Billy McGrandleTKO12 13 Sep 1968Festival Hall, Melbourne, AustraliaRetained Commonwealth British Empire featherweight title;
Recognized im Australia only as for Famechon's World featherweight title claim
55Win45–4–6Vincenzo PitardiPTS1026 Jul 1968Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
54Win44–4–6Freddie RengifoTKO10, 1:071 Jul 1968Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia
53Win43–4–6Bobby ValdezDQ13, 1:4720 May 1968Sydney Stadium, Sydney, AustraliaRecognized in Australia only as for the vacant World featherweight title
52Win42–4–6Antonio HerreraPTS105 Apr 1968Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
51Draw41–4–6René RoquePTS1011 Mar 1968Palais des Sports, Paris, France
50Win41–4–5Isao IchiharaPTS1016 Feb 1968Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
49Win40–4–5John O'BrienTKO11 24 Nov 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, AustraliaWon Commonwealth Boxing Council champions#Featherweight|Commonwealth British Empire featherweight title]
48Win39–4–5Michel HoudeauTKO6 20 Oct 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
47Win38–4–5Don JohnsonPTS1022 Sep 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
46Win37–4–5Gilberto BiondiPTS1021 Jul 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
45Win36–4–5James SkeltonPTS107 Jul 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
44Win35–4–5Lothar AbendPTS1026 May 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
43Win34–4–5Roberto WongPTS1014 Apr 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
42Win33–4–5Andrea SilanosKO2 3 Mar 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
41Win32–4–5Giovanni GirgentiPTS1020 Jan 1967Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
40Draw31–4–5Giovanni GirgentiPTS109 Dec 1966Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
39Win31–4–4José Caetano dos SantosPTS107 Oct 1966Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
38Draw30–4–4Domenico ChiloiroPTS1210 Jun 1966Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
37Win30–4–3Noel KundeTKO4, 2:054 May 1966Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia
36Win29–4–3Domenico ChiloiroPTS151 Apr 1966Festival Hall, Melbourne, AustraliaRetained Australian featherweight title
35Win28–4–3Noel KundeTKO8 11 Mar 1966Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia
34Win27–4–3Carmelo CosciaPTS1225 Feb 1966Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
33Win26–4–3Mario SitriPTS1211 Feb 1966Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
32Loss25–4–3Gilberto BiondiPTS1229 Oct 1965Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
31Win25–3–3Harold HopkinsTKO4 15 Oct 1965Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
30Win24–3–3Max MurphyKO7 24 Sep 1965Festival Hall, Melbourne, AustraliaRetained Australian featherweight title
29Loss23–3–3Max MurphyPTS1219 Jun 1965Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia
28Win23–2–3Singtong Por TorPTS1211 Jun 1965Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
27Draw22–2–3Domenico ChiloiroPTS124 Jun 1965Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
26Loss22–2–2Dion MurphyPTS101 Apr 1964Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
25Win22–1–2Domenico ChiloiroPTS1519 Mar 1965Festival Hall, Melbourne, AustraliaRetained Australian featherweight title
24Win21–1–2Billy MalesTKO6 8 Feb 1965Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia
23Win20–1–2Pat GonzalesPTS126 Nov 1964Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
22Win19–1–2Ollie TaylorPTS1518 Sep 1964Festival Hall, Melbourne, AustraliaWon vacant Australian featherweight title
21Win18–1–2Max MurphyPTS1228 Aug 1964Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
20Win17–1–2Arthur ClarkeTKO9 7 Aug 1964Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
19Win16–1–2Les DunnTKO10 22 May 1964Festival Hall, Melbourne, AustraliaWon Victoria State featherweight title
18Win15–1–2Jake GulinoPTS1220 Mar 1964Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
17Win14–1–2Johnny EvansTKO7 21 Feb 1964Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
16Win13–1–2Jake GulinoPTS1229 Nov 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
15Win12–1–2Osei RennerPTS1025 Oct 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
14Win11–1–2Jimmy SmithPTS104 Oct 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
13Win10–1–2Roy SpackmanPTS86 Sep 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
12Win9–1–2Bobby DaldyPTS823 Aug 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
11Win8–1–2Kevin BellPTS819 Jul 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
10Win7–1–2Bobby DaldyPTS619 Apr 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
9Win6–1–2Ken EswardsKO6 8 Mar 1963Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
8Win5–1–2Roy SpackmanPTS616 Nov 1962Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
7Win4–1–2Nicky WellsTKO3 5 Oct 1962Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
6Loss3–1–2Roy SpackmanPTS622 Jun 1962Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
5Win3–0–2Gordon CrooksTKO2 1 Jun 1962Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
4Draw2–0–2Brian LevierPTS46 Apr 1962Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
3Win2–0–1Peter BarnesKO4 15 Sep 1961Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
2Win1–0–1Salvatore CasabeneTKO2 4 Aug 1961Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
1Draw0–0–1Sammy LangPTS39 Jun 1961Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia