Maurice Hope


Maurice Hope GCH OBE is a British former boxer, who was world junior middleweight champion. Born in Antigua, he grew up in Hackney, London. He represented Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
He is a Recipient of the Order of Princely Heritage.

Boxing career

Amateur career

Maurice Hope was born in St. John's, [Antigua and Barbuda|St. John's], Antigua, and moved at a very young age to the UK. Hope's aptitude towards boxing was evident early in childhood; he began to train as a very young boy. Hope went on to box at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where he would lose to German boxer János Kajdi in the quarter finals.

Professional career

Hope made his professional debut on 18 June 1973, defeating John Smith by decision in eight rounds at Nottingham.
On Hope's second fight, held on 25 September of that year, he scored his first knockout win, a victory in three rounds over Len Gibbs in Shoreditch. Hope won his first four professional fights.
On 21 November, he suffered his first defeat, being beaten by Mickey Flynn over eight rounds by decision.
After that loss, Hope went on to win five fights in a row, four by knockout, before winning his first regional belt, when he beat Larry Paul, 5 November 1974, by a knockout in round eight of a fifteen-round bout, at Wolverhampton, to win the British Jr. Middleweight title.
Hope then won three more fights, including one which was refereed by legendary referee Harry Gibbs, who also oversaw the refereeing of the Wilfredo Gómez-Carlos Zarate bout, among many other famous fights.
After these three wins, Hope went up in weight to fight for the vacant British Middleweight title, vacated by Kevin Finnegan, who, in turn, lost four times to Alan Minter. On 10 June, Hope was defeated by knockout for the first time, losing to Bunny Sterling in the eighth round for that regional title.
Hope's career took on an upwards movement after the loss to Sterling. He followed that loss with a knockout in a rematch against Larry Paul on 30 September at London's Empire Pool. This was the beginning of a four knockout win streak that took him to fight Tony Poole, 12 April 1976, for the vacant British Commonwealth Jr. Middleweight title. He won the regional belt by knocking out Poole in the twelfth round, and, after one more win, he met future world Middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo, on 10 October, at Rome, Italy, for the European Boxing Union's Jr. Middleweight title. Hope conquered his third regional title by knocking out Antuofermo, in the fifteenth and last round. This bout was Hope's first fight abroad.
Having won three regional titles, Hope was ranked among the top Jr. Middleweight challengers by the WBC, and so, he obtained his first world title try, on 15 March 1977, against the WBC's world champion, Eckhard Dagge, in Berlin, Germany. After fifteen rounds, the fight was declared a draw.
Hope regrouped with six wins in a row, before getting his second world title try. On 4 March 1979, he faced the then WBC world champion Rocky Mattioli in Sanremo, Italy. Hope became a world champion by knocking Mattioli out in the ninth round.
On 25 September, he defended the WBC's world title for the first time, knocking out Mike Baker in the seventh round, at London. His second defence, on 12 June 1980, was a rematch with Mattioli. This time, they fought in London, and Hope repeated his previous win, but with an eleventh round technical knockout instead. On 26 November, he defended his crown against well known Argentina contender Carlos Herrera in London, winning by a fifteen-round decision.
Hope went to Las Vegas, for his next defence, which also turned out to be his first, and, ultimately, last fight in the United States. He planned to marry his girlfriend while in Las Vegas. On 23 May 1981, at the Caesars Palace, Hope lost the world Jr. Middleweight title to Wilfred Benítez, suffering a twelfth-round knockout that later made television sports show highlights. While Benitez became the first Latin American to win world titles in three different divisions, the youngest boxer in history to do so, and the first in 40 years to achieve the accomplishment, Hope had to be hospitalised, but he recuperated and was able to marry his girlfriend before returning to England.
After one more defeat, to Luigi Minchillo, Hope permanently retired from boxing. Throughout his career Hope was managed by his mentor Terry Lawless, whose stable of top-quality boxers also included John H Stracey, Jim Watt, Charlie Magri and Frank Bruno. Their PR was handled by Norman Giller who, like all the boxers apart from Scottish hero Watt, was based in East London. They all trained in the famous East End fight academy run by Lawless at the Royal Oak in Canning Town. Most of their major fights were under the umbrella of leading London promotion team of Harry Levene, Mike Barrett and Mickey Duff.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes
