Carl Greaves love affair with boxing started during the Summer of 1985 or to be more specific the 6th June 1985 when an eight-year-old boy was attracted to the people surrounding the television at Newark Working Mens Club that night. Carl didn’t realise at the time but his life was to change forever that night as he (and nineteen million other people) watched Ireland’s Barry McGuigan shock the World by beating Eusebio Pedroza by Unanimous Decision at QPR’s Loftus Road Stadium to win the WBA Featherweight Title.
During the following week Carl decided to go to his local boxing club RHP Newark ABC but was disappointed to be told by Trainer Dick Daubney that he was too young to train at the time. Dick was sufficiently impressed by his attitude and allowed Carl to train that night, with a message to come back when he was eleven years old.
Carl did as he was told and came back to the gym in June 1987 after celebrating his eleventh birthday. He went on to take part in 70 amateur contests: finishing with a fight record of 48-22. One of those defeats was a Junior ABA defeat to top amateur Benny May in December 1992 at London’s York Hall in Bethnal Green. Whilst boxing for RHP Carl trained as an amateur with former World Title challenger, former British/European Super-Bantamweight Champion and future #CGP fighter Esham Pickering and former world Super-Middleweight champion/International Boxing Hall of Fame Member Carl Froch.
As Carl’s amateur career petered out and thoughts of joining had fallen through due to concerns about childhood asthma, he made the monumental decision to join the pro ranks at the age of nineteen by signing with the Promoter and Manager Josh Ashton in late 1995/early 1996. #Cool Carl Greaves went on to make his professional debut on 22nd March 1996 at Mansfield Leisure against Paul Hamilton (4-4(2)) and beat his experienced opponent 59 ½ to 59 on Referee Jim Pridding’s scorecard.
Carl moved seamlessly to (6-0(1)) over the next 21 months but then his career in the pro ranks stalled with four defeats out the next his next six fights (stoppage losses to Lee Armstrong / Benny Jones and contentious points losses to Stefy Bull and Ervine Blake for the Midlands Area Super-Featherweight Title).
Results improved with twelve wins over the next 33 months and Carl faced his biggest challenge yet: taking on Michael Gomez in July 2000 for the Mancunian’s British Super-Featherweight Title live on Sky Sports at Widnes’ Kingsway Leisure Centre. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be for Carl as for the only time in career he lost by a second round KO to the skilful Gomez.
Not to be deterred Carl went on another six-fight winning run which included a spell on the side-lines for a failed medical and winning the Midlands Area Super-Featherweight (at the second attempt) against Nigel Senior. Then there was the call to fight for British Title again on Sky Sports against the talented (future WBO World Super-Featherweight Champion) Alex Arthur.
Their fight featured on the undercard of a Ricky Hatton/Joe Calzaghe Co-Main Event at Newcastle’s Telewest Arena in November 2002. Again, it wasn’t meant to be Cool Carl’s night as the fight was stopped by Referee Larry O’Connell during round number six.
Sixteen months later and Carl reached the peak of his boxing career with a Unanimous Decision points victory over Ghanaian Ben Odamattey for the WBF Super-Featherweight at the Nottingham Arena in April 2004. Unfortunately, Carl lost his maiden title defence at London’s Wembley Arena the following March to Leads’ ‘Hard Hitting’ Carl Johanneson.
There would be back-to-back points wins over Rakhim Mingaleyev in Gibraltar (the first professional boxing show to take place there) and Daniel Thorpe at Newark’s Grove Leisure Centre. Unfortunately, Carl’s career came to halt in the early part of 2005 as he prepared for a British Title Eliminator, Carl was to take a phone-call from the BBBOfC’s Robert Smith who advised him of another problem with his medical renewal and the decision was made to retire with a final fight record (32-7(5)).
Moving on into his post -fight career Carl has gone onto to promote 152 (and counting) shows on the small-hall circuit the length and breadth of England, managed/trained/promoted 21 fighters (with potentially three new champions to add to that list by the start of November 2023) to Area/English/British/European/World title glory and helped countless of other fighters on their boxing journey. This journey has taken him from Newark to Wembley Arena via Mansfield, Wigan, Newcastle, London, Gibraltar, Monte Carlo, America and Spain. There are simply too many British boxing outposts to list individually.
With a life spent in boxing Carl has become a highly respected figure in the sport and finds himself in demand as a Trainer for fighters of all ages/abilities, as a Manager/Promoter/Matchmaker and regularly gives his opinion on boxing current affairs to the written press, Television and Radio, Internet Content Creators and a popular Podcast Guest.
In the last twelve months we have also Carl move Carl Greaves Promotions HQ to the town centre of Newark with Carl Greaves Boxing Fitness and then expand next door to NG24 Fitness Gym with its ‘State of The Art’ facilities. Carl has rightly earned the moniker ‘The Hardest Working Man in Boxing’: long may it continue.