35LossLuigi MinchilloSD12Mar 30, 1982Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England, U.K.
34Loss30–3–1Wilfred BenítezKO12 May 23, 1981Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Lost WBC light-middleweight title
33Win30–2–1Carlos Maria del Valle HerreraUD15Nov 26, 1980Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England, U.K.Retained WBC light-middleweight title
32Win29–2–1Rocky MattioliTKO11 Jul 12, 1980Conference Centre, Wembley, London, England, U.K.Retained WBC light-middleweight title
31Win28–2–1Mike BakerTKO7 Sep 25, 1979Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.K.Retained WBC light-middleweight title
30Win27–2–1Rocky MattioliTKO9 Mar 4, 1979Teatro Ariston, San Remo, Liguria, ItalyWon WBC light-middleweight title
29Win26–2–1Alfonso HaymanTKO5 Sep 26, 1978Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.S.
28Win25–2–1Melvin DennisPTS10Apr 4, 1978Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England, U.S.
27Win24–2–1Vincenzo UngaroKO5 Jan 24, 1978Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England, U.S.
26Win23–2–1Joel BonnetazKO5 Nov 8, 1977Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.S.Retained EBU light-middleweight title
25Win22–2–1Tony LopesTKO6 Sep 27, 1977Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.S.
24Win21–2–1Frank WissenbachMD15May 7, 1977Congress Centre, Hamburg, West GermanyRetained EBU light-middleweight title
23Draw20–2–1Eckhard DaggeSD15Mar 15, 1977Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin, West GermanyFor WBC light-middleweight title
22Win20–2Vito AntuofermoTKO15 Oct 1, 1976Palazzetto dello Sport, Roma, Lazio, ItalyWon EBU light-middleweight title
21Win19–2Tim McHughTKO4 Jun 1, 1976Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England, U.K.
20Win18–2Tony PooleTKO12 Apr 20, 1976York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, U.K.Retained BBBofC British light-middleweight title;
Won vacant Commonwealth light-middleweight title
19Win17–2Kevin WhiteTKO4 Mar 20, 1976Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.K.
18Win16–2Mimoun MohatarTKO2 Mar 2, 1976Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England, U.K.
17Win15–2Carl SpeareTKO4 Feb 25, 1976York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England, U.K.
16Win14–2Larry PaulTKO4 Sep 30, 1975Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.K.Retained BBBofC light-middleweight title
15Loss13–2Bunny SterlingTKO8 Jun 10, 1975Café Royal, Piccadilly, London, England, U.K.For vacant BBBofC middleweight title
14Win13–1Jürgen VossKO3 Apr 2, 1975Cunard Hotel, Hammersmith, London, England, U.K.
13Win12–1Don CobbsTKO4 Feb 11, 1975Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England, U.K.
12Win11–1Cuby JacksonTKO7 Dec 10, 1974Ice Rink, Nottingham, England, U.K.
11Win10–1Larry PaulKO8 Nov 5, 1974Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, U.K.Won BBBofC British light-middleweight title
10Win9–1Dave DaviesTKO8 May 13, 1974Hilton Hotel, Mayfair, London, U.K.
9Win8–1John SmithKO2 Apr 17, 1974Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester, Lancashire, U.K.
8Win7–1Mike ManleyTKO4 Apr 1, 1974Café Royal, Piccadilly, London, England, U.K.
7Win6–1Mick HusseyKO3 Mar 12, 1974Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.K.
6Win5–1Mike ManleyPTS8Jan 28, 1974Great International Sporting Club, Nottingham, England, U.K.
5Loss4–1Mickey FlynnPTS8Nov 21, 1973Grosvenor House, Mayfair, London, England, U.K.
4Win4–0Arthur WinfieldTKO4 Oct 23, 1973Ice Rink, Nottingham, England, U.K.
3Win3–0Pat BroganPTS8Oct 1, 1973Great International Sporting Club, Nottingham, England, U.K.
2Win2–0Len GibbsRTD3 Sep 25, 1973Shoreditch Town Hall, Shoreditch, London, England, U.K.
1Win1–0John SmithPTS8Jun 18, 1973Great International Sporting Club, Nottingham, England, U.K.

Later life

Hope continued in the public eye in England, doing various jobs, and he has enjoyed his earnings as a boxer. Furthermore, with Benitez suffering from diabetes and boxing-related conditions, he later became a frequent visitor to Puerto Rico, where he and Benitez sometimes spent days talking about their old days as boxers. Hope now lives in Hackney; he was involved with boxing training for the local residents and youths in upper Clapton. Hope also has property in Antigua after being given land by the government to mark his achievements in the ring. Hope has been an outstanding ambassador for Antigua and is happily involved in the island's tourist industry.
On 11 December 2024, the High Commission of Antigua and Barbuda in London hosted the launch of “Land of Hope and Glory“, a book-interview by Maurice Hope with sports analyst Jaydee Dyer in which Hope talks about how he overcame the hardships of the Windrush generation to become a world-champion boxer from Antigua.
In recognition of Hope's achievements while a resident, the London Borough of Hackney named a major cycle route after him